Peklo, Bohumír

Peklo, Bohumir
Bohumír Peklo
     
Příjmení:
Surname:
Peklo Peklo
Jméno:
Given Name:
Bohumír Bohumir
Jméno v originále:
Original Name:
Bohumír Peklo
Fotografie či obrázek:
Photograph or Picture:
Hodnost:
Rank:
rotný Staff Sergeant
Akademický či vědecký titul:
Academic or Scientific Title:
- -
Šlechtický titul:
Hereditary Title:
- -
Datum, místo narození:
Date and Place of Birth:
02.10.1917 Velké Kunčice /
02.10.1917 Velké Kunčice /
Datum, místo úmrtí:
Date and Place of Decease:
04.09.1983 Ostrava /
04.09.1983 Ostrava /
Nejvýznamnější funkce:
(maximálně tři)
Most Important Appointments:
(up to three)
- -
Jiné významné skutečnosti:
(maximálně tři)
Other Notable Facts:
(up to three)
- zraněn v boji u Dunkerque - Wounded in battle at Dunkerque
Související články:
Related Articles:

Zdroje:
Sources:
Jurasová, Marcela: I v nebi může být Peklo, soukromý tisk, Ostrava, 2020
www.pametnaroda.cz
www.patriotmagazin.cz
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Peklo-Bohumir-t262150#714375 Version : 0
     
Příjmení:
Surname:
Peklo Peklo
Jméno:
Given Name:
Bohumír Bohumir
Jméno v originále:
Original Name:
Bohumír Peklo
Všeobecné vzdělání:
General Education:
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Vojenské vzdělání:
Military Education:
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Důstojnické hodnosti:
Officer Ranks:
DD.MM.RRRR
DD.MM.RRRR
Průběh vojenské služby:
Military Career:
DD.MM.RRRR-DD.MM.RRRR
DD.MM.RRRR-DD.MM.RRRR
Vyznamenání:
Awards:
Poznámka:
Note:
- -
Zdroje:
Sources:
Jurasová, Marcela: I v nebi může být Peklo, soukromý tisk, Ostrava, 2020
www.pametnaroda.cz
www.patriotmagazin.cz
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Peklo-Bohumir-t262150#714376 Version : 0

Bohumír Peklo


personal number: D-419


Introduction


Recently, I got my hands on a wonderful publication by Mrs. Marcela Jurasová, "Even in Heaven There Can Be Hell", in which, on the basis of archival sources, family archives and memories of relatives, she recalled the fate of her grandfather, Mr. Bohumír Peklo, among others, a veteran of fighting on the Western Front during World War II. The booklet, unfortunately printed only for the family, contains not only the text but also many unpublished photographs and copies of documents.


Biography


The youngest of the seven descendants of the miner Karel Pekl and his wife Maria, née Mohylova, he was born on 2 October 1917 in Velké Kunčice, now a district of Ostrava. He spent his childhood in the Šalamoun mine colony. After graduating from the municipal school, he trained as a painter-painter, but earned his living as a miner at the Hlubina mine.


The occupation of Czechoslovakia affected him greatly. He soon came into conflict with the Gestapo over the tearing down of a German flag and a picture of Adolf Hitler during the Führer's birthday celebrations and fled to Poland before his arrest. Here he checked in at the still functioning Czechoslovak consulate in Krakow. As he was well versed in the Czechoslovak-Polish border area, he was put in charge of the courier service. In total, he crossed the border three times and transferred four people.


He then moved to France in May 1939 on the Batory, but unlike most of his fellow soldiers, he was not met by the Foreign Legion, but because he was an experienced miner, the authorities put him to work in a mine in Carmaux in southern France. There he also married Lucia Orsztynowicz on 18 January 1940, but he concealed his marriage from the military authorities so as not to prevent him from joining the exiled Czechoslovak army.


He was conscripted as early as 18 December 1939 in Toulouse, but it was not until April 1940 that he joined the 11th Company of the 2nd Czechoslovak Infantry Regiment in Agde. In June 1940, he was deployed with his unit to fight on the Marne, Loire and Cher. For his bravery in these battles, he was later awarded his first Medal of Valour by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. At the last moment and under dramatic circumstances, the Czechoslovaks managed to retreat to the south of France and then evacuate via Gibraltar to Great Britain.


In Liverpool, he and other Czechoslovak soldiers boarded a train that took them to the Cholmondeley estate near Chester, where the remnants of our troops were concentrated. Here the former 1st Division was reorganised into Czechoslovak Mixed Brigade. Bohumir Peklo was assigned to the 3rd Company of the II Battalion. He moved with the unit to central England near Stratford-upon-Avon in the autumn of 1940. Here, on 28 October 1940, the soldiers performed the oath ceremony and, after receiving their equipment and gear, began training.


After the formation of the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade in September 1943, Bohumír Peklo retrained as a tank driver and also completed a parachute course. In October 1944, the brigade moved to France and engaged in the siege of the besieged port of Dunkirk, where it blockaded 12,000 German soldiers. The area was artificially flooded and heavily mined, making it very unsuitable for tank combat. Despite this, Czechoslovak tankers made many attacks on German positions.


During one of them, Bohumir Peklo was severely wounded on 5 November. As the driver of a Cromwell tank, he drove for several minutes and was luckily rescued from the burning tank by his comrades. He was immediately transported to a hospital in England, where doctors managed to save the sight of one eye, and successfully operated on his injured spine, crushed heel bone and other injuries. He also lost several fingers on his hand and had to have a platinum plate implanted in his head.


The treatment was difficult and he did not return to his homeland until the autumn of 1945. A war invalid, he settled in Krnov, where he was assigned a trafika. In June 1946, his wife Lucie finally came to visit him with their daughter Anna, who was born in July 1940 and whom he saw for the first time after the war. In 1948, the family grew with a daughter, Sonia. He was active in the Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters and also participated in the formation of the Krnov Volunteer Fire Brigade. In the early 1970s he moved with his family to Ostrava and died there on 4 September 1983.


Thanks to Mrs. Marcela Jurasová for lending the publication and providing the photographs.


Sources:
Jurasová, Marcela.
www.pametnaroda.cz
www.patriotmagazin.cz

Peklo, Bohumír - Skupinová fotografie posádky a pasažérů lodi Batory, která přepravila čs. uprchlíky z Polska do Francie. Pozorné oko zaznamená mimo jiné v horní řadě později velmi úspěšné stíhací letce Václava Jíchu a Jiřího Kučeru.

Skupinová fotografie posádky a pasažérů lodi Batory, která přepravila čs. uprchlíky z Polska do Francie. Pozorné oko zaznamená mimo jiné v horní řadě později velmi úspěšné stíhací letce Václava Jíchu a Jiřího Kučeru.
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URL : https://www.valka.cz/Peklo-Bohumir-t262150#714377 Version : 0
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