Major-General František Peřina (8 April 1911, Morkůvky u Břeclavi;[1] died 6 May 2006 in Prague) was a Czech fighter pilot who became a flying ace with the French Armée de l'Air and twice-served with Britain's Royal Air Force.
Biography[]
Born into a farming family in southern Moravia, Peřina did not visit the nearest city of Brno until he was 14.[2] He undertook a full elementary school education, before serving an apprenticeship as a machinist. Six months after qualifying, he enlisted in the Czechoslovak Air Force.[1]
Czechoslovak Air Force[]
After undertaking army officer training, he was sent to Prostějov airfield on 1 October 1929 to train in the Letov Š-10 (nicknamed "Sardinka" /sardine/ by pilots), Letov Š-14, and the Letov Š-18.[1] Graduating in 1931, Peřina spent two years as a first class airman before promotion to Sergeant. In 1932 he attended fighter school in Cheb, training for four months in air-to-air and air-to-ground gunnery and aerobatics on various biplane and single wing fighters. He returned to his unit and was then attached to the Letov Š-20-equipped 34th Fighter Squadron at Olomouc.[1]
In 1937, Peřina represented the air force at the International Air Show in Zurich, Switzerland in an Avia B-534. Peřina took third place in both aerobatics and in the climb-and-dive competition, and fourth in the cross-country flight.[1] On his return, he was posted to a military school as rotmistr (warrant officer),[1]. In the aftermath of Germany's occupation of the Sudetenland, the Czechoslovak Air Force expanded and Peřina joined the newly-formed 52nd Fighter Squadron.[1] Peřina married Anna Klimešová on 24 June 1939 and left for Poland without his wife two days later (she was delayed through paperwork), with the intention of joining the French Foreign Legion in North Africa.
Armée de l'Air[]
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the French declared war and consented to the transfer of Czechoslovaks from the Foreign Legion to the Armée de l'Air.[1] Initiated at Châtres, Seine-et-Marne, Peřina flew the Curtiss H-75A.[3] On 1 December 1939, Peřina was assigned to the 1ère Escadrille, based at Suippes and under the command of Capitaine Jean Acart. As a precaution, Peřina assumed the name François Rinopé, as it was believed the Germans would treat a French prisoner better than they would a exiled Czech.[1]
On 10 May 1940, the day that Germany invaded France, Peřina shared four kills with Acart in two sorties. He was also promoted to sergent-chef. The next day he shot down his fifth, thus becoming the first Czech ace in the Second World War. A day after that he helped shoot down four Stukas in about four minutes.[3][4] Promoted to Adjutant, he became well known throughout France for his exploits.[1]
Peřina's squadron moved to Saint-Dizier on 14 May. In June, as the Luftwaffe focused on Paris, Peřina and colleagues attacked a bombing formation. While his colleagues attacked the bombers, Peřina focused on their fighter escort of 60 Bf 109's, shooting down one plane but being badly shot up himself. In an interview on his 95th birthday, he recalled:
I had to gain them some time, and I could think of nothing other than to attack. I had to stop them somehow. I distracted them, and I even managed to shoot one down, but then I myself was hit. My plane took 15 cannon hits, 80 by machine gun. My leg and my arm were injured, although I didn't feel a thing. I knew I probably wasn't going to make it back.
After being hospitalised in Coulommiers, Perina escaped to Paris, whence to Chartres. He then joined GC I/5 at Carcassonne, retrieving a Curtiss with a flat tailwheel tire from another airfield and flying to Saint-Denis-du-Sig, in Algeria, to join the Free French. Having been awarded but never received the customary Croix de Guerre for his first air-to-air victory, the Free French decorated Peřina as a Chévalier de la Légion d'Honneur and awarded him the Croix de Guerre with six palms. He then travelled by train to Casablanca, where he boarded a ship to Britain.[1]
Royal Air Force[]
After a 29-day passage, Peřina was assigned to 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes.[1] He saw little action before suffering from acute appendicitis and was treated in Ely, Cambridgeshire. When he recovered, Peřina returned to his squadron and moved with it to Ayr, Scotland in 1941 to convert to the Spitfire.
