Col. in mem. LADISLAV BOBEK, DFC
He was born at the hamlet of Vranove No 6, nowadays a part of a Mala Skala village, within the area of Turnov on Aug 23, 1910. His father worked in a brewery nearby, his mother Therese née Subrtova died two days after his birth. Ladislav was baptisized by chaplain Gustav Prochazka. Ladislav had two older sisters Mary and Bozena and brother Josef who lost his life accidently in catacombs of the Frydstein Castle in 1918. Ladislav attended his elementary school at the Mala Skala and a Junior High School at Hodkovice nearby. He was doing very well at school and his handwriting was sophisticated. Completing his school attendance, Ladislav was sent by his father to Germany to familiarize with this region, its habits and above all language. Returning home he served apprenticeship as a waiter, but Ladislav was not interested in this job at all. He was sold on aeroplanes. So he took advantage of an recruiting campaign of the Masaryk Flying League and applied for the Prostejov Military Aviation Academy in 1927, graduating from that two years later. Classed an excellent pilot, Ladislav was assigned to completing his fighter pilot training in the town of Cheb.
Ladislav was promoted to the rank of Sgt on Oct 1, 1931. He underwent also a night flying course, amassing seventy flying hours. Till the outbreak of WWII Ladislav performed more than seventeen hundred flying hrs day and seventy night at the controls of nearly all the types used during that period. Ladislav served from 1930 to January 1938 with No 66 Flight of No 4 Fighter Reg in Hradec Králové. He acted there also as a flying instructor. From Jan 1938 till disbanding of the Forces by the Germans after March 15, 1939 Ladislav served as a fighter pilot at the same airfield with No 34 Flight of No 1 TGM Fighter Regiment. On Feb 1, 1938 Ladislav completed his Flying Sergeant Course at Milovice and was promoted to F/Sgt. Within the 1935 – 1938 time frame Ladislav acted also as a flying instructor of the Hradec Kralove Flying Club, located on the opposite corner of the Hradec Kralove Airfield near the village of Rusek. He was an excellent pilot and held several Flying Trophies.
Ladislav married his beloved girlfriend from his childhood Mary Maskova from the hamlet of Vranove in 1932. Their daughters Eva and Jitka were born in April 1932 and six years later respectively.
Following the occupation of his Motherland by the Nazis on Mar 15, 1939 Ladislav, accompanied by Sgt Josef Blaha and F/Sgt Jaroslav Taudy, crossed the border on Poland on July 19, 1939 near the town of Bohumin under assistence of Cz railway staff. He was registered by the Krakow Obora Junakow ten days later. On Aug 27, 1939 Ladislav enlisted in the Polish Air Force ranked Sgt and having passed as theoretical as practical tests in Krakow he was posted to the Deblin air base. As a pilot he flew mainly with the Polish liasion officer Alfons Antony Szymon Nowak. They were making recce and liaison flights on obsolete and out-of-use Potez A-25 aircraft. On retreat, Ladislav was made prisoner by the Red Army troops advancing from the East on Sep 20. He flew about from twenty to thirty flying hours in the Polish Air Force.
Together with the other members of the Czech Legion, Ladislav was interned in the Volyne Region as well as at Oranki and Suzdal. On July 10, 1940 he in a group of Czech airmen left Suzdal and via Moscow arrived at the port of Odessa. Two days later they sailed onboard the SS Svanetia and to Istanbul, being prevented from disembarking by the Turks at first. Thanks to the British Embassy´s asistence, this group embarked a freighter Sardinien Prince and left for Canak at the Dardanely Strait. Waiting for a convoy for about ten days here, they went on to Port Said. They arrived here while being attacked several times by the Italian bombers in the Agean Sea. More than a week later this group embarked the President Doumer ship at Suez, sailing via Aden to Bombay. Having spent several days here, they went on onboard the SS Narkunda via Cape Town and Sierra Leone to Liverpool, arriving there on Oct 27, 1940.
Ladislav Bobek enlisted in the RAF as an AC2 under the Service No of 788011. Having converted onto British aircraft he served as a test pilot with Nos 29 and 46 MUs. Ladislav tested as the repaired as various till non-flown variants of aircraft. Doing so he experienced no mishap and managed to cope with various events of peril successfully. The latter unit´s CO was so pleased with the pilot´s flying skill, that Ladislav was promoted by him to W/O in March 1941. In the same year Ladislav was awarded the Polish War Cross for his duty in the Polish 1939 campaign.
