In the closing days of September
1938 England’s Neville Chamberlain and representatives of France and Italy
signed the Munich Pact essentially telling Hitler he could have Czechoslovakia if he
wanted it, thus allowing the British Prime Minister to famously tell the
world that he and his allies had purchased “peace in our times” in return. Of
course the Czechs had not been consulted on this agreement and when Nazi forces
occupied their country on March 15, 1939 many citizens died attempting to
resist. When the failing government disbanded their small but determined Air
Force, many of its members escaped to fly first for Poland or France and
eventually for the British Royal Air Force. One of these brave aviators was an
aerial gunner named Robert Bozdech who was flying a mission with a French pilot
in a twin-engine Potez 63 when the attack bomber was shot down over
German-occupied France. Seeking temporary shelter in a wrecked farm shed, the
young Czech discovered a tiny puppy covered by the rubble. Despite the
objection of the injured pilot, Bozdech wrapped the barely-mobile dog in rags
and took it with him.
In the weeks that followed, and
while he was escaping from the enemy even as France was collapsing all around
him, he managed to avoid the discovery of the tiny and surprisingly-quiet puppy
while making one mad dash for freedom after another, any one of which would
have been a story all by itself. At one point having been denied the boarding
of a British ship because of the strictly forbidden canine, he invented a
floating “stowaway” craft permitting him to hoist the amazingly cooperative
German Shepherd puppy aboard before sailing and without detection.
Arriving in England just as the
“Battle of Britain” in the air was getting started, airman Bozdech along with
other French, Polish and Czech pilots and crewmen found an immediate and
welcome home in the RAF, a service which happened to nurture its own particular
form of animal discrimination – especially those of German origin.
Along with many of his friends, Sgt.
Bozdech was assigned to Number 311 Squadron, among whose enlisted flying staff
the rapidly-growing dog - now known as Antis
- was viewed not just as a mascot, but as an honored and much-loved Squadron
mate. So devoted was the Shepherd to his master, that he would wait anxiously
beside the runway until his plane would return from its mission – even when
delayed by a forced landing at an alternate field due to battle damage or
weather.
The Squadron now was flying
twin-engine Armstrong Vickers Wellington bombers,
a medium range bomber which carried a crew of 5 or 6, featuring a lightweight
frame of aluminum rods covered with dope-treated fabric. Although of unique design of which more than
14,000 were built, it was known as “The Widow-Maker” to its crew members.
Despite the nickname it was an unusually durable aircraft and could sustain a
great deal of pummeling as a night-bomber.
One day Antis was unusually absent from his standard departure place beside
the runway and with misgivings C-Celia and her crew took off without their
“good-luck visit”. As Bozdech clambered back to his lonely rear turret gun
position sixty feet behind the forward compartment, there was the missing
talisman curled up on the deck beneath the .303 twin Browning machine guns, as
if speaking to say “okay you chaps, I’m
ready let’s roll.”
On that unplanned stowaway journey,
Bozdech had no choice but to share his oxygen with the conniving canine, but
soon the aircraft maintenance crew saw to it that Antis had his own lovingly-fitted mask and bottle; Antis had assumed flying status.
The last mission Bozdech and Antis flew together was a nighttime
attack on Manheim when the Wellingtons were caught by brilliant
radar-controlled searchlights that pinned them mercilessly against the black of
night. All during the pasting taken by C-Cecila, the loss of an engine and the crash-landing
at RAF East Wretham, Antis had lain
obedient and brave at Robert’s feet. Only after the agonizing trip was over was
it discovered that the dog was the only crew member to sustain injuries,
quietly lying in his own blood. Flying shrapnel had raked his belly.
After 40 missions, Sergeant Bozdech
– soon to be Flight Lieutenant Bozdech – left 311 Squadron and Antis received the highest award given
to British War Dogs. He lived to chase rabbits until age 14. Colonel Václav
Robert Bozděch died Feb. 27, 1980 in Devon, U.K.. After Antis he never owned another dog.
Robert Bozdech and Antis
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment