| Příjmení: Surname: | Elston1) | |
| Jméno: Given Name: | František | |
| Jméno v originále: Original Name: | František Elston1) | |
| Fotografie či obrázek: Photograph or Picture: |  | |
| Hodnost: Rank: | brigádní generál | |
| Akademický či vědecký titul: Academic or Scientific Title: | MUDr. | |
| Šlechtický titul: Hereditary Title: | - | |
| Datum, místo narození: Date and Place of Birth: | 27.05.1922 Praha / | |
| Datum, místo úmrtí: Date and Place of Decease: | 06.07.2005 Praha | |
| Nejvýznamnější funkce: (maximálně tři) Most Important Appointments: (up to three) | - pilot 313. perute RAF | |
| Jiné významné skutečnosti: (maximálně tři) Other Notable Facts: (up to three) | - dieťa z transportu organizovaného sirom Nicolasom Wintonom - syn prof. Bertholda Epsteina | |
| Související články: Related Articles: | | |
| Zdroje: Sources: | Soukromý archiv Pytlák J. Rajlich - Na nebi hrdého Albionu M. Štráfeldová - Český a slovenský svět Post Bellum - Hlasy hrdinů Rádio Praha - Češi a Slováci v zahraničí plk. v. z. Petr Majer, Army Service | |
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Elston-Epstein-Frantisek-t35015#703901Version : 0
Janko PALIGA
MOD
| Příjmení: Surname: | Elston | |
| Jméno: Given Name: | František | |
| Jméno v originále: Original Name: | František Elston | |
| Všeobecné vzdělání: General Education: | DD.MM.RRRR-27.05.1940 Reálné reformní gymnázium, Wigane | |
| Vojenské vzdělání: Military Education: | DD.MM.RRRR-DD.MM.RRRR | |
| Důstojnické hodnosti: Officer Ranks: | 01.10.1945 podporučík letectva DD.MM.RRRR brigádní generál | |
| Průběh vojenské služby: Military Career: |
08.08.1944-DD.MM.RRRR 313. peruť RAF | |
| Vyznamenání: Awards: |
Pamětní medaile československé armády v zahraničí Commemorative Medal of Czechoslovak Army Abroad se štítkem VB / with clasp VB ; No. 16293 Medaile za zásluhy II. stupeň Medal for Merit 2nd Class - Medaile Za chrabrost před nepřítelem Medal "For Gallantry" - Vyznamenání Zlaté lípy Commendation of Golden Linden Vyznamenání Zlaté lípy ministra obrany České republiky in memoriam Hvězda 1939-1945 1939–45 Star - | |
| Poznámka: Note: | Číslo RAF: 788668 1) Narozen jako Epstein, po emigraci do Velké Británie přijal příjmení Elston | |
| Zdroje: Sources: | Soukromý archiv Pytlák J. Rajlich - Na nebi hrdého Albionu M. Štráfeldová - Český a slovenský svět Post Bellum - Hlasy hrdinů Rádio Praha - Češi a Slováci v zahraničí plk. v. z. Petr Majer, Army Service www.vuapraha.cz ct24.ceskatelevize.cz | |
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Elston-Epstein-Frantisek-t35015#703902Version : 0
Janko PALIGA
MOD
Brigadier General František Elston (Epstein)
"The Germans were pigs who were not equal, but they acted according to their principles and doctrines. The Czechs were pigs, which were also not equal. But since they had no doctrines, they invented them themselves and persecuted people who really did not deserve it..."[/i]
On Wednesday, 6 July 2005, in the early hours of the morning, retired Brigadier General František Elston, a war veteran, pilot of a Czechoslovak fighter squadron in Great Britain, died at the Central Military Hospital in Prague.
He was born on 27 May 1922 in Prague. In 1939, when Nicholas Winton organized the rescue of six hundred Jewish children from Czechoslovakia, he was already a seventeen-year-old high school student. But his father, a prominent physician, managed to get a place for Francis on Winton's child transport to England.
"I didn't fit the age group, but somehow, thanks to my father, a birth certificate was found which put me in that age group, and we left Wilson Station for England about three Sundays before the war. We passed through Germany and were stuck at the German border for I don't know how long. It could have been a day, it could have been less. But since I went there with the note that if the Germans caught me, the transport itself would not take any responsibility for me, I was a bit shaky..."[/i]
So František Elston eventually made it to England. He was accepted by his family, who allowed him to prepare for his English Baccalaureate. A few weeks after his arrival, however, the war broke out and František volunteered at the Czechoslovak embassy. There he was rejected, saying that he should reapply after graduation. František Elston managed to pass his matriculation on his eighteenth birthday. After that, nothing prevented him from joining the RAF (which also took place in Canada...[/i]), he became a pupil of the 5th FTS, where he passed the pilot test.
"In Canada, at night, the temperature outside was some twenty-six, twenty-seven degrees below zero, I wandered over the prairie. I got out of range of those rather weak radio transmitters. At that time I thought about jumping out, but in minus twenty-six degrees somewhere to fall into the prairie... So that's when I decided to turn around and fly back. And then the radio started "meowing" a bit, so we talked and got me home..."[/i]
In October 1943, while performing aerobatics on a Miles Master DM 126 during a volunteer aerobatic flight, his aircraft caught fire. He was prevented from making a quick jump by a jammed cockpit. The flames began to slowly lick his face, which he instinctively shielded with his hands. He released the controls and the machine went into an uncontrollable fall. Only 300 metres above the ground did his left shoulder manage to release the canopy and leave the aircraft. Although the parachute did not open sufficiently, Francis Elston was very lucky as the canopy of his parachute caught on the high tension wires. Seriously burned, he no longer had enough strength to free himself. Fortunately, a local farmer appeared below him and asked him to help him down. However, after the fall, the farmer started digging into his body, thinking he was a German paratrooper. Only after convincing him that he was an RAF pilot did the farmer carry him to his house. He was taken to hospital with severe second and third degree burns to his face, both legs and one arm.
