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This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer from cvsberkshire on behalf of Christopher Froehlich and has been added to this site with his permission. Christopher Froehlich fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Christopher Froehlich’s Story of his Father’s time in the RAF.

My Father’s full name was Bedrich Fritz Siegfried Froehlich, known to all as ‘Bedo’.
His family came from Moravia, which had been a state in the Austrian Empire but became part of the Czech Republic after the Great War. He, however, was born in 1914 in Cairo and was brought up there; as a result he spoke not only German and Arabic, but was also fluent in French and English, which he learnt at school. Later in life he added Italian, which he learnt through having an Italian girl-friend! It was curious that he never learnt Czech.
At the outbreak of War in 1939 he decided, with several local friends, to join the Czech Forces and was told to make his way to Agde in the South of France where they were being mustered. Although he held a Civilian Pilot’s Licence he was unable to join the Czech Air Force, but only the Czech Legion (their army). At Agde he was given military training with the Army, which was then directed North on operations; however, with the Fall of France, his unit was sent South to be evacuated out of Marseilles. Here he caught a coal ship to Gibraltar where the British Western Mediterranean Fleet were gathered and joined a Royal Naval ship to Britain - one of 3,500 Czechs who travelled to Plymouth this way arriving on 5th. July 1940.
In Plymouth they were greeted by the band of the Royal Marines who played the Redetski March amongst other music, which they found encouraging. From here they were sent to Cholmonderley Castle in Cheshire and Cholmonderley Park became home to the Czech Army in Exile.
It wasn’t until August 1942 that he managed, after repeated applications, to get into the Air Force and started his military flying training in the United Kingdom. Then in the November he was sent to Alberta in Canada for further training returning home in July 1943. Posted to Turn Hill, Taten Hill then back to Turn Hill for training and yet more training he first started flying Spitfires in December 1943.
At Kirton-in-Lindsey in March 1944, as a Sergeant Pilot, he joined 310 Squadron RAF which was a Czech Fighter Squadron flying Spitfires. In that same year he married my Mother.
He was demobbed in 1945 as a Flight Lieutenant. After the war he initially worked for the United Nations in Germany dealing with the resettlement of displaced persons, but in 1951 he rejoined the RAF where he was able to start flying again, his greatest passion in life.
Whilst the Communists were in power in Czechoslovakia, those who had left to fight against the Germans were vilified and often locked up in jail. However when the Communists were driven out attitudes changed, and one day in 1991, my Father received a letter telling him he had been promoted to Lt. Colonel, and later to full Colonel!
In July 2000 the 60th Anniversary of the Formation of the Czech Forces in exile in Britain was celebrated at a large party at Cholmonderley Park which my Father attended. He died in January 2005 at the age of 91.

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