Defecting Allied Pilots

I would apprecite that! . Thanks

 

Ok, I have a couple of books to browse first.

 

Here are some nice Free French examples :

BOUDART and HEBERT refused to surrender and stole a German Bucker at CAEN airfield in November 1940 which they flew successfully to England

Even better , Maurice Fretay restored a little ZLIN tourist aircraft (Czech I think) which he kept hidden in his mansion in Britanny and escaped to England when it was ready.

PINOT and 108 of his pilot pupils stole a fisherboat and escaped to England. I have more to come.

 

I look forward to seeing more . Anyone else? I do remember Polish Air Force aircraft flying into Romania to escape capture and then being used by the Romainian Air Force. The pilots and crews then going on to fight with the French and then the RAF.

 

I wonder if those who did "defect" to the Germans were prosecuted after the war? Has anyone heard of or have information on a Luftwaffe unit designated Jagdstaffel 5 Freies Ru ? An attempt to set up a 'Free Russian' unit of fighter aircraft under Luftwaffe command?

 

I have examples of Polish pilots who were captured by the Soviets in 1939 and releazed in 1941 when they wanted to join the RAF. When they finally arrived they still bore marks of the Russian shackles. Other polish units fought in France until June 1940 then went to England via Spain. There were also many Czechs. I know they had an airbase at Chartres in 1940. It would take some time to find all the details but I will read my books and post more information about these guys later.

 

Thanks again . I look forward to the info.

 

Here is a list of Czechs who defected escaped from their countyr to Poland or to France in 1939. Then in 1940 they escaped to England.

-Alois Vasatko
-Frantisec Fajtl. He took a ferry on June24th to North Africa and arrived in Gibraltar on July 12th.
-Wing Commander Dolezal and Doucha escaped via Casablanca.
Emil Foil escaped via Perpignan and Sids Bel Abbes (Algeria) , then Algirs and Oran before going to Gibraltar.
-Vilem Bufka flew a LEO45 to Norht Africa.
-Frantisek Buda fled to Oran on June 18. He embarked on the Fery CIBEL DERSA on July 1940 to Gibraltar. Then from Gibraltar to Liverpool on a coal ship with 600 French, Poles, Belgians and Czechs! They arrived on July 16th and were part of a 35 ship convoy.

 

Skipper. Do you have any info on what happened to them after the war?

 

I'm afraid many of them died during the Battle of England or after. Very few survived. I will check for them. The most terrible thing is that the Czechs and the Poles were considered as potential spies after 1945 by the west and the survivors were kicked out! Some stayed in England and got maried, others moved to the U.S. several returned to the Czech republic were thye were not always welcome because 'contaminated" by the west, so they had a very bitter life. I think the Czech government honored them for the first time in the early 90s . There has to be a few survivors around, mayve someone knows if they have an Association. If you are interested I have the complete list of Czechs who were decorated in France. If you want it pm me.

 

You mean this one



I wondered why it was in Rumanian colours. More pics of it here Air_Museum
I apologize for the blurriness but camera was on its last leg I guess. Will have to go back with the new camera

 

Truly sad that some could not go back to thier home country .

 

Blame the cold war. Some Polish veterans in England were even attacked in the streets. When they returned home they sometimes read "soviets go home" on their windows. It is rarely mentionned but many of these brave guys were unwelcome everywhere after 1945.
Their status in their own country has been fully recognized after 1989 only.

 

That's dissapointing to hear....

 

Another pilot treated badly after the war by his own country .


Constantin "Bâzu" Cantacuzino - The Prince of Aces.

"When the war finished, Cpt. av. Cantacuzino was demobilized and returned to LARES. He had 60 victories and was the highest ranking Romanian ace. He is probably one of the few pilots, if not the only one, that shot down Soviet, US and German airplanes, ranging from the I-16, the Yak-1,3,7,9, the La-3,5, the Spitfire, the P-38 and P-51 to the Fw-190F.
After the war, times changed. The USSR imposed a communist regime that started confiscating private properties and imprisoning the old elite and all those who dared not to think like them. "Bâzu" lost all its land and soon his wife left him. He managed to escape to Italy in 1947 and then he settled down in Spain. There he was helped by the Romanian community to buy himself an airplane, in order to earn his living at air shows. He died on 26 May 1958. There are two versions of how he died: one is after an unsuccessful surgical operation and the second when he crashed with his airplane.

His wife (the fourth one) was an actress. She emigrated to the USA and settled down at Hollywood and married there. She had a daughter which later became Miss America and stared in the "Dallas" show as JR's wife: the name was Linda Grey."

http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/cantacuzino/cantacuzino.htm

 

It seems unbelievable for us with our 2008 mentalities, but back then in 1945 there was a huge Paranoia about the Soviets getting the bomb (which they did in 1949) , so any national from a Soviet occupied country was a potential spy , even those brave veterans. England is certainly not to blame. The French started the "trend" as early as 1940 by dismissing their foreign pilots after the armistice. (A good thing they did it by the way , this allowed many pilots to escape to England instead of becoming pow)

 

It seems that both "Sides" had a problem with thinking that someone might be "tainted" if they came from the West or East.

 

In 1944 a Luftwaffe pilot defected with a radar equippted Ju-88 crashing it in a field near Stockholm Sweden while flight testing the new airborne radar.

Hitler's Ambivalent Attache: Lt. Gen ... - Google Book Search

 

Portugal is another that interned aircraft,

http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-wwii/22804-aircraft-brought-down-neutral-countries.html

 

And of course Spain.