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Frantisek Dolezal

Frantisek Dolezal. Name : Frantisek Dolezal Born : 14th September 1909 Died : 4th October 1945 Air Victories : 10.00 Awards : Croix de Guerre Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Service Order

Born on September 14th, 1909 in Ceska Trebova, Dolezal studied mechanical engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague. Graduating in 1932, he began his military career and after completing his compulsory military service, decided to stay in the army. He completed his education in the air corps with top honors in 1936 and was commissioned as an air force lieutenant. Completing his training in 1937, he qualified as a pilot and lookout. He joined 36th air squadron of the second air regiment in Olomouc, equipped with AVIA B-534. At the beginning of the Nazi occupation of the Czechoslovakia in 1938, Dolezal was promoted to squadron first officer. Dolezal fled to Poland and later to France, joining L'Arme de l'Air. Most Czech fighter pilots in France served under Dolezal flew Morane Saulner MS-406. During the French campaign he shot down 4 German fighter planes, 3 of them confirmed kills and 1 probable, and was honored with the Croix dr Guerre. On the fall of France on June 16th, 1940, Dolezal with other pilots flew to Africa and then further to Liverpool, where he spent time in quarantine at the Cholmondeley camp. After this he was automatically admitted to the Royal Air Force as Pilot Officer (P/O). He was transferred to Duxford, where the No.310 Czechoslovakian Squadron was created. Due to large number of pilots, he was finally moved to the No.19 Squadron. Flying Spitfires with No.19 Sqn, Dolezal shot down 4 Luftwaffe aircraft and damaged one. During combat with a Messerschmitt Me109 his knee was injured. Returning to the No.310 Sqn, he was immediately appointed as the wing commander and simultaneously promoted to Flight Lieutenant and was later promoted to Squadron Leader. With No.310 Sqn, Dolezal shot down 2 aircraft and damaged 2 others. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 1st September 1942. He later became a co-comander of Churstaton, where the 312 and 313 Squadrons were based. He began his second operational tour as Wing Commander. He took command of the second Czechoslovakian Wing when the commander Karel Mrazek left. During this time, he achieved his last victory. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 17th June 1944. After finishing his second operational tour, he finally left operating service and was appointed Czech liaison officer. Later, he worked as a Czechoslovakian air force inspector in London. In 1944 he moved to the U.S., where he studied at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. After completing his studies, he went back to London where he continued to work as a Czechoslovakian air force inspector. At the beginning of 1945 Dolezal was promoted to major and on March 3rd, 1945 left the RAF and started to work at Ministry of Defence in London. He was one of the first RAF pilots to returned to Czechoslovakia after the war. During a service flight from Prague to Zlin on 4th October 1945 he lost his life tragically in an accident in a Sibel Si 204 training aircraft when the plane crashed near Bucovice na Morave.

COMBAT REPORTS

19 Squadron Operational Record Book – 21 August 1940. P/Os Dolezal and Huadil, Sgts. Plzaxk and Marek of 310 Squadron attached to us to-day. All Czechs and very keen and eager to have a crack.

Known Service Details :
Squadron	Rank	Start of Service	End of Service	Known Dates	Aircraft	Airframes	Notes
No.19 Sqn RAF	Pilot Officer	21st August 1940	unknown		Spitfire
No.310 Sqn RAF	Wing Commander	unknown	unknown	21st August 1940	Hurricane		Loaned from this squadron to No.19 Sqn on 21st August 1940.

Photos Submitted Through Our Directory

Frantisek Dolezal.

Aircraft for : Frantisek Dolezal
A list of all aircraft associated with Frantisek Dolezal. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Aircraft	Info
Hurricane Click the name above to see prints featuring Hurricane aircraft. Manufacturer : Hawker Production Began : 1936 Number Built : 14533	Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.
Spitfire Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft. Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351	Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

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