"At the beginning I have participated in Sokol organization. In 1939 I entered the ´Defending the nation´ organization which was lead by active officers mostly. We got involved in the organization’s secret meetings. I knew well places like woods, the old brick factory, and the former brewery, where the large underground basements were. The soldiers were interested in these, because they could use it as their hiding place or a shelter. I was only eighteen when I was guiding them through these places. This was our most crucial age. This organization in our region was one of the best and biggest. At least that’s what the Nazi soldiers used to say later then at the court. Of course the organization in Hradiste was affected badly. Its chiefs have been arrested and questioned and we had to save all we could here. We were limited in sending messages abroad and we received the order to leave Czechoslovakia. We wanted to fight with the gun in our hands. We couldn’t bear seeing our army being destroyed. We accepted the order to go abroad, anywhere where they would train us and provide us with weapons, so we can protect our nation. They called us up to the headquarters and told us: ´Boys, we’re sorry, but your commanding officer has apparently testified so you better not go home and be ready to leave tomorrow.´ they called up the messenger from Strane town. There were the three of us. We operated in the organization as telegraphers because being Sokol members we knew the Morse code. At the evening of February 27th 1940 we secretly left to Uherske Hradiste town. We were instructed how to recognize our fellow there. We wore a back pack pretending we want to get some wine there. The situation was already dangerous. We found our sleigh loaded up with the merchandize and went to near by Strane town. We meet our commander who instructed us further and we gave him the useless materials and our ID cards. Then we waited for another fellow person from Slovakia and then at 9pm we headed off to Slovakia borders. Our task was to get illegally to Nove Mesto town in Slovakia."
"Our order was to cross the bridge in Gien. They have separated us to English unit which weakened us also, but we managed anyway. We crossed the bridge and we found ourselves in the battle formation where the toughest battles were. The Germans used their bombers against us there. We fought for two days and had severe casualties. There were 5.000 of us at the beginning and now we lost almost half of the soldiers. Only those brave and experienced soldiers stayed alive. They were lucky. We fought there from June 16th to June 18th. When the Germans began to roll over us again we have received an order to retreat. That was the end of the battles; we only tried to avoid meeting the Germans. Their vehicular troops operated on the coast all the way to the Spanish border."
"After they have been everywhere they found the most suitable place in Prague. They found the curve and set up everything. Valcik was already there so they did everything together. But when the H hour came the guard of Heydrich was a little late, because Mrs. Heydrich was very busy sending something to her friends in Prague. And Heydrich was in a hurry. He always got out after eight, but this time he left his home at Panenske Brezany exactly at 10.04 am. The assassins came to their place on their bikes carrying the briefcase. They have had all the material, they wore the civilian clothes, and everything was ready. Gabčik held the machine gun under his arm and covered with his coat, which he threw away eventually. Kubis carried the briefcase with two extra bombs in case they might need too. Everything was prepared. Valcik was waiting about 100 meters away from them on the opposite hill. He had a mirror and a hat. This way he could watch them and send them the signal on time. But they were waiting there since 8am so some of their caution disappeared. Then all of a sudden Heydrich´s car came. So hurry now. When the car slowed down at the curve Gabcik stepped into the road threw away his coat and tried to fire from the machine gun. But it got stuck. It happened probably because it was hidden in the briefcase for too long or maybe because of some rubbish from the grass. The bullet couldn’t get into the snout. So he had to move back quickly so the car would run over him. And now Kubis´s time came. He grabbed the modified anti-tank grenade and threw it on the car. Unfortunately he didn’t hit the inside of the car but the side of it. The bomb was made out of the grenade which was able to break the armored tank. It was a time explosive set up for three seconds and then the impact. Its fragments ripped through the car’s right fender, embedding shrapnel and fibers from the upholstery in Heydrich’s body. Heydrich was standing when he got hit, because he was trying to shoot Gabcik, but he couldn’t find it. He was taken to the hospital by passing car. He died of septicemia after 8 days in the hospital. The paratroopers managed to escape, each to different direction."
"They arrested me in 1950. I was thinking bout divorce already and I wanted to solve that problem while I was still free. My English wife understood that we better do it this way and that I can help her with the moving back to England. The judge grabbed the phone and called somewhere that I’m there the west side soldier. I was in Pankrac prison for three years. Loretta was the famous jail. They forced me to sign all kinds of different statements all the time, but I refused to. They faked my signature anyway. They used to sort out the documents which I have signed. I found out about it when I need to see some rehabilitation documents later. I have experienced the solitary cell, dark room and I don’t know what else."
