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HISTORY

vorable weather conditions, Fighter Command offensive activities gradually

decreased. The next round of the non-stop offensive was to come in the spring

of the following year.

By that time, No.313 Squadron was fully under Czechoslovak command. The

British co-commanders gradually left, because their Czechoslovak counterparts

were able to run things according to British procedures. The departure of the

individual British officers was looked upon on an individual basis, depending

on, naturally, the popularity of each one.

On June 25th, 1941, F/Lt John ‘Iggie’ Kilmartin, DFC, a co-commander with

Mrazek of A Flight, left the unit as an established RAF ace. Although he wasn’t

with the unit a particularly long time, his departure was genuinely regretted

by the Czechs. ‘It’s a shame. We are losing a great pilot, and a great man.’ 11

they would record in their log books. It was different with the departures of

British B Flight co-commander F/Lt Thomas Gillen and lone Squadron Commander S/Ldr Gordon Sinclair, DFC. Preserved memoirs and recollections indicate

as no surprise, then, that Vasek Jicha dubbed him ‘Papa Walsham’. He accepted

the nickname, and enjoyed it.

Walsham also acted as a sort of mediator between the Squadron CO, both

Flight Leaders, Crewchiefs Robertson and Allen, and the 313th’s technical officer,

Karel Beinhauer. He was an excellent debater and he was wise. We could sense

that the well being of the squadron was a priority for him, as much as it was to

us. We liked him very much.’ 15

Certainly, we wouldn’t be getting too far ahead of ourselves, if we pointed

out that Frantisek Fajtl and Walsham had a life-long friendship. They were in

touch even as Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, and it was only ended

by Alfred’s passing.

In the fall, there was another change that affected the course of things. At

Portreath, No.313 Squadron began exchanging their Spitfire Mk.IIas for the

Spitfire Mk.Vb on October 22nd, 1941. This version was new in several important regards. In the first place, the new variant was powered by an improved

Rolls Royce Merlin 45, which at an altitude of 3,000m put out 1470hp. This

was a significant improvement over the Merlin XII’s 1175hp used in the Spitfire

Mk.IIa. As a result, the Mk.V was able to achieve a top speed of between

597 and 603km/h. It also had a more powerful and effective weapons fit.

Instead of the until recently effective eight Colt Browning 7.7mm machine guns,

the Mk.V had only four of these weapons (with 350 rounds per gun), but also

packed a pair of British Hispano 20mm cannon, with 60 rounds each.

The change in equipment was hailed by all with a high level of satisfaction,

and it brought No.313 Squadron to the same level of standard operated

throughout RAF Fighter Command. There was nothing better at the time that

could be offered to the pilots. Re-equipment was completed by October 30th,

1941 when the eighteenth aircraft was accepted, fulfilling the prescribed

quantity requirement.16

F/O Fajtl with both British flight commanders of „Threehundredthirteen“- on the left

F/Lt Gillen, in the middle F/Lt Kilmartin. (author’s collection).

that with their demeanors, these individuals did not endear themselves to the

Czechoslovak pilots. Gillen left on September 15th, 1941 to No.118 Squadron

and ‘…morale improved significantly after his departure….’ 12

Similarly, Sinclair’s departure on September 25th, 1941 to No.79 Squadron

was greeted with a certain sense of relief. Due to his somewhat excessive, and

even fanatical, adherence to service protocols, this blond was bestowed the

nickname of the ‘White Devil’…’Sinclair respected regulations and directives

to the extreme with self confidence and incredible calm, and this earned him the

nickname ‘White Devil’, wrote Frantisek Fajtl, ‘he was the type of Brit who would

admiringly compliment your English, warmly offer you a drink and invite you into

his home, will gladly offer help with no ulterior motive, but couldn’t hug a person

neither with his eyes nor arms ‘ We all wished him the best wherever the wind

found him, and we could tell that he was touched, even though he needed inside

to quell any outer signals as to what he felt.’13 ….’finally alone’ was the entry in

the Squadron log. ‘Captain Jaske is now the true CO of the Squadron and every

pilot and groundcrew is glad that the White Devil has gone. That night, the event

