F2074 vypráví… - Vzpomínky příslušníka československé obrněné brigády Jiřího Pavla – Reichl Martin (2010)

More than seventy years ago, during the most tragic conflict in human history, an unprecedented surge of national sentiment occurred within the Czech nation. At that time, many men of various ages, professions, and faiths began to leave occupied Czechoslovakia, often under dramatic circumstances, determined to fight with weapons in hand to regain lost freedom. One of them was the then-seventeen-year-old 'sniveling' student Jiří Pavel from Říkova near Česká Skalice. The story of Jiří Pavel, which this book describes, embodies this patriotism. It is a story about the difficult journey to the Czechoslovak foreign army, about everyday military life in France and England with all its joys and hardships, about the tough training and challenging military life, about the desire to help the oppressed homeland, about moments when life was literally at stake on the battlefield, about the joyful return to the liberated homeland, and about the gratitude that soldiers received for all their suffering. It is also a story about all the good people and friends who experienced a similar fate during the difficult times of war and who have long been forgotten.