Otto Špaček (7 March 1918 – 24 September 2007) was a

Czechoslovakian , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

World War II fighter pilot who fought against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in Great Britain and France. Špaček was born in

Brzice Brzice (german: Brösel) is a municipality and village in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bo ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. His parents were teachers.Obituary, ''The Times'', 22 October 2007
/ref> He served an apprenticeship as an electrician. After flying school, he joined the

Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia c ...

in the 1930s. He fled to Poland after the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

invasion in June 1939, and then escaped to France, where he served with

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

in 1940. After the

fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

, he moved to Britain and joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as a fighter pilot in June 1940. Špaček initially joined

No. 312 Squadron RAF No. 312 Squadron RAF was a Czechoslovak-manned fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. History The squadron was formed at Duxford on 29 August 1940. It was crewed mostly by escaped Czechoslovak pilots, but its first c ...

, but moved to

No. 313 Squadron RAF No. 313 Squadron RAF was a Czechoslovak-manned fighter squadron of the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. History The squadron was formed at RAF Catterick on 10 May 1941. It was the last RAF squadron to be formed mostly of escaped Czech ...

in 1941, flying

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

s with many other exiled Czech and Slovak pilots. Špaček was injured in 1940 and survived three air crashes during World War II. Špaček took part in close air support for the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in 1944. He was credited with shooting down 3 German aircraft during the war, and won 5 Czechoslovak War Crosses, the Czechoslovak Bravery Medal and the French

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. Špaček returned to Czechoslovakia after the end of World War II, but was expelled from the army when the

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948. He once again left Czechoslovakia in 1949 and took his family into exile in Canada, where he operated a petrol station. Špaček remained in exile until the fall of the Communist government of Czechoslovakia in 1989. He returned to the Czech Republic from Canada in 1993, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He resided in the Czech Republic for the rest of his life, where he remarried, his first wife having died in Canada. Otto Špaček died at the age of 89. His funeral took place in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Honours and awards

* Czechoslovak War Cross (five times) * Czechoslovak Medal for Bravery * Czechoslovak Medal for Merit, Grade I *

with two palms (France) *

1939-1945 Star World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Atlantic Clasp (United Kingdom) *

Air Crew Europe Star The Air Crew Europe Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British and Commonwealth air crews who participated in operational flights over Europe from bases in the United Kingdom during the S ...

(United Kingdom) *

Defence Medal (United Kingdom) The Defence Medal is a campaign medal instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945, to be awarded to citizens of the British Commonwealth for both non-operational military and certain types of civilian war service during the Second World War.

War Medal 1939–1945 The War Medal 1939–1945 is a campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days ...

(United Kingdom)

References

External links

*http://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/bailey/coastal_conflict/coastal.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Spacek, Otto Czech aviators Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada People who emigrated to escape Nazism 1918 births 2007 deaths People from Náchod District Czech generals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Czechoslovak military personnel of World War II Place of birth missing Place of death missing Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross