Jiří Král

Jiří Král (March 15, 1910, Polanka nad Odrou – June 8, 1940, Monneville, France).

He was born into a mining family, trained as a foundryman and then graduated from the Secondary Industrial Engineering School in Ostrava-Vítkovice. He entered military service, during which he graduated from the school for air force officers and the Military Academy in Hranice. He then served in Hradec Králové with Aviation Regiment 4 and in Prague-Kbely with the 40th Fighter Squadron.

When the Czechoslovak Foreign Military Group was established in Kraków on April 30, 1940, he became its first commander as the most senior officer. Dom Turystyczny in Kraków became its headquarters (two months later the group moved to a training camp in Male Bronowice). On June 19, 1939, Lt. Col. Ludvík Svoboda became the commander of the group (before him, the group was briefly commanded by Aviation Capt. Jan Veselý) and Jiří Král became the second-in-command.

On 29 July 1939 Jiří Král sailed to France on board of the steamer Chrobry and underwent retraining in French aviation technology at the base in Chartres. On December 29, 1939, Lt Jiří Král was sent to Groupe de Chasse I/6 as commander of a fighter swarm. He served with this unit until June 8, 1940, when he single-handedly attacked twelve German fighter aircraft. His machine was hit, Jiří Král jumped out of it, but his parachute did not open. He was buried in Monneville, later in the military cemetery in La Targette. In memoriam, Jiří Král was promoted to the rank of colonel.