Czechoslovak Forces

On the wall of the west cloister of Westminster Abbey is a memorial to the Czechoslovak forces who served in the Second World War. The bronze plaque was designed by Franta Belsky and was unveiled by the Marquess of Cholmondeley. The sculptor was one of the first Czechoslovak soldiers who arrived in England during the war. The chairman of the Association of Czechoslovak Legionaries and the Ambassadors of both Republics laid wreaths. The Lord Braine of Wheatley gave an address.

The inscription is flanked on either side by lime trees, with new shoots sprouting, which appear on the state seal and which is the national tree of Czechia and Slovakia. At the top is the armorial shield with the Czech Republic state motto "Veritas Vincit' - The Truth Prevails.

The inscription reads:

To the memory of all members of the Czechoslovak Army and Air Force who came as allies to this country and died in its defence and for the liberation of Europe 1940-1945. Unveiled on the 28 October 1993 on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic.

After the fall of France in 1940 the Czechoslovak infantry forces and pilots came to England to continue the fight, being picked up with allied troops from various Mediterranean ports. Czechoslovak fighter and bomber pilots were incorporated into the Royal Air Force (squadrons 310, 311, 312, and 313), and the troops had a camp at Cholmondeley Park in Cheshire and were re-organised into an Independent Mixed Brigade. The forces also took part in and supported the Normandy landings in 1944.

Throughout the war the Brigade was a source of volunteers for Special Operation Executive (SOE) operations in occupied Europe. There is a separate memorial to this force in the same cloister.

Battle of Britain pilots and aircrew

The Battle of Britain memorial window in the RAF chapel in Westminster Abbey depicts the furled flag of Czechoslovakia. The twenty pilots from the country killed during that conflict in 1940 are remembered in the Roll of Honour displayed in a case in the chapel. Seven of these men served in Fighter Command, five in Bomber Command, and eight were Aircrew. 

The names of all pilots who flew in the Battle are remembered on the Battle of Britain memorial on the Embankment in London.