Karel Kuttelwascher

Karel Miloslav Kuttelwascher DFC and Bar (23 September 1916 – 17 August 1959) was a Czech fighter pilot, and a flying ace of the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. He was in combat service from May 1940 to October 1942, first with the French Air Force and then with the RAF.

Kuttelwascher, nicknamed "Kut", was the RAF's most successful Czechoslovak pilot, and one of the RAF's highest-scoring flying aces overall. In RAF service he shot down 18 enemy aircraft. He may also have scored numerous victories in French Air Force service, but these are unconfirmed as many French records were lost.

In 1945 Kuttelwascher returned to Czechoslovakia but in 1946 he returned to Britain, where he made a civilian flying career with British European Airways. He died of a heart attack in 1959, aged 42.

Early life Kuttelwascher was born in 1916 in the village of Svatý Kříž in Bohemia, now part of Havlíčkův Brod in the Czech Republic. He was the third of six children. Their parents Josef and Kristina Kuttelwascher were ethnic Germans from Bavaria. The family name means tripe washer.

Aged 17, Kuttelwascher started work as a clerk at a flour mill in Kladno northwest of Prague. On 1 October 1934, aged 18, he joined the Czechoslovak Air Force. In March 1937, he qualified as a pilot and was posted to 4 Flying Regiment at Kbely airfield near Prague. There he trained as a fighter pilot, completing his training in May 1938. He was posted to 1 Air Regiment, which assigned him to the 32nd Fighter Unit. The unit was posted to defend Czechoslovak airspace over Moravia and Slovakia, but after the Munich Agreement in September 1938, it returned to base at Hradec Králové in northern Bohemia. The remainder, including Kuttelwascher, stuck to their decision to leave Poland. On 30 July, they disembarked in the Port of Calais in France. Kuttelwascher was one of about 100 who were sent to the fighter training base at Chartres Aerodrome, where he quickly learnt to fly the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406C.1 fighter. However, he was not transferred to a combat squadron until 17 May 1940, when he was assigned to Groupe de Chasse III/3 at Beauvais–Tillé. On the night of 1/2 July near Dinard he shot down two Do 217s and damaged a third.

Subsequent RAF service A Heinkel He 111 bomber. Between April and June 1942 Kuttelwascher shot down six He 111s. On 8 July 1942, Kuttelwascher was assigned to No. 23 Squadron RAF at RAF Ford, not far from Tangmere, to continue night intruder missions. This squadron flew the de Havilland Mosquito Mk II, which was equipped with H2S radar. Kuttelwascher's navigator was P/O GE Palmer. In August and September the pair flew six intruder missions over France and the Netherlands, but did not manage to shoot down any enemy aircraft. In the same year, he was promoted to captain. There are now monuments to him in his home village of Svatý Kříž, and a street named "Kuttelwascherova" after him in the Černý Most suburb of Prague.

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hurricane In 2005 the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire painted its Hawker Hurricane PZ865 with the "JX-E" code letters in honour of Kuttelwascher and his "Night Reaper" Hurricane BE581.