About Czechoslovak pilots during WWII
On 15 March 1939 Germany occupied Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the Luftwaffe confiscated all Czechoslovak Air Force aircraft. Emigration was strictly controlled and former air force personnel were not allowed to leave the country Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (
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After France capitulated to Germany on 22 June 1940, many Czechoslovak airmen escaped to the United Kingdom. The RAF quickly created new squadrons formed of Czechoslovak pilots. The first fighter unit was No. 310 Squadron RAF (
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Many of the Czechoslovak pilots died during WWII. Their memorials are located in many places in Western Europe, but also in Czech Republic. The monuments have different shapes and sizes. One of the typical forms is the memorial plaque located on the houses where the pilot was born or where they lived for some time.
Jan Perníkár completed his primary education in Trebon and later graduated from the Trebon Grammar School. After graduation he joined the army, went to the military academy in Hranice and got to the Aviation College in Prague at the Ministry of National Defence. The ministry then sent him to the Aviation College in Paris for an internship, where the war caught up with him.
During World War II, Jan Pernikár flew as an RAF pilot until 1941. After the Russians entered the war, he was sent to Moscow and participated in the formation of the Czech unit in Buzuluk. Later he was also a participant in the Slovak National Uprising.
After the war, he taught aviation technology at a college in Prague. But then he was persecuted: in 1949 he was put out of service, then arrested and imprisoned for almost a year. Then he was handed over to a lower military court and given 13 months, was demoted and joined PTP 51 in Mimona. He later received full rehabilitation and in 1994 was awarded the rank of general in memoriam.
Plaque Inscription:
genmjr. JAN PERNIKÁR
1903 – 1976
Významný válecný letec
a vojenský pedagog
v Cs.republice i v zahranicí.
Zasloužil se o svobodu naší vlasti.
ríjen 2003 – zdejšímu rodákovi obcané Horní Cerekve
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Jan Perníkár v Treboni ukoncil základní vzdelání a pozdeji vystudoval trebonské gymnázium. Po jeho absolvování odešel k armáde, nastoupil na vojenskou akademii v Hranicích a dostal na Vysokou školu leteckou v Praze na ministerstvu národní obrany. Ministerstvo ho pak poslalo na stáž na Vysokou školu leteckou v Paríži, kde ho zastihla válka.
Behem 2. svetové války Jan Pernikár létal jako pilot RAF do roku 1941. Poté, co do války vstoupili Rusové, byl vyslán do Moskvy, podílel se i na formování ceské jednotky v Buzuluku. Pozdeji byl i úcastníkem Slovenského národního povstání.
Po válce ucil na vysoké škole v Praze leteckou techniku. Poté byl ale perzekuován: V roce 1949 byl postaven mimo službu, následne zatcen a témer rok veznen. Pak byl predán nižšímu vojenskému soudu a dostal 13 mesícu, byl degradován a nastoupil k PTP 51 do Mimone. Pozdeji se mu dostalo plné rehabilitace a v roce 1994 mu byla in memoriam udelena generálská hodnost.