Josef František – Rajlich Jiří

The personality of this outstanding fighter, who made his mark in the course of The Battle of Britain with a brief but dazzling series of seventeen confirmed kills, rightfully belongs in the pantheon of Czechoslovak (as well as Polish and British) aviation. The original character of our most successful participant in this battle has attracted numerous journalists, publicists, historians, and witnesses to recount his remarkable life journey, tragically ended by an incomprehensible and still unexplained crash. They mixed their own and others' speculations, assumptions, and opinions into the truth, supported by credible sources. It is no wonder that the accounts of František's life are lined with numerous myths and legends. Some may have originated during his lifetime, and if he was not involved in their creation, he seemingly had no need to correct them. Thus, from time to time, we can still read that he faced his first enemy aircraft during the mobilization in September 1938 right over Prague, or that after the March occupation, he flew to Poland with his aircraft. That he had already shot down his first three enemies over Poland in September 1939 and another eleven in France in May or June 1940. With those seventeen from the subsequent Battle of Britain, that would make a total of 31...