Biography
Youth and pre-war years (1915–1939)
Josef Bernat was born on 21 August 1915 in Kojice, a small village on the river Elbe between Přelouč and Týnec nad Labem in eastern Bohemia.[1] He chose the career of a military aviator: he graduated from the Military Aviation Academy in Prostějov and served as a pilot in the Czechoslovak Air Force.[1], [4]
Escape to freedom and the road to the RAF (1939–1940)
After the German occupation of March 1939 he was among the airmen who refused to stay in the Protectorate. He escaped through Poland to France, where — like hundreds of other Czechoslovak airmen — he had to formally enlist in the Foreign Legion. After the fall of France in June 1940 he was evacuated to Great Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force.[1]
Wellington captain with No. 311 Squadron (1941)
With No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Bomber Squadron RAF (based at East Wretham) he flew 40 operational sorties between 10 February and 19 July 1941, totalling 189 hours and 11 minutes in the air.[2] He began as a second pilot — his first operation, on 10 February 1941 against Hannover, was flown in the crew of Captain Pickard; he then flew mostly with Captain Breitcetl's crew. On 23 March 1941 he took part in a raid on Berlin during which his aircraft was hit.[2]
From 28 April 1941 he flew as an aircraft captain. With his regular crew (Vnouček, Partyk, Kula, Haering, Kováč, Beneš) he attacked targets across Germany and occupied Europe: Brest, Cologne, Mannheim, Hamburg, Hannover, Düsseldorf, Hamm, Essen, Bremen and Münster.[2]
On the night of 5/6 July 1941, during a raid on Münster, his Wellington Mk.Ic R1532 (KX-R) was attacked by a German night fighter. Incendiary rounds set fire to the port wing and centre section. Bernat swapped seats with his second pilot Stanislav Linka and, with his crew (navigator Jaroslav Kula, wireless operator Rudolf Haering, rear gunner Jindřich Beneš), extinguished the fire in flight. With the hydraulics shot out he then belly-landed the aircraft safely at East Wretham. His airmanship was commended in a special order of the day, and on 15 September 1941 he was awarded the British Distinguished Flying Medal — as was his wireless operator Haering.[1], [2], [10]
Instructor and back into battle (1941–1945)
After completing his operational tour he served as a flying instructor, later teaching pilots in Canada.[1] Before that, however — by then a commissioned Pilot Officer — he took part in both great “Thousand Bomber Raids”: on 30/31 May 1942 the first thousand-bomber raid on Cologne (Operation Millennium, Wellington R3237 KX-C in S/Ldr Breitcetl's crew)[7] and on 1/2 June 1942 the raid on Essen, once again as aircraft captain (Wellington Z8854 KX-V).[11] In the summer of 1944 he returned to Britain and served with RAF Transport Command until the end of the war.[1]
A brief homecoming (1945–1948)
After the liberation he returned to Czechoslovakia. Promoted to staff captain on 1 April 1946, he served with the military air transport service and also flew as an airline pilot for ČSA, the Czechoslovak state airline.[1], [6] The communist coup of February 1948, however, once again turned the airmen who had fought in the West into enemies of the regime.
The second escape: a night flight to Manston (14 June 1948)
In the small hours of 14 June 1948 Bernat led one of the most daring aerial escapes from communist Czechoslovakia. As first pilot of a “borrowed” Dakota C-47 (43-48406) of the Air Transport Regiment — an aircraft reportedly reserved for the use of President Gottwald — he took off around 1 a.m. from Prague-Kbely with 21 refugees on board (17 men, 2 women and 2 boys). The second pilot was Hugo Hrbáček, a former squadron leader of No. 310 Squadron, the third Karel Šťastný of No. 311 Squadron; among the refugees was Major General Alois Liška, wartime commander of the Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. The group slipped onto the airfield through a cut fence and flew through the night in complete radio silence across the American occupation zone of Germany. Over the Channel the fuel ran out — they touched down at RAF Manston in Kent at about 3.30 a.m. on empty tanks, the engines dying as the wheels touched.[3]
All 21 people on board were sentenced in absentia for high treason in Czechoslovakia.[3], [1]
Second exile and life in England (1948–2000)
“We left our homeland in 1939 so that we could fight for its liberation from its enemy, the Nazi occupiers. After February 1948 we were now the enemy of our homeland!”
— Josef Bernat[13]
In Britain Josef Bernat rejoined the RAF. In March 1950 he was granted British citizenship — the London Gazette lists him as “Bernat, Josef; Czechoslovakia; Serving Officer in His Majesty's Forces”.[14] He served until 1 October 1970, when he retired as a Flight Lieutenant retaining the rank of Squadron Leader.[15] He lived out his life in England and died on 30 May 2000 at Whatton-in-the-Vale, Nottinghamshire.[1], [17]
After the fall of the communist regime he was fully rehabilitated and given an extraordinary promotion — official documents list him with the rank of Colonel of the Czech Air Force.[5], [4] On 28 October 2023 the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, awarded him in memoriam the Medal for Heroism — “for heroism in battle”.[5], [8], [9]
Family
In England Josef Bernat found not only a second home but love. In the spring of 1942 — while serving as an instructor at East Wretham after completing his operational tour — he married an Englishwoman, Daisy G. Bridger, known in the family as “Dinky”, in the neighbouring district of Bury St. Edmunds.[29], [22] Before the year was out the couple had a son, Raymond.[29] Family recollections also speak of a son, Anthony, and of grandchildren — granddaughters Kate and Jane;[22] British registers independently confirm a granddaughter, Katherine, born in 1970.[29]
Josef Bernat is buried in the churchyard of St John of Beverley at Whatton, where he spent the last years of his life.[30] We continue to verify the family story in British registers and archives, and will be grateful for every memory or photograph from family albums.
A life in dates
- 21 Aug 1915born in Kojice, eastern Bohemia
- 1930sMilitary Aviation Academy Prostějov; pilot, Czechoslovak Air Force
- 1939escape through Poland to France; Foreign Legion
- 1940evacuated to Britain after the fall of France; joins the RAF
- 10 Feb 1941first operational sortie (Hannover), No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron
- 28 Apr 1941Wellington aircraft captain
- 5 Jul 1941Münster raid — wing fire extinguished in flight
- 15 Sep 1941awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal
- spring 1942marries Daisy G. Bridger (“Dinky”), Bury St. Edmunds; son Raymond born late that year
- 30/31 May 1942first Thousand Bomber Raid on Cologne
- 1942–1944flying instructor; flying teacher in Canada
- 1944–1945RAF Transport Command
- 1 Apr 1946staff captain; military air transport, ČSA airline pilot
- 14 Jun 1948escape by Dakota from Kbely to RAF Manston with 21 refugees
- 1948–1970service in the RAF again
- 30 May 2000died at Whatton, Nottinghamshire, England
- 28 Oct 2023Medal for Heroism in memoriam from President Petr Pavel
The family details are based on family recollections and await verification in British registers. The number of operations differs slightly between sources: the flight database lists 40 sorties,[2] summary sources 39 completed raids.[1]