František Moravec
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(23 July 1895 – 26 July 1966) was the chief
Czechoslovak military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
officer before and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He moved to the United States after the war.
Biography
In 1915, Moravec was drafted into
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
and sent to the
Eastern Front, into
Galicia. In September 1914, he fought at the
Battle of Rawa. On 13 January 1915, Moravec was taken as prisoner by Russian troops and sent to the
POW camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...
in
Tsaritsyn. In 1916, he joined the
Serbian Legion and fought in the
Romanian Front
The Romanian Front (, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' ...
, was moved from
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...
to Britain, and in 1917 joined the
Czechoslovak Legions at the
Salonica front. In January 1918, the legions were sent to the
Western Front in France and, in summer 1918, to the
Italian Front.
After World War I, he was sent to
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
to fight against the
Hungarian and the
Slovak Soviet Republic
The Slovak Soviet Republic (, , , literally: 'Slovak Republic of Councils') was a short-lived Communist state in southeast Slovakia in existence from 16 June 1919 to 7 July 1919. Its capital city was Prešov, and it was established and headed b ...
. After 1919, Moravec served as an army officer in
Plzeň
Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...
and in 1928 he joined the military intelligence service and moved to
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
.
From 1937 to 1938, Moravec was deputy head of the service and head of its operations department, from January 1939 acting head of the service.
In the evening of 14 March 1939, he and 10 of his fellow intelligence officers secretly managed to fly away with the most valuable intelligence files and archives from Prague
Ruzyně Airport to London
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located near Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airp ...
with a stopover in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
on
ad hoc
''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
chartered
KLM Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
, as they knew in advance from their
secret agents operating in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
that the invasion leading to
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
was to be on 15 March 1939, at 6 a.m. Rescued files and archives were handed over to the British
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
to be used against Germany.
In
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
from 1940 to 1945, Moravec served as the chief of the intelligence service of
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia (; ), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee (; ), initially by Government of the Unit ...
. The headquarters of the military intelligence were in Porchester Gate in London, but from 1940 his private residence was in
Addington, Buckinghamshire
Addington is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Winslow and south east of Buckingham. According to the 2001 and 2011 census' it had a population of 145. It is part of the Buckinghamshire Council unitary aut ...
, near
Aston Abbotts, where the exiled President of Czechoslovakia
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...
had his residence.
Moravec maintained secret radio contact with the Czech anti-Nazi Resistance group known as
Three Kings Group from 1939 to 1942. He co-ordinated the Czechoslovak co-operation with
SOE. He participated in planning and preparation of
Operation Anthropoid
Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was assassinated during the Second World War in a coordin ...
resulting in the assassination of
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...
. He also planned the assassination of his namesake
Emanuel Moravec, a traitor and Nazi collaborator who was also known as the "Czech
Quisling
''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for ''traitor'' or ...
".
František Moravec returned to Czechoslovakia in 1945 after the Nazi Germany defeat but left secretly again in 1948, shortly after the
communist coup d'état. He settled in the United States, where he worked until his death as an intelligence advisor in the
US Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
.

On 24 April 2022, the
dignified transfer of Moravec's remains from the United States to
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
took place at
Joint Base Andrews
Joint Base Andrews (JBA) is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF) 316th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The bas ...
.
Decorations
Awarded by Czech Republic
*
Order of the White Lion military group II. Class (2024)
Works
* František Moravec (autobiography): ''Master of Spies'', 1975, .
See also
*
Czech resistance to Nazi occupation
Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate on 15 March 1939. German policy dete ...
*
Occupation of Czechoslovakia
*
Operation Anthropoid
Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was assassinated during the Second World War in a coordin ...
*
601st Special Forces Group
References
External links
The story of military intelligence residence in Addingtonon website o
Czechoslovak Government in Exile Research SocietyBiography of František Moravec
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moravec, Frantisek
1895 births
1966 deaths
Czechoslovak soldiers
Czech resistance members
Czechoslovak military personnel of World War II
Recipients of the Milan Rastislav Stefanik Order
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
People from Čáslav
Grand Officers of the Order of the White Lion