Frantisek Perina was born in 1911 in Czechoslovak village Morkuvky u Breclavi.
This famous Czechoslovak pilot started to be known thanks to the succesfull representation on 1937 Olympic games in Zurich.
In 1939, following the first dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia by Nazi Germany, he fled the country. He travelled to France where he was one of the most succesfull fighter pilots with more than 10 shots. He was been shot down also and seriously injured. After the fall of France he served with the RAF as a pilot in the 312. (Czechoslovak) Squadron. He shot down about fifteen German airplanes during WWII and became one of the most successful Czechoslovak fighter pilots.
After the war he returned to Czechoslovakia, where his wife Anna had been imprisoned in his absence. But in 1949 he was expelled from the army by communists and forced to flee again. He, his wife Anna and a friend of them flew to Germany in a small plane. In 1950 he was readmitted into the RAF and continued to serve here for about 10 years. In 1960 he moved to USA, where he worked in Webber Aircraft. In 1993 Peřina returned to Czech Rebublic.
He died Saturday, May 6, 2006, in Prague’s military hospital of an unspecified chronic disease and exhaustion. He was 95.
He had been awarded many Czech and Allied orders and medals and was made a General of the Czech army. One school in Prague has been given his name.
Drawings dedicated to his service
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Curtis H-75, France 1940 |
Curtis H-75, France 1940 |