On 3 June 1942 ,while escorting bombers, he claimed two Focke-Wulf Fw 190's from a formation of four, one of which was confirmed destroyed and a second as 'probable'. Peřina afterwards served as sector gunnery officer for a year, and spent the remainder of the war at Fighter Command as part of the Czechoslovak liaison establishment.[1]
His victory claims totalled 12, and consisted of 3 solo and 9 shared destroyed, 2 probables, and 1 damaged [5]
Returned to Czechoslovakia[]
Peřina returned to Czechoslovakia after the war, reuniting with his wife Anna who had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1945. He became the Commanding Officer of a gunnery school and an aerobatic pilot with his own Bücker Bü 131 "Jungmeister" biplane provided by the air ministry. Yet the Communist government grew suspicious of former RAF pilots, and with the advent of the Cold War their loyalty was doubted. An argument with Bedřich Reicin in 1949 resulted in Peřina being expelled from the army and forced to flee. In April 1949, Peřina, his wife Anna, and a friend flew to West Germany, belly landing at Passau, eight miles from the Soviet zone.[4]
Return to the RAF[]
After his wife recovered from her injuries, Peřina rejoined the RAF in 1949, but at the age of 36 was not allowed to fly again. He spent five years in the RAF and joined its rifle shooting team, but left the service believing that he would not be promoted above the rank of squadron leader. In 1949, he applied for a United States visa,[1] and on 16 January 1951 was naturalized as a British citizen.[6] Despite Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder trying to persuade him to stay, Peřina emigrated to Canada.[1]
North America[]
In 1953, he found employment building fibreglass fishing boats. He trained to be a commercial pilot, but he was unable to secure work on account of his age.[1] His US residency was confirmed in Christmas 1959, and he joined the new plastics division of ejection seat specialist Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California. Supervising 347 people, Peřina's division produced lavatories and kitchens for Douglas, Lockheed, and Boeing, including the Boeing 747, and seats for Project Gemini space capsules. Following his retirement on 15 March 1979, Peřina and his wife relocated to Arizona, but its intemperate weather prompted them to later move to Las Vegas, Nevada.[1]
Return to Czech Republic[]
After the fall of Communism, Peřina and his wife returned to the Czech Republic in 1993. His return was greeted enthusiastically, while Peřina commented that 'The only roots I have are here and nowhere else'. He was made a major-general of the Czech Republic Air Forces and decorated with the Order of the White Lion.[3][4]
Peřina died on 6 May 2006, aged 95, in Prague's military hospital of an unspecified chronic disease and exhaustion. His wife Anna Peřinová (née Klimešová) had died several days before his admission, on 21 April. An elementary school in Prague is named in his memory.[7]
Combat record[]
| Date | Service | Flying | Kills | Probables | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 4 * Dornier Do 17 | Two missions (all shared victories) | |
| 11 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Heinkel He 111 | Became Ace (shared) | |
| 12 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 2 * Junkers Ju 87 | 2 * Junkers Ju-87 | |
| 18 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Heinkel He 111 | (shared) | |
| 19 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Heinkel He 111 | (shared) | |
| 26 May 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Heinkel He 111 | (shared) | |
| 1 June 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Heinkel He 111 | 2 * Heinkel He 111 | The day Jean Accart was believed killed in action |
| 3 June 1940 | Armée de l'Air | Curtiss H-75A | 1 * Messerschmitt Bf 110 | Shot down, hospitalised | |
| 3 June 1942 | Royal Air Force | Spitfire Mk. V | 1 * Focke-Wulf Fw 190 | 1 * Focke-Wulf Fw 190 | |
| TOTALS | 13 kills | 5 probables |
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Interview with Frantisek Perina, historynet.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- ↑ The Times: "Frantisek Perina - Obituary". May 8, 2006
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Frantisek Perina - Czechoslovakia's ace pilot who made his name in the Battle of France radio.cz - 5 August 2006
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Daily Telegraph: "Obituary of Major-General Frantisek Perina". 30 May 2006.
- ↑ Shores, Christopher & Williams, Clive (2008), Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces of WWII, Volume One, Volume 2, p. 493
- ↑ The London Gazette (39175), p. 1436. 16 March 1951, thegazette.co.uk. 1 August 2015.
- ↑ ZS Perina School, zs-perina.cz. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
External links[]
- Základní škola gen. Fr. Peřiny (Gen. Fr. Peřina Elementary School), zs-perina.cz. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- Detailed English / Czech biography, fcafa.wordpress.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
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