was celebrated….’ 14

Not taking into account the ground personal, which almost entirely made

up of Brits, some British officers did remain with No.313 Squadron. Among

them was Wing Adjutant F/Lt Alfred Walsham, who was the direct opposite

of Sinclair…’Alfred Walsham, our Executive Officer, did not betray the concept

of the English gentleman,’ recalled Frantisek Fajtl, ’His face was clean shaven,

his hair finely groomed, his moustache carefully trimmed, his uniform without a

wrinkle, and his boots spit n’ polished to a high sheen, all faithful to his demeanor,

which was dominated by a certain calm and pleasant nature. He respected service

protocols but did not allow himself to be restricted in an iron jacket. When he saw

fit to employ as useful his many civilian experiences, he did so without hesitation.

He served as an administrative officer in a naval transport company between the

wars. As a result, he fit our Squadron’s needs very well, and so he had a bit of free

time on his hands. He would join us quite often. He was not stingy in neither word

nor counsel, and he liked to laugh. He spoke the King’s English clearly and slowly,

without the use of vulgarities. He apparently resisted starch, and didn’t pull rank.

With great patience, he tolerated what we often did unintentionally to the English

language, and to our youth, he acted in a friendly, almost fatherly way. It came

INFO Eduard - January 2021

By the end of 1941, No.s 310 and 312 Squadrons also converted over to the

Spitfire Mk.Vb, and this was in accordance with the planned establishment of

the Czechoslovak Fighter Wing, and thereby fulfilled one of the requirements

of the process, namely equipment commonality within all three Czechoslovak

squadrons, with the type remaining in service for over two years, and inextricably linked to their combat activities in 1942 and 1943. This is a time period

to which we will be paying much attention in connection with the Spitfire Mk.V

and its various variants, and not just its use in the Czechoslovak squadrons of

the RAF.

František FAJTL: Vzpomínky na padlé kamarády (Memories of Fallen Friends), pages 153-154.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1762/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti. NA, Kew, AIR 27/1697. (No 313

Squadron Operations Record Book).

Staanislav FEJFAR: Deník stíhače (A Fighter’s Diary), pages 113-114.

NA, Kew, AIR 27/1547. No 263 Squadron Operations Record Book.

Flak – Flieger Abwehr Kanonen, též Flugzeug Abwehr Kanonen (Anti-Aircraft Artillery).

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1762/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti. NA, Kew, AIR 27/1697.No 313

Squadron Operations Record Book, John FOREMAN: Fighter Command War Diaries. Vol. 2

(September 1940 to December 1941). Air Research Publ., New Malden 1998, s. 290-291.

František FAJTL: Vzpomínky na padlé kamarády , (Memories of Fallen Friends), pages. 163-166

NA, Kew, AIR 27/1547. No 263 Squadron Operations Record Book, AIR 27/1550-1552. No 263

Squadron Operations Record Book – Appendices. F/O H. St. J. Coghlan i P/O G. B. Warnes was

later awarded the DFC and gradually became the Commanding Officers of No.263. Squadron. But

more interesting than that is the fact that, Warnes was evidently the first officer in the RAF that

operationally flew wearing early versions of contact lenses, in secret and unknown to doctors.

Stanislav FEJFAR (edited by Norman FRANKS with Simon MUGGLETON): A Fighter Pilot´s Call to

Arms. Defending Britain and France against the Luftwaffe, 1940-1942. Grub Street, London 2010,

page 129.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1762/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti, NA, Kew, AIR 27/1697. No 313

Squadron Operations Record Book, Norman FRANKS: The Royal Air Force Fighter Command Losses

of the Second World War. Vol. 1 (1939-1941), page 145, John FOREMAN: Fighter Command War

Diaries. Vol. 2 (September 1940 to December 1941), page 290-291.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1761/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti, NA, Kew, AIR 27/1697. No 313

Squadron Operations Record Book.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1761/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti.

František FAJTL: Létal jsem s Třistatřináctkou, (I Flew with the 313th) page 66.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1761/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti.

František František FAJTL: Létal jsem s Třistatřináctkou , (I Flew with the 313th) pages 82-83.

VÚA-VHA, ČsL-VB, sign. 1761/BI/1/307. Kronika 313. peruti.

eduard