On April 24, 1942, due to manpower losses, that could not be replenished by Cz personnel, the Czechoslovak No 311 Sqn finished with Bomber Command and was moved into Coastal one. Well over a thousand sorties had been flown. The first of these 158 air raids was carried out by three Wellington aircraft on Sep 10, 1940 on the Brussels marshalling yard, the last one targeting Dunkerque by five ships on Apr 24, 1942. The first member of No 311 who lost his life was Sgt Karel Kunka on Sep 25, 1940, the last ones were Sgts Oldrich Havlik, Josef Talab and Pavel Varjan on Apr 15, 1942 respectively. A hundred and eleven airmen and ground crew of No 311 Sqn were killed in action or perished on a Cross Country or a training flight and thirty four made POW and one o them - F/Lt Arnost Valenta - was shot dead on Mar 31, 1944 following the Sagan Mass Escape.
Apart from the remarkable achievements in bombing the objectives on the Continent, the aircraft 1015 L captained by P/O Vaclav Korda scored the hit of the Kriegsmarine´s Prinz Eugen heavy battle cruiser in the port of Brest on July 1, 1941. The Prinz Eugen´s depart scheduled for the following morning had to be cancelled.
We pay our tribute as to all the airmen as to the F/Lt Josef Ocelka DFC who acted as No 311 Sqn´s CO in the July 3, 1941 – April 24, 1942 time frame. The navigator Bohumil Rysanek´s own handwriting reads as follows :
´General Janousek should always salute, hearing the name of Josef Ocelka, who put No 311 Sqn on the first place during the Bombing Campaign of the Wellington aircraft on the German objectives. Josef told me in February 1942, that he had had a´vile´ conversation with
Gen. Janousek, and maybe due to his achievements, not matched by any of other No 311 Sqn´s COs, Josef was laid to rest in Brookwood in the rank of F/Lt in comparison with the other, uncomparably lesser
´ones ´who were promoted to the ranks of W/Cdr and G/Cpt, because those had ingratiated themselves with Gen. Janousek !´
This exacting CO nicknamed ´Steely´was hated by some members of the Sqn´s personnel as well as admired by the others for his demands. He was a hard and capable CO leading by example, but not too diplomatic. Josef Ocelka did not hesitate to take part in the most complicated sorties and his demands on the other airmen had been preceded by having done so on his own. He amasssed 224 hrs 30 mins of flying time in 45 sorties.
Completing his tour of duty ,S/Ldr Josef Ocelka DFC served with No 6 MU and flying the DD938 Beaufort Mk II at the Brize Norton station on July 21, 1942, the aircraft´s wing collided with the hangar´s roof. Burried in in the 24.B.8 grave located in the RAF Section of the Military Brookwood Cemetery.
Josef Ocelka´s award in the picture L to R :
- DFC July 3, 1941
- Cz Milittary Cross Mar 3, 1941, Jun 21, 1941, Oct 25, 1941 and Jan 20, 1942
- Cz Medal for Valour
Josef Ocelka´s other awards – based on Mr Tom Dolezal´s info :
- 1st Merit Medal
- Cz Memory Medal with Fr and GB badges
- Air Crew Europe Star
- War Medal
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Czechoslovak Military Cross is displayed without any bars |
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No 24.B.8 grave in the RAF Section of the Military Brookwood Cemetery Surrey |
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