HISTORY

was fond of drawings same as the photography. When

VS He

we were researching Spitfire IX he pointed me to Paul Mon-

forton’s book which we bought directly from Paul and set on the

journey to research Canadian Spitfires. Without Peter we would

not have gone to meet Paul and see Canadian Spitfires.

MS volution“ (November 1989) he was mapping the types and

His big hobby were reinforced fortifications. Before „Re-

locations of the First Cechoslovak Republic’s fortifications. His excalmation „I smell concrete“ became famous. For our first trip to

Telford in 1999, which then took place in October and we travelled

by car there, he prepared so called „Continental Program“, tour of

the Hackenberg fort in Maginot Line with his exhausting commentary. This was coupled with beatiful sunny fall weather with trees

flashing all the possible colors. Just fantastic. Having crossed the

Channel visiting the Duxford, Cosford and Yeovilton museums was

always a must. It was his turf where he could deploy his photo

equipment and encyclopedic knowledge of the equipment on display.

were one of his passions. When I traveled with him

AR Bunkers

to England for the first time we made the obligatory stop at

Maginot Line. Another time, in Bratislava, he borrowed a car from

me and toured the fortifications and......??? in Petrzalka. Same in

England. He had enough of Telford in a day, left myself and another

colleague at the booth and set on the search for the fortifications

he stored in his navigation system. The navigation was another

of his loves. However without navigational devices he always got

lost. The only ability he was lacking was the situational awareness. I recall that once in Liberec while riding in the car, Peter

was consulting his navigation. The road was turning left and right,

navigation system was confused and Peter said: „ And now we

are going to see Jested. On the left“. The rest of the crew reacted

immediately“ „Jested is on the right!“

traveled together to the USA and Canada. He did not

VS We

search for the fortifications there however knew exactly

what museum can be located where and what airplanes can be

found in it. And because in America there is an interesting museum or at least an interesting airplane at almost every corner we

were kept entertained. He loved America. He appreciated its history and he shared most of the political opinions with American

modelers.

he liked America and the American airplanes.

MS Precisely,

I remember one of his emails where he sent me the aeri-

al picture of Davis Monthan airbase featuring hundreds of stored

aircraft noting: „We better be friends with these guys“. His favourite airplanes were B-17, P-38, P-47 and above all P-51 Mustang.

I recall that for my every single inquiry he provided a picture,

copy from the parts manual or maintenance manual. His Prague

apartment was not only full of models but also a lot of references.

Perhaps there was a drawer left for his wife?

the US Army motorcades were crossing our country

AR When

towards Poland and Baltic States he drove his white cabriolet with 2 meters large US flag attached behind the seats.He

always said: „We need to be grateful to America, in 20th century

they saved Europe twice. But even though he loved America and

Americans he was a dedicated European, first and foremost. One

does not exclude the other. Peter was convinced that our place

is in the West and our safety is only guaranteed by EU and NATO

membership.

VS who in the history and on the current political scene. In the

Peter has always had very defined opinions about who is

pub, when we still could go there, we always had a topic to quarrel

about. For examble about Masin brothers, Russians and Americans. In the essence we agreed with each other but rarely when

it came to details.

MS definitely not a leftist. One cannot be surprised conside-

Regarding Masin brothers we were in agreement. He was

ring how the Communist State after 1948 treated his family.

94

eduard

INFO Eduard - June 2021