On the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the shooting down of the Vickers Wellington B Mk.IC T2990 of the Czechoslovak 311th Squadron of the RAF over the territory of the Netherlands on the night of 22.06. to 23.06.1941, in the presence of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Jana Černochová and the Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Jaroslav Naď, the remains of the recently missing five airmen were ceremoniously laid to rest in the British military cemetery in the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom. Analysis of the remains found showed that they belonged to five different individuals. This shows that, apart from Wilhelm Bufka, none of the remaining five pilots from the torch plane made it out, and all of them were indeed killed in the crash near the town of Nieuwe Niedorp.
The crew ofVickers Wellington B Mk.Ic KX-T T2990 :
Sgt Bufka, Vilém - 1st pilot, only surviving crew member, later imprisoned in camp OFLAG IVC Colditz
Previously missing crew members:
Sgt Rozum, Alois - 2nd pilot
P/O Konstacky, Vilém - Navigator
P/O Smrček, Leonhard - radiotelegraphist (pilot, but flew as a substitute radiotelegraphist)
Sgt Hejna, Jan - front gunner
Sgt Valach, Karel - rear gunner
Bomber wreckage excavation report - Finding the wreckage of Vilém Bufka's Vickers Wellington B Mk.IC T2990.
Other Czechoslovak airmen are also buried in the British war cemetery at Bergen op Zoom. These are the six crew members of Vickers Wellington B Mk.IC Z8838 (KX-Z) who did not return from the night raid on Essen on the night of 10-11 April 1941. The flak-damaged Wellington was the victim of a German night fighter Bf 110, which reported being shot down at 00:23, 4.5 km east of Kolhorn. All six airmen - F/Sgt Josef Kalenský, Sgt Karel Kodeš, F/O Karel Rychnovský, Sgt Josef Politzer, Sgt Jan Peprníček and F/Sgt Josef Hrdina - found their deaths in the wreckage of the burning machine.
The crew ofVickers Wellington B Mk.Ic KX-T T2990 :
Sgt Bufka, Vilém - 1st pilot, only surviving crew member, later imprisoned in camp OFLAG IVC Colditz
Previously missing crew members:
Sgt Rozum, Alois - 2nd pilot
P/O Konstacky, Vilém - Navigator
P/O Smrček, Leonhard - radiotelegraphist (pilot, but flew as a substitute radiotelegraphist)
Sgt Hejna, Jan - front gunner
Sgt Valach, Karel - rear gunner
Bomber wreckage excavation report - Finding the wreckage of Vilém Bufka's Vickers Wellington B Mk.IC T2990.
Other Czechoslovak airmen are also buried in the British war cemetery at Bergen op Zoom. These are the six crew members of Vickers Wellington B Mk.IC Z8838 (KX-Z) who did not return from the night raid on Essen on the night of 10-11 April 1941. The flak-damaged Wellington was the victim of a German night fighter Bf 110, which reported being shot down at 00:23, 4.5 km east of Kolhorn. All six airmen - F/Sgt Josef Kalenský, Sgt Karel Kodeš, F/O Karel Rychnovský, Sgt Josef Politzer, Sgt Jan Peprníček and F/Sgt Josef Hrdina - found their deaths in the wreckage of the burning machine.
