Václav Jícha

Václav Jícha, DFC (10 February 1914 – 1 February 1945) was a Czech flying ace, flying with the Czechoslovak Air Force, French Air Force and Royal Air Force during the Second World War, credited with seven victories.

Early life Jícha was born in Dnešice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic) on 10 February 1914, the first of two children of Václav and Kateřina (née Smolová) Jícha. His father was a porter at a psychiatric hospital in Dobřany.

Personal life When he was 24, he met 18-year-old Juliette Liska, who was a female pilot, a rarity at the time. They became engaged, but never married because of the war. Liska became a member of the Belgian Resistance's Comet Line. She was betrayed and sent to a concentration camp, before being reassigned to a mobile labour group repairing railroad lines. Surviving the war, she visited Jícha's grave several times.