Fateful Millenium
The only Cz airmen met his death on the first 1,000 Bomber raid of the RAF seventy five years ago.
602 Wellington twin-engine bombers took part in this mission. Cz No 311 Bomber Sqn was in Northern Ireland under the the Coastal Command at that time. That reason for the Bomber Command used also six aircraft belonging to No 1429 COTF for this air raid. Target Cologne. All the crewmen of R 1240, R 1269, R 1771, R 3237, Z 1068 and Z 8854 succeeded in returning..
Oldrich Jambor had gone on operations with Cz No 311 Sqn from July 1, 1941 to Jan 21, 1942. Eighteen as a skipper and sixteen as a co-pilot. Having completed his operational tour he was posted to No 10 AOS at Dumfries. Promoted for W/O Oldrich Jambor was posted to New Zealand No 75 Sqn late May. He went on the Cologne mission as a co-pilot. The N 2894 Wellington was provided by the Central Gunnery School. Six crewmen were ´scratched´ from various units. They were captained by P/O David Malcolm Johnson.
Another Czechoslovak pilot who went on this mission was an experienced P/O Metodej Sebela. But the No75 Sqn´s CO did not allowed W/O Jambor to crew up with P/O Sebela for this occasion.
On home-ward leg N 2894 was downed by a Me 110 night fighter over the Netherlands on May 31, 1942. W/O Jambor met his death. He was burried in No 3.141 grave of the Ugchelen Heidenhof General at Apeldoorn. See the ninth cemetery from the top in the Not Forgotten - Holland text on the www.fcafa.wordpress.com website.
Oldřich Jambor is mentioned on eighteen pages of ´The airmen from Holasky and Turany´ Book.
R&R :
www. fcafa.wordpress.com - 311 Sqn Air-Crew Training - Bomber Command by John Rennison
www.fcafa.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/not-forgotten-holland/
Letci z Holasek a Turan - by Miroslav Kopecky, Tom Jambor and Vaclav Kolesa - V. Kolesa Publ. 2006