Bio / Text:
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DSO, DFC, C de G. We do have a reference number for the operational log book(s) available in the RAF archives, in London, and the reference numbers include: Log Book accession no. X003-6084/001. If a user conducts research on this pilot and can fill in this pilot's biography further by clicking edit, or, can visit the RAF archives to inspect the log book(s) and add any aircraft serials or sortie details, or if relatives have further information on this pilot including post-war years, we'd love to hear from you.
From laituk.org source on right:
"Pilot Officer Tomas Vybiral had graduated as a Lieutenant in the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1936 and escaped to France when Czechoslovakia was overrun in 1939. He then served as a lieutenant with the Groupe de Chasse I/5 (GC I/5), Flying Curtiss Hawk H-75s from their operational base at Suippes near Reims and had been credited with five shared victories and an Me110 confirmed destroyed. On arriving in Britain, he was assigned to No. 312 Squadron at Duxford in September 1940, becoming commander of “B” flight on 5th June 1941 and leaving for No. 41 squadron on 19th June 1942. He returned to command No. 312 as Squadron Leader on 1st January 1943 remaining in this position until November of that year. In February 1944, the three Czechoslovak fighter squadrons; Nos. 310, 312 and 313 were assembled into No 134 (Czech) of the Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) at Mendlesham, Suffolk and led by the now Wing Commander Tomas Vybiral. He was awarded the a number of Czech and French decorations as well as the DFC in July 1944 and the DSO in December 1944, after the war he left the RAF and returned to Czechoslovakia though was forced to flee again in 1948 after the Communist coup there and returned with his family to England. He died in London in 1981 aged 69 and is buried alongside his wartime Czech comrades at Brookwood Military Cemetery."
