A graduate of the military academy, a First Republic fighter, a participant in air battles in France and a series of battle attacks on tanks, a member of the British RAF, a pilot of the 310th Czechoslovak Air Force. fighter squadron, participant in the Battle of Britain, squadron commander of the 313th Czechoslovak fighter squadron, a total of six confirmed kills, fighter ace.

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He graduated from a higher technical school in Pardubice and after passing his high school diploma in 1932 joined the army in the air force. Right from the start, he went through the Prostejov School for Reserve Air Force Officers and from June 1933 he served with Aviation Regiment 4 in Hradec Králové. He started his studies at the Military Academy in Hranice already on September 1 and after two years he successfully completed it with the rank of Air Force Lieutenant. This was followed by an application course and assignment to Aviation Regiment 3 M.R. Štefánik, where in 1938 he took command of the 45th fighter squadron armed with Avia B-534 biplanes.

 

On March 15, 1939, the homeland was enslaved by the occupation of Nazi Germany, so on June 8 he left for Poland. But there was no interest in Czechoslovaks there, so nine days later he continued from Gdynia on the Sobieski ship to France. He fulfilled his signed commitment to the Foreign Legion by serving in North Africa. Shortly after the outbreak of war, he was reassigned to the colonial air force at the bases of Blida and Oran retrained on French technology, especially Morane Saulnier MS-406 fighters. He was subsequently assigned to the GC I/6 fighter unit on 16 December and sent back to the continent with other airmen. During May and June 1940, they engaged in heavy fighting, during which he achieved two certain and one probable kills. Since June 5, the command has sent a number of squadrons armed with MS-406s on combat missions. S. Fejfar completed a total of six almost suicidal missions against tanks, the most of ours. But France was collapsing. The evacuation began on June 24 and was headed through North Africa and Gibraltar. It arrived in the British port of Liverpool on July 12.

 

He was accepted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAF VR) on 2 August 1940 with the rank of Pilot Officer (P/O) and four days later he joined the 310th Czechoslovak Air Force. fighter squadrons based at Duxford near Cambridge. Before starting operational flights, he underwent a four-week retraining at the 6th OTU (Operational Training Unit) in Sutton Bridge. The Battle of Britain was in full swing, so soon after his return, on Monday, September 9, he headed in a Hawker Hurrinace Mk. I P3143 (NN-D) into combat for the first time. The squadron encountered a formation of twin-engine Dornier Do 17 bombers with a strong fighter escort of Messerschmitts Bf 110, one of which P/O S. Fejfar sent to the ground. In a few days, he scored two more bombers - one Do 17 and one Junkers Ju 88. At the end of October, health problems sent him to the hospital, and the treatment lasted until April 1941. He then served at the Czechoslovak Inspectorate. air force. He returned to operational flying on 21 July 1941, when he took command of Squadron B at the 313th Czechoslovak Air Force. fighter squadrons. Their base was Leconfield on the coast east of York and their armament consisted of Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Ia and IIa, and from October they also used the improved Mk. Vb equipped with a pair of 20 mm cannons. They gradually became involved in offensive actions over occupied Western Europe. However, at that time the Luftwaffe units had already started to be equipped with Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters, which had the upper hand in performance and firepower. At the turn of April and May 1942, however, he managed to hit three of these opponents - he scored only a certain kill, one probable and damaged one.

 

On the morning of May 17, 1942, Třistatřinácka was sent as part of the Hornchur Wing, together with the 64th and 122nd squadrons, to Operation Ramrod 33. Their task was to provide high-altitude cover for a formation of bombers heading for the French port of Boulogne. During the turn back, however, F/Lt S. Fejfar on the Spitfire Mk suddenly broke away from the others. Vb BL973 (RY-B) followed by wingman Sgt Miroslav Borovec… whereupon they remained missing to comrades. It was later revealed that they were engaged in a fight with an outnumbered Fw 190, where Fejfar's machine was set on fire by hits from a German Hptm ace. J. Priller and after the fall it shattered near the village of Guines south of Calais.

 

The remains of Stanislav Fejfar were buried at the Pihen-les-Guines cemetery. In 1991, he was promoted to the rank of Air Force Colonel in memoriam.

 

War Service Medal

Croix de Guerre (French War Cross) with three palms and one gold star 3x Czechoslovak War Cross 1939, 2x Czechoslovak Medal For bravery before the enemy, Czechoslovak soldier medal for merits of the 1st degree, Czechoslovak military commemorative medal with labels F and VB,…

 

Reminders

• Cenotaph at the cemetery of Husova sbor in Nové Paca

• In Prague 14, the street was named "Fejfarova"

 

Literature and information

• Fejfar S.: Diary of a fighter

• Fajtl F.: Memories of fallen friends

• Kudrna L.: On the land and sky of Western Europe

• Rail J., Hrubá M., Lavický J.: Letci Novopacka 1939-45

• Rajlich J.: Aces in the sky

• Rajlich J.: In the sky of proud Albion 1

• Slípka H.: Fire wings

• Kudrna L.: First line fighter pilot (https://www.ustrcr.cz/data/pdf/pamet-dejiny/0803-078-100.pdf)

• https://www.praha14.cz/zivot-na-praze-14/plk-i-m-stanislav-fejfar/

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