"I broke the basic rule of being a soldier and that is: I volunteered for machine testing in assembly, general assembly, etc. I was trying out one of the Masters and it started burning from my left leg. I was at like 2,000 feet, I said to myself, so it's already fallen and I think to leave the office and I wanted to open the hood. But the hood got stuck halfway and at that point the flames went over my head. I had no choice but to let go of the steering, luckily I had gloves on. While the flames were whipping around my face, I was trying to get out of it. Meanwhile, the plane was already flying at a nice dive. Eventually I managed to knock the cabin out with my left shoulder and also knocked the shoulder out, then bailed out at 300 feet. I got out of the aeroplane, but before I could pull the cord the monster blew up, there wasn't much time as it were. Before the parachute could open properly, I flew into the high-tension wires. Well, the boss probably took a break and looked down and saw it and thought, I'm gonna help this kid. Because I was left dangling about a foot off the ground. And there was this guy working in the field and he saw me and he came over there. I pointed to him with my burnt lips to help me out of the parachute, so he pushed the button and I fell to the ground and he started kicking and kicking and kicking, because the little boy thought I was German. He didn't like them, I didn't like them either."[/i]
Because of the nasty burns, he had to undergo extensive plastic surgery, during which, for example, his missing eyelids were replaced. "Here with us is Colonel Svoboda, who used to show the boys how I sleep with my eyes open. I don't know whether he was paid for it or not..."[/i] Despite his permanently damaged eyesight, he sought to rejoin the operation after a partial recovery. He eventually achieved this, but after having a landing accident due to his vision impairment, he had to undergo several surgeries again. [He was a fighter pilot with the 313th (Czechoslovak) Fighter Squadron of the RAF, based in Scotland, which moved to the south of England in October 1944 to join the Czechoslovak Wing. He was with 313 Squadron until his return to Czechoslovakia in August 1945.
On his return to Prague in 1945, he encountered conflicting attitudes of the Czechs towards the soldiers of the foreign troops. "Either people expressed an exaggerated, hysterical love for us, or they said: What about you, you had yourselves, but we were on the barricades..."[/i] Mr Elston, however, was faced with a far more terrible discovery in the post-war period. During the Nazi rampage as part of the so-called Final Solution to the Jewish question, his mother and 17 other close relatives were murdered in the extermination camps. His father survived only because the infamous Josef Mengele chose him as a treating physician because of his abilities.
Soon after the communist coup, František Elston decided to emigrate permanently to England. Before doing so, however, he had to apply for an emigration passport. "I applied for a passport and put all the photographs in my uniform. That was amazingly helpful, because people were red on the outside but not so red on the inside..."[/i]
In England, he decided to change his surname from the original Epstein to Elston. "I opened the phone book, I wanted an E, and it sort of fell in my eye, the right one..."[/i] In his new homeland, František Elston decided to study medicine in Liverpool, specializing in dentistry. He subsequently devoted himself to this field during his medical practice.
He was awarded the Czechoslovak Medal of Valour, Czechoslovak Medal of Merit 2nd Class, Commemorative Medal of the Czechoslovak Army Abroad, and was the recipient of numerous foreign awards. On 6 June 2005, he visited the Czech Republic, along with other RAF veterans, to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, which I have already mentioned. At a ceremony on 8 June 2005, he delivered a speech to mark the 64th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the establishment of the Air Squadrons. It was also, sadly, my last meeting with him. We had a wonderful chat and quite a few laughs. Not only me, but all the rest of us will miss General Elston's mischievous smile...
"I think that the Czech youth don't really know anything about us anymore, for them we are just people who played with airplanes a long time ago. And what's worse, nobody remembers what happened to us in the post-war years.
When it comes to the question of patriotism, I distinguish between two kinds of patriotism: for "a" with the mouth and for "b" with the heart. Patriotism with the mouth is similar to a young man's first love. It seems to be forever, but at the first temptation it fails. Patriotism of the heart is like the love of a mother. It stands devotedly by the child without regard to self."[/i]
Addendum: Due to the complete lack of information, as the news of General Elston's death took us all completely by surprise, I asked several friends and acquaintances for information. Finally I succeeded in the Duo with Colonel Horal and Colonel Vani. I learned from them that General Elston had collapsed just before his return to England. He lay unconscious in the Military Hospital for about 14 days and died without regaining consciousness. The cause was a large cancerous tumour in his lungs. As he had done on several occasions, Mr. Elston fought a heroic, if losing, battle. Moreover, he never mentioned his problems to anyone and continued to act as if everything was perfectly fine.
The Ministry wanted to give him a military funeral, but the General's English lawyer had his body taken back to England under his will, where he was buried quietly beside his wife...
Sources:
Private archive
J. Rajlich - In the skies of proud Albion
M. Štráfeldová - Czech and Slovak World
Post Bellum - Voices of Heroes
Radio Prague - Czechs and Slovaks Abroad
Colonel Petr Majer, Army Service
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Elston-Epstein-Frantisek-t35015#127430Version : 0
