Emil Boček

World War II Boček reached Beirut and took part in the Battle of France in the summer of 1940. After the French surrendered, he was evacuated to Great Britain, where, in September 1940, he graduated from the Aircraft Mechanics Course and was accepted as one of the youngest members of the RAF.

He served first as an aircraft mechanic with the 312th Fighter Squadron. In 1943, he was on pilot training in De Winton and Medicine Hat, both in Alberta, Canada, and from October 1944, he served as a fighter pilot in squadron "B" of the No. 310 Squadron RAF fighter squadron. He had 26 operational flights and flew for a total of 73 hours and 50 minutes. His last combat action was on May 12, 1945, from Manston airfield.

On August 13, 1945, Boček landed with other pilots of the Czechoslovak fighter squadrons in Prague-Ruzyně. He was subsequently assigned to Air Regiment 2 in Prague-Kbely, and on December 1, 1945, he was promoted to sergeant of the Air Force in reserve.

As a member of the non-communist resistance, he became an inconvenience to the communists, who were in power at the time, and was discharged from the army at his own request on March 2, 1946. accompanied by the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel.

A documentary film about his life, called Nezlomný (English: Unbreakable), was made in 2012.

President Miloš Zeman appointed Boček to Brigadier General on May 8, 2014, to Major General on May 8, 2017, and on May 8, 2019, to Army General.

A plaque saying, "This tram bears the name of General Emil Boček" In December 2016, one of the trams of the Brno City Transport Company was named after him, a suggestion of the Brno-Bystrc district.

On January 31, 2017, Boček received the 2016 City of Brno Award for Merit for Freedom and Democracy. He has also been an honorary citizen of Brno since December 2017.

On October 28, 2019, Boček was awarded the title of Order of the White Lion, I Class, by the President of the Republic Miloš Zeman.

On September 19, 2019, died, making Emil Boček the last surviving Czechoslovak pilot in the RAF during World War II.

Boček lived in Brno all his life, except during World War II. He was active in the and the Association of Former Members of the RAF and actively participated in events in Brno.

He participated in several meetings, including one with Czech Technical University students and staff together with RAF airmen, organised after November 1989 by the Masaryk Academy of Labour, the Mechanical Engineering Society at CTU in Prague, and the European Movement in the Czech Republic in the large lecture room 256 in Prague-Dejvice.

Emil Boček died on March 25, 2023, at the age of 100 in Brno.

Awards and decorations

60px Commemorative medal of the CSOL "1914–1918 / 1939–1945"