During the landing, the pilot was in a sweat

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In 1944, the 26-year-old lieutenant Tomáš Sedláček volunteered to fight on the Eastern Front. He served at the 2nd Parachute Brigade, which was first deployed as an infantry brigade. Its members were later landed to provide support to the Slovak National Uprising. He recalled: “When we flew for the first time, it was very foggy and the pilot refused to land at the Tri Duby airport. The second time, the situation was basically the same but the pilot decided to risk a landing. He flew through the fog, and we safely landed. I recall that I stood right behind him during the landing. He was in a sweat. There were many accidents. My friend, Franta Urbánek, was on a plane which was landing. Unfortunately, the undercarriage collided with an obstacle, the plane crashed and he got killed.”

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Tomáš Sedláček

Tomáš Sedláček was born in 1918 in Vienna. After graduation, he joined the compulsory military service. In 1937, he enrolled in the Military Academy in Hranice na Moravě. In 1940, he escaped from the fatherland via the Balkans to France. After the fall of France, he emigrated to Great Britain. He served in the artillery until summer 1944, when he was sent to fight on the Eastern Front. As a member of the parachute brigade he engaged in the Carpatho-Dukla offensive as well as in the military operations during the Slovak National Uprising. After the war, he shortly served in the Division Headquarters in Pilsen. Mr. Sedláček was arrested on 11 February 1951. In a trumped-up trial, he was accused of espionage for a subversive group called Irena. In summer 1952, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for high treason. He was held prisoner in the Pankrác, Mírov, Leopoldov, and Valdice prisons as well as in the Bytíz camp. On 11 May 1960, he was released following a presidential amnesty. After 1989, he was rehabilitated and received the rank of army general, (i.e. the highest military rank). Mr. Sedláček died in August 2012.

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Three Oaks Airport, Slovakia

Available in: English | Česky | Slovensky

The history of the airport dates back to 1936 when the local aviation school was founded and the first hangar built. The airport also played an important role during the Slovak national uprising in 1944. Even before its outbreak, discarded machines were repaired and prepared for combat use in the closed hangars. During the uprising, the commander of the airport was Captain Belo Kubica. Between September 25 and October 16, the second paratroop brigade from the Soviet Union was transferred to Slovakia via this airport – a total of 1,739 soldiers and 248 tons of military material. Some English and American aircraft landed here as well and provided much needed supplies of military material. The airport was bombed several times. In 1968, the Soviet army took over the administration of the military part of the airport and kept it until the political earthquake of 1989.

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During the landing, the pilot was in a sweat

During the landing, the pilot was in a sweat

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Tomáš Sedláček

Three Oaks Airport, Slovakia

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During the landing, the pilot was in a sweat

I was holding the flash light and they were dropped

The pilot mistook the airport