Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Václav Robert Bozděch (15 July 1912 in

Soběkury Soběkury () is a municipality and village in Plzeň-South District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Administrative division Soběkury consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to th ...

– 27 February 1980 in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

air gunner An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedic ...

of World War II. He was a British

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 ...

(RAF) squadron gunner and commander of training centers.

Early life

Bozděch was trained as a locksmith. Before the war he became a soldier and a trained air gunner.

World War II

He arrived in Great Britain via Poland and France, where he briefly served in the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

. In the UK, he first served as an air gunner with

No. 311 Squadron RAF No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF was a Demographics of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-manned bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force in the World War II, Second World War. It was the RAF's only Czechoslovak-manned medium bomber, medium and heav ...

. After having flown his first tour he became an instructor and commander of the training centres. Bozdech was accompanied through the war by a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

dog, which he found as a puppy after a crash landing while in the French Air Force. He and his fellow Czech airmen named the dog Antis, after the Soviet ANT-40 bomber. Their story was later told in at least three books. (see

Dogs in warfare Dogs have a very long history in warfare, beginning in Domestication of the dog, ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, Courier, messengers, mercy dogs, and Tracking (dog), trackers, their uses have been ...

)

After World War II

After the war he returned to Czechoslovakia and worked at the Ministry of Defence. He married and had a son. He also wrote and published books – ''Gentlemen of Dusk'' and ''Duel with Destiny''. After the

1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état In late February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia through a coup d'état. It marked the beginning of four decades of the party's rule in t ...

he went into exile a second time and returned to the UK, where he rejoined the RAF and married again. He never returned to his homeland. In the context of rehabilitation, after 1989 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel.

References and further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bozdech, Vaclav Robert 1912 births 1980 deaths People from Plzeň-South District Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom