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Old 15th Sep 2018, 22:28
  #12278 (permalink)  
Franek Grabowski
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Warsaw
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Hello

Re Frantisek
Do not believe media! Frantisek was an excellent pilot with a keenness to fly and who caused some minot disciplinary problems as plenty of young pilots of the era. In 1939 he fled from the Protectorate to Poland, but instead of going to France like most of the Czech airmen, he decided to join the Polish Air Force with a number of his compatriots. He was one of few, who managed to take active part in combat operations, and then he was evacuated to France, and then to the UK. He and his pals at some point approached Czech mission, but they were called traitors or something similar, for joining the Polish Air Force, so they left, leaving few particularly warm words. Later in the war most of the Czech and Slovak airmen transferred to Czech AF, anyway, but it was too late for Frantisek. The other foreign pilot in No 303 was Josef Kana, a Slovak, who remained with the Polish Air Force for duration of the war, but has not achieved any successes. Aside, there is no clear evidence of Frantisek being a lone wolf and separating from the formation. Could be a myth actually.

Re Enigma
Cadix decoded German messages intercepted by them. I got your point, but not sure if I can help. The man who arranged this, Bertrand, was a French officer, but I am not sure for whom he was working, ie. if he was tied to de Gaulle (I doubt it) or Vichy or a conspiracy within Vichy but not related to de Gaulle. Those are quite mysterious stories, and I am not sure if they were properly researched. It is a little outside of my area, so my knowledge is quite limited, but I can tell you, that two Polish decoders served with Japanese army for the duration of the war, intercepting Soviet codes. This is a little known story.
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