a colonel and pilot Ladislav "Larry" Světlík was born in Pilsen He was a member of the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron of the RAF He was trained as a turner at Škoda factory he visited the airfield of the West Bohemian Aero Club at Plzeň-Bory Airport He also underwent pilot training there as part of the 1000 New Pilots event he completed military training at the School for Professional Air Force Youth at VLU in Prostějov he served in the 38th Fighter Squadron of Aviation Regiment 3 at the airports of Vajnory After the German army occupied Czechoslovakia he fled to Poland and then sailed to France he received training on American fighter planes he left with the first group of Czechoslovak pilots to join the fight Although he started flying during the Second Boer War he did not achieve his first victory until six days after the German attack on France Světlík flew for 45.20 hours and shot down seven enemy planes (four of which were certain and three of which were probable) he retrained on the American fighter Curtiss Hawk H-75 he left with the first group of Czechoslovak airmen to join the front Světlík flew for 45.20 hours and shot down seven enemy planes (four of which he was certain he had shot down and three of which he was probably sure he had shot down).108 years ago Colonel and pilot of the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron of the RAF Ladislav "Larry" Světlík was born in Pilsen he sailed to Great Britain via Gibraltar was assigned to the newly formed 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron He participated in many war operations with the squadron such as the Battle of Britain and bomber escorts over the continent his next and last victory came during the preparations for the Normandy invasion he was a fighter pilot with the 38th 20 Svetlik flew for 45.20 hours and shot down seven enemy planes (four of which were certain and three of which were probable) received new Spitfire Mk.IX planes and attacked important targets in Normandy the 134th Czechoslovak Wing escorted 72 American B-26 Marauder bombers over Haine St several Focke-Wulf Fw 190As attacked the formation leading to a intense aerial battle chased one German fighter to the ground Georg Kiefner of 1./JG 26 and winner of 11 aerial dogfights throws off the cockpit cover and leaves his damaged aircraft on a parachute but soon returns to duty as commander of 1./JG 26 becoming a highly successful pilot in air combat he trained with the 105th (T) OTU on Wellingtons Mk.X he served with the 11th Ferry Unit at Talbenny where he flew the famous Dakota Mk.III and IV until August 1945 He received the Czechoslovak War Cross four times the Czechoslovak Medal for Valour four times and the Czechoslovak Medal for Merit four times for his outstanding service in the war He also received the Commemorative Medal of the Czechoslovak Foreign Army (F-VB) the French Croix de Guerre with one gold and two silver stars the British 1939-1945 Star with Battle of Britain Clasp He shot down five aircraft (one on his own and four with others) and probably shot down three more he flew with the Air Transport Group in Prague-Ruzyně he retired from the military and joined CSA as a captain the purges after February 1948 did not avoid western pilots at CSA he was part of a group of pilots who flew three CSA Dakotas out of the country from Brno All the planes landed at Erding Airport near Munich Six Western airmen and several others managed to escape into exile he rejoined the RAF and first flew Ansons for Central Navigation School and 5.Advance Navigation School and Meteors at Central Gunnery School in Leconfield he served with the Communication Squadron in Malta where he flew various types of aircraft throughout the Mediterranean he served in the Far East with the 52 Supply Dropping Squadron He was involved in supplying British troops in Malaya and he received the Malay Medal for his service he worked as a dispatcher at Colerne Airfield He retired from the RAF in July 1966 as Commander of RAF Base Theddlethorp Ladislav Svetlik died in Warkworth on July 27 Spravuje SITMP The page you requested could not be found There could be an error in the URL you entered into your browser why not take a look at some of the other great sections on the Express website: If it’s still a mystery don’t hesitate to contact us here order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive Daily Express uses notifications to keep you updated