Colonel (ret.) Alois Píška

“We had no flat and so they put us into a hospital that was separated into two parts. One section was for the homeless and the other continued to serve as a regular hospital. We had a small room and had to accommodate two little kids there. The kitchen could take about ten people. And the washing rooms served the whole inhabitants of the hospital. So that was our place. We had no money – the only money we had was 35 pounds we got from the Royal Air Force Association. That was all we had. We had to pay 10 cents a day for the rent. We were getting fish oil for the kids. Once we bought some fish and had no more lard or oil to fry the fish on. So we used the fish oil and fried the fish on it. It was disgusting. We were that poor.”

“After we came to France we landed in a camp for the exiles. The camp was badly organized. The shacks that we lived in were in a poor state. We called them ‘submarines’. They were made of wooden planks but there were a lot of holes and openings in them and so the wind would blow inside. When the weather was bad, it was very cold und uncomfortable inside. At least the food was a bit better. It was Czech food. We also got a little bit of money – just enough to buy some wine. One part of the camp was occupied by the so-called ‘Spaniards’. These were soldiers returning from the Spanish civil war that had just ended. Nobody knew what was going to happen next. Later, we went to a city called Pézenas. In Pézenas, it was already better organized. We were handed out rifles and trained. These rifles must have been from the Napoleonic wars – they were long and had a bayonet attached to them. Then May 10 came and the Germans attacked France. We were sent to the battle lines. I was with the 1st regiment, the 2nd followed suit. I think that the 3rd regiment was just being formed. We were very poorly equipped. The Germans had armored cars and we were pulled by horses in carts. Most of the French equipment originated in the First World War. The rifles and the guns were of an old design. I think they must have used it in the First war already.”

“Then came the Communist coup of February 1948 and I knew that it didn’t bode well for us. My wife was already in Czechoslovakia at that time. They invited us – the officers who served in Britain and returned to Czechoslovakia – to a huge congress where they tried to explain to us that Communism is a good thing and that we would have a good life under the new regime. Again, we had a bad gut feeling about it. We asked what would happen to those of us who had English wives. They said nothing would happen to us. They told us we may stay here as have an undisturbed life. But then, in the beginning of April, an order came from the headquarters and I was sent on ‘permanent vacation’ – that’s how they called it. At the same time they started to arrest and persecute others who fought in England. They found ways how to obstruct them. They wouldn’t issue visas to them, for instance, and so they couldn’t go back to Britain. They had already initiated the process of persecution.”

“We came to an orchard early in the morning and we took a rest there. An old woman came to pick her apples. I came to her and asked her for the way to the American zone. She was surprised that we were there. I asked her for the direction and she showed me the way and told me that we had to cross a nearby footbridge. She warned us that after crossing the footbridge, we had to make sure to turn left, not right, as turning right would lead us back into the Soviet zone. Turning left would direct us toward Steyr. I crossed that 100 meters in 10 seconds. I ran and got out of it.”