From the Archives Czechs, Slovaks and Poles among “The Few”
When Nazi Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939, many Czech and Slovak professional soldiers and airmen decided to escape from the country, rather than hand over arms to the Germans. Six months later war broke out and many of them joined the French armed forces. When France was occupied, they escaped to Britain. This was how the Royal Air Force’s 310 and 312 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadrons came to be set up in July and August 1940, and they went on to play an important role in the Battle of Britain. They were also joined by the 311 Bomber Squadron. Just before Christmas in 1942, the BBC’s Czech service broadcast a special programme featuring the airmen and their British and Polish colleagues to help raise morale back home.
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