Miloslav Mansfeld (14 December 1912 – 22 October 1991) was a Czechoslovak fighter pilot who became a flying ace in the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War.
Mansfeld was a Czechoslovak Air Force pilot in the 1930s, flying initially reconnaissance aircraft, then night fighters and latterly bombers. When Germany occupied and partitioned Czechoslovakia in 1939 he escaped via Poland to France. When France capitulated in 1940 Mansfeld was evacuated to Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
From 1941 to 1944 Mansfeld flew Bristol Beaufighters with the Czechoslovak flight of No. 68 Squadron RAF and scored most of his victories. From 1944 he flew de Havilland Mosquitoes, with which he shot down two V-1 flying bombs.
In 1945 Mansfeld returned to Czechoslovakia, but after the Czechoslovak Communist Party seized power in 1948 he returned to Britain and the RAF. He flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters, specialised in photoreconnaissance and commanded a squadron. In 1958 he left the RAF for a civilian career. He retired in 1970 and died in 1991.
Early life
Mansfeld was born in Dalovice in central Bohemia in 1912. His father served in the Austrian Imperial-Royal Landwehr on the Eastern Front in the First World War. After Mansfeld left school he trained as a car mechanic.
Czechoslovak Air Force
In 1930 Mansfeld joined the Czechoslovak Air Force. He was trained at the military aviation school at Prostějov. In 1932 he qualified as a pilot and on 1 July was posted to a reconnaissance squadron of the 72nd Air Regiment at Milovice in central Bohemia.
In May 1934 he started training at Prostějov to be a fighter pilot. He completed the course on 1 July and was posted to the 91st Night Fighter Squadron of the 6th Air Regiment at Prague-Kbely. In May and June 1935 he received night fighter training at Prague. On 1 April 1936 the air force commissioned Mansfeld as an officer.
In 1937 Czechoslovakia ordered 60 Tupolev SB medium bombers from the Soviet Union. In April 1938 Mansfeld was a member of the Czechoslovak aircrew flying one of the bombers on its delivery flight from the USSR to Czechoslovakia.
On 29 September 1938 France and the United Kingdom signed the Munich Agreement, which forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. From 1 January 1939 Mansfeld was based at Letňany on the edge of Prague.
On 15 March 1939 Germany occupied Czechoslovakia and imposed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which the next day dissolved the Czechoslovak armed forces in its territory.
On 3 June a group of airmen including Mansfeld escaped across the border into Poland at Český Těšín in Czech Silesia. The group was detained by Polish border guards, but was then escorted to the Czechoslovak Consulate in Kraków. Mansfeld was then accommodated in Czechoslovak transit camp at Bronowice Małe that had been converted from a disused Austro-Hungarian Army camp.
In France
On 16 July a group of Czechoslovak airmen including Mansfeld left Bronowice Małe for the Port of Gdynia. There they embarked on a ship that took them to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France.
The Czechoslovak Ambassador in Paris reached agreement with the French Government that Czechoslovak volunteers could join the French Foreign Legion for a five-year term, on the understanding that if war broke out they would be released to form a Czechoslovak army in exile. On 3 September 1939 France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Mansfeld joined the Foreign Legion and on 2 October was posted to Sidi Bel Abbès in French Algeria for army training.
French Air Force
On 17 November the French Government and Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee agreed that Czechoslovak airmen would be transferred from the Foreign Legion to the French Air Force pending the formation of a Czechoslovak air force. On 27 November 1939 Mansfeld was posted to Châteauroux-Déols Air Base in central France for training.
On 10 May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium and attacked France. On 21 May Mansfeld was posted to Tafraoui airfield near Oran in French Algeria for training on obsolescent Bloch MB.200 and Bloch MB.210 bomber aircraft.
After France capitulated to Germany on 22 June, Mansfeld was evacuated by the British-India Steam Navigation Company ship Neuralia, which reached Liverpool, England on 12 July.
Royal Air Force
On 25 July 1940 Mansfeld enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve as a sergeant. On 21 September 1940 he was posted to No. 6 Operational Training Unit at RAF Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire who trained him on the Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighter.