Exhibition Wings in Exile

Dear visitors,
Welcome to the website dedicated to Czechoslovak pilots in the RAF – Wings in Exile.

The website was created to accompany an exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the formation of most of the Czechoslovak squadrons in the RAF, and an exhibition on Czechoslovak airmen in the RAF and women in the WAAF, which has been touring the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic since 2015.

Our living history club, the 276th Squadron (reenacted) RAF, is presenting the history of Czechoslovak airmen in the RAF and women in the WAAF at this ‘Wings in Exile’ exhibition, covering the period from the 1930s to the present day.

On the individual panels, you will find their history within the context of pre-war Czechoslovakia and the pre-war Czechoslovak Air Force, their journeys to join the resistance (Poland, the Middle East, the extermination camps of the USSR, France and finally Great Britain). Also featured are the Czechoslovak squadrons – 310, 311, 312 and 313 – and No. 68, which was a British night-fighter squadron, but in which the Czechoslovaks formed a single flight.

The exhibition is organised into sections and arranged chronologically; it therefore includes the stories of specific RAF airmen, women from the WAAF, and an account of the Lidice tragedy (two RAF airmen were from Lidice). This is followed by an account of the return to liberated Czechoslovakia – or what appeared to be a liberated Czechoslovakia – and a description of the communist persecution of our RAF airmen. The exhibition also covers the fates of some of them, including those who were murdered and those who chose to emigrate once again.

If you are interested in this exhibition on Czechoslovak pilots in the RAF, you are welcome to borrow it. The exhibition is in both Czech and English, and there are two copies, one of which is currently in the UK. You can find the technical details of this exhibition here.

We want the exhibition to remain a living tribute. That is why we are planning to expand the current commemoration of RAF airmen and WAAF women. Not only on memorials, but also in street names, on murals, commemorative benches and other places now associated with our Royal Air Force airmen and Women’s Auxiliary Air Force women. We’d be delighted if you could help us by sending us your suggestions.

We would like to thank all visitors and those interested in the RAF and WAAF for coming, and we look forward to seeing you again at one of our exhibitions or during the club activities of our KVH 276th Sqdn. (reenacted) RAF, z.s.

Filip Procházka
Chairman and founder of LHG 276th Squadron (reenacted) RAF, author of the exhibition

If you are interested in this exhibition, please contact us by email at filip@276.cz.
For more information about our living history group, the 276th Sqdn. (reenacted) RAF, z.s., please visit 276.cz or view our living history´s group Facebook page.