24 June 2022
Remains of five airmen of Royal Air Force (311 Czech) Sqn reburied
Photo: Netherlands Ministry of Defence.
Precisely 81 years after their death, five Czechoslovak airmen who were shot down near the Dutch village of Nieuwe Niedorp on the night of 22 June 1941 have been reburied at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery.
The ceremony was attended by their surviving relatives and representatives including Czech defence minister Jana Černochová, Slovak defence minister Jaroslav Naď and Czech ambassador to the Netherlands Kateřina Sequensová. The five airmen will be laid to rest alongside their Royal Air Force comrades at the CWGC’s Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery. Each will have a CWGC Czech pattern headstone to reflect their heritage and service.
Photo: Netherlands Ministry of Defence.
Left to right: F/Sgt Jan Hejna, P/O Vilem Konštatský, F/Sgt Alois Rozum, P/O Leonard Smrček and F/Sgt Karel Valach.
Vickers Wellington T2990 of the Royal Air Force’s 311 Czech Squadron, was shot down by a German night fighter on 22 June 1941 near Nieuwe Niedorp in the Netherlands. Only one crew member was able to parachute to safety before being taken as a prisoner of war. Flight Sgt Jan Hejna, Pilot Officer Vilem Konštatský, Flight Sgt Alois Rozum, Pilot Officer Leonard Smrček and Flight Sgt Karel Valach were reported as missing. Their remains were recently recovered from the crash site during an excavation conducted by the Royal Netherlands Air Force Aircraft Recovery Service.
Vickers Wellington Mk.Ic similar to T2990 (IWM HU 104762)