"On July 13th 1940 we got off the boat in Liverpool port. It was right after the French breakdown. I got injured during the parachutist training. We were assuming that our troop could reinforce the domestic resistance. Unfortunately the English weather wouldn’t allow us to practice the parachute drops regularly. The weather was changing every hour. While me nr. 11 and our commander nr.12 were in the middle of the practice drop number two the side wind took us to the dangerous territory. I landed on some tree and got hurt badly. But the benches saved my life. Our commander fell down to stone area and got killed. They took me to the hospital and then to some institute where many people wounded in war were. After some time I got over it and returned to my troop. I was responsible for providing of the English style clothing and materials, so our people would melt into other English people so they would not appear differently. That was my main task. While working on this we had to organize everything else too. We had to find out how to wrap the material, we needed some kind of system, but not always everything was perfect. The former English parachutes used to have a big sway so we tried to figure this out. I was jumping then too although I was injured. I knew, there wasn’t anyone else who could cover for me, so I pretended I was fine, but I wasn’t really. After just fifteen minutes of walk I had to lie down and rest for a little bit even if it was in the London Park. I have suffered the concussions and the spine injury from the parachute drop."
"The French army didn’t have any special rampart at the north part of Belgium. They have established safe line of concrete fortifications leading all the way from Belgium down to the Switzerland borders. Of course the Germans would dare to go through it; instead they attacked the neutral countries. They attacked France. The French army was disorientated and during the Dunkerque battle a lot of English soldiers died. The Germans were proceeding fast toward the central France. Because England wasn’t prepared for the war either and therefore couldn’t provide much of a help too, France was looking for any kind of help among us - untrained and unarmed. So from the total of twelve thousand of the Czechoslovakian soldiers only two infantries has been sent to France. And it was just us."
"The driver told us: ´jump quickly into the corn field over there, that’s Yugoslavia already.´ so we did it and stayed down for a while. We were happy that we managed to do that so we started to talk in Czech, we laughed and had fun. But then all of a sudden a soldier jumped out with a gun saying: ´Halt put your hands up! ´ He spoke German. We were confused so we thought aloud: Now what do we do, boys? We will surround him and then we get him? ´ He was looking at us, listening and then he said: Are you Czechs? ´ And we replied: Yes.´ He put his gun down and said: ´Czechs are welcomed.´ He took us straight to the guard house where they greeted us, offered us some food and then provided us with the bunks. They were brave men and they used to say: The Germans have no chance here.´ that was before the Yugoslavia was occupied. They have already organized the plan for us in Belgrade. We had to sign some sort of passport there, because we didn’t have any foreign army or the foreign government. So we had to sign the agreement to enter the French foreign legion. Regarding these documents they made us the passports and arranged the international express train ride to Syria via Greece and Turkey. Some problems occurred on the way of course, but finally we made it over the mountains to Syria and we got off the train in Beirut. The foreign legion soldiers were waiting for as already and they took us to their barracks. We were not the first group of soldiers to get there. In fact we were 62nd group that came over there. Another two groups arrived after our and then the Germans attacked Yugoslavia. Then it was no longer possible for the whole groups to come over, only separately."
"We saw the disaster already as we were approaching to Paris. We saw the barefoot disarmed soldiers leaving. Our buses were hit by the fighters, everything was damaged after the bombing and we thought: Oh boy, where are we going to. About 30 kilometers away from Paris we turned to Seine River where we took the battle positions, because the Germans have already broke through the Arras fort and headed to Paris. Despite the fact that we were untrained soldiers the French relied on us. We remained on one place till the Germans came. Then we fought them whole evening and night. They tried to encircle us, because we didn’t have any back up from the right or from the left. We would have been captured but we held on by firing. There were many very experienced soldiers among us and we also had great commanders. I was part of the first regiment of the second battalion and we were guarding the right wing. At the beginning we had only few casualties, but later we have been ordered to retreat. We started to march hard, without any servings or supplies. We had a lack of bullets. We always retreated to the nearest town where we joined the ones who were also retreating. After that we received an order to cross the bridge in Motreux which was supposed explode at 6am. We had to cross the bridge and establish the defending positions. We managed but we had many casualties there. During the retreat we didn’t fight anymore, we were hiding more or less knowing that if we meet the Germans we’ll fight to the last soldier. It was really hard, because we didn’t have many weapons, just some mine throwers, no artillery. We survived it only thank to the French, who arranged a night train ride for the rest of us. (There were 34 of us at the beginning and only 17 of us survived) We passed through the wood where the rail road was and then we jumped on this organized train and we rode having no idea where to accompany by German Luftwaffe. All the surroundings was damaged by bombing, we had to stop frequently because the rail tracks need to be fixed. Eventually we arrived to Gien."
Mr. Vladimir Madera, retired colonel, was born on March 19th 1917 in Velehrad village in Uherske Hradiste region. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Hitler’s Germany he joined the resistance organization called Defending the Nation. He left the country in 1940 and went to France via Syria. There a new exile Czechoslovak army was being established. After the French capitulation he moved to England together with the part of the Czechoslovak unit. They arrived to the paratroopers training camp. In fall of 1941 he got hurt during his practice drop and suffered the spine injury which enabled him to fly back to Czechoslovakia. He met Gabcik, Kubis and Valcik, the assassinates of Reinhard Heydrich. Mr. Madera was providing the parachutes the faked ID photographs, he was supplying the materials and he helped to construct the chutes. After 1948 he spent three years in communist prison. After his release he worked in Ostrava town mines for fifteen years. He is presently a chairman of the Czech Association of Fighters for Freedom in Uherske Hradiste town. He has been honored many medals and privileges.
