pilots flying in the RAF, his leadership was recognised, and he was promoted to squadron leader to command No. 122 Squadron in 1942. Escape over Europe (1942) On 5 May 1942 his Spitfire was shot down over northern France while escorting bombers attacking Lille, and crash-landed near Hazebrouck, within the heavily defended Atlantic Wall. He evaded capture and made his way through the occupied and "free" Vichy France, over the Pyrenees to Spain where he was captured and imprisoned in a concentration camp at Miranda de Ebro. As a result of British diplomatic intervention Fajtl was released after a few weeks and returned to his squadron in England via Gibraltar. Wing commander (1942–1943) After this episode he became a liaison officer. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in November 1942, and promoted to wing commander. He commanded the fighter station at RAF Skeabrae in the Orkney Islands, but dropped a rank to return to command No. 313 Squadron, flying Spitfires from RAF Ibsley. Slovak National Uprising (1944) In January 1944, František Fajtl was assigned to command a group of 20 Czechoslovak pilots, forming the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment, in the Soviet Union as result of negotiations between the London-based Czechoslovak government-in-exile and the military mission in the Soviet Union. The air regiment was part of the 1st Czechoslovak Army corps, but was under the command of the Soviet Air Force. The government-in-exile's intentions were to support the rebellion in occupied Czechoslovakia, which become later known as the Slovak National Uprising launched on 29 August 1944 in Banská Bystrica. On 17 September 1944 Fajtl landed with the regiment on Zolná airport near Zvolen from where, and also Tri Duby airport, they supported the rebellion with Lavochkin La-5FN fighters. The air group was a significant power, mostly due to their surprise effect. The Germans did not realize the presence of a fighter group based within the region. When the Slovak National Uprising was suppressed in October 1944, the air regiment returned to a Soviet-controlled airbase in Poland. His last military assignment was during the Ostrava Operation in 1945. Shortly after World War II, František Fajtl was awarded many orders and medals and served as a lieutenant colonel in the Czechoslovak Army. Persecution (1948–1989) Fajtl was treated as a hero on his return to Prague in 1945, but was dismissed from the Czechoslovak Air Force after the Communists' seizure of