On Feb 12, 1942 was Ladislav Bobek posted to No 68 Night Fighter Sqn, He and his Radar Operator Bohuslav Kovarik DFM achieved five sure kills, three probables and damaged one German bomber. They became the second most succesfull Czechoslovak crew of No 68 Sqn and the third Cz night fighters within UK in general. After mere four months of operational flying Ladislav was awarded the DFC by His Majesty King George VI in April 1942. In July 1943 he completed his tour of duty and despite his discontent – Ladislav wanted to go on – he had to leave the squadron. The assessment in Ladislav´s Flying Log Book by CO W/C A P Dottridge read : ´The outstanding night fighter pilot who did the excellent job with the Sqn´. Ladislav was posted to No 3 F. I. S of No 23 Group at Babdown and passed his multi-engine aircraft flying instructor test, assessed ´Above Average´
On Feb 1, 1944 is Ladislav Bobek with No 68 Sqn again to commence his second tour of duty with R/ O Bohuslav Kovarik here. In July Ladislav underwent conversion onto Mosquito fighter planes. Taking very low activity of Luftwaffe´s night fighters into account, he added no kill more. On July 31, 1944 was Ladislav withrawn from operational flying and posted to Cz Depot at Cosford. From Oct 27 he acted as a flying instructor with No 2 F.I.S at Montrose. He was promoted to the rank of F/Lt and the Czech one of Captain. In Dec 1944 Ladislav was assigned to No 84 Group Communications Sqn as a transport pilot, flying mainly Ansons till the end of hostilities.
From August 1945 Ladislav acted as a pilot and No 2 Flight Commander with the Air Transport Group, at the controls of various transport planes such as Avro 352A - Anson, Junkers 52/3m, Junkers 352 A-1 Herkules and Siebel Si 204. Having been the Air Transport Group disbanded, Ladislav commenced flying with the Air Transport Reg at Prague – Kbely as a pilot as CO of No 2 Flight. He flew the types of Ju 52/3m, Si-204, C-8 Piper, C-5 Fieseller Storc On Oct 1, 1946 Ladislav Bobek was promoted to Staff Captain of AF. From May 1 1947 he was posted to the Hradec Kralove Military Aviation Academy and instructing the cadets in flying the Siebel Si 204-C3B twin engined aircraft.
On March 7, 1949 Ladislav Bobek was placed on ´waiting´ leave and on July 31, 1949 was sacked from the Forces. He was allowed to do menial interim work only such as in the Kavoviny Pardubice Co, as a night guard in the chicory drying kiln, a road mender etc. Ladislav´s falling seriously ill by open tuberculosis and trombosis in his legs followed. Suffering from the pain terribly, his sorry state prevented him from being imprisoned like dozens of his comrades in arms.
Ladislav Bobek died on Dec 14, 1981. In accordance with the moral and political rehabilitation he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Col of the Air Force. Ladislav amassed the total of at least 3,398 flying hrs, 2,029 of which piloting single-engined aircraft day and 70 hrs night. 872 hrs were on multi-engined ones day and 436 hrs night. He flew at least 82 types of aircraft including a lots of their variants. He was fluent in the Polish, Russian, German and English languages.
Awarded Medals :
Czechoslovak - Cz Military Cross 1939 + treble Bar
- Cz Medal for Valour + four Bars
- Cz Merits Medal and 1st Class
- Cz Medal Cz Army abroad with GB Clasp /1944/
- Cz Victory over the Fascism 20th anniversary Memory Medal /1965/
- Cz Czech Airmen Association Memory Medal /2011/
Polish and British : - Polish War Cross /1941/
- Distinguished Flying Cross /1942/
- War Medal
- Defence Medal
- The Star 1939 – 1945
- Air Crew Europe Star with France and Germany Clasps
- The Atlantic Star
- The Medal World War for Civilization
Already prior to WWII Ladislav Bobek had belonged thanks to his talent, persistence, diligence and love as to flying as to his Motherland to the generation of the pilots, who contributed essentially to instructing dozens of the airmen who later fought for our freedom in the Polish, French and Royal Air Forces. Ladislav´s doing his duty exemplarily is proven by lots his awards so he remains an example of an serviceman to each airman.
It is also necessary to mention his contribution both to progress of the Czechoslovak Civil Aviation while assigned to the Air Transport Reg and Air Transport Company prior to re-newing the Czechoslovak Airlines, and to schooling of a new generation of the post-war pilots.
Mr Martin Vrana
Ladislav Bobek´s grandson
NOTES :
1/ A street was was named after him in the Prague Cerny most District in 1997.
2/ Also in the ´Airmen in names of the Cerny most District´ booklet Mr Jiri Rajlich mistakenly wrote a village of Mala Skoble nr Hradec Kralove as a Ladislav Bobek´s birthplace.
Shown to public on Sep 12 2015 on the occasion of unveiling a plaque dedicated to F/Lt Ladislav Bobek DFC at his native village of Mala Skala. Authored by the pilot´s grand-son.
Published by the Zaplatillek Co from the village of Vesec nr Turnov. Paperback. Two hundred pgs about a hundred and twenty five black and white pictures. Most of them have never been made public. The material had been collected by Mr Martin Vrana for ten years.
We were provided with a picture of all the pilot´s awards by Mr Martin Vrana on an occasion of his grandpa´s 34th death anniversary. The DFC is first from L in an upper row.