Brigadier General Pavel Vranský (29 April 1921 – 24 June 2018) was a Czech airman who served with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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 ...

. Vranský was born in

Lipník nad Bečvou Lipník nad Bečvou (; ) is a town in Přerov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reser ...

. After leaving school in 1939, he went to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, where he joined the

Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

. A Soviet prisoner from September 1939 until 1941, he was sent with the

Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion The Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion – East () was a Czechoslovak infantry battalion in the Second World War. It served under the British Middle East Command in the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre. History Several thousand Czech ...

to fight in Syria and Tobruk. At the end of 1942, he joined the RAF and trained as an onboard radio operator. In 2017, he was made a brigadier general by

President of the Czech Republic The president of the Czech Republic, constitutionally defined as the President of the Republic (), is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The presidency has largely bee ...

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

References

1921 births 2018 deaths People from Lipník nad Bečvou Czechoslovak Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Czech World War II pilots Czech generals Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) {{CzechRepublic-mil-bio-stub