The Airmen's Stories - Sgt. E M Prchal

Born on 1st January 1911 in Dolni Brezany, south of Prague, Edward Maximilian Prchal joined the Czech Air Force in 1929. He qualified as a pilot and served until 1936. From 1936 to 1939 he flew as a pilot for the Bata Company in Czechoslovakia, on international trips.

In June 1939 he escaped from his Nazi-occupied country to Poland, then went to France, later joining the Armee de l'Air.

In May 1940 Prchal was serving with Groupe de Chasse I/8. On 6th June he destroyed a Me109 and shared in the destruction of a Do17 and on the 7th destroyed a Hs126. After the French collapse, Prchal escaped to England.

He joined 310 Squadron at Duxford at its formation on 10th July 1940. He claimed a Do17 destroyed on 26th August but on this day his Hurricane, P3157, was severely damaged by a Me109 in combat over the Thames Estuary and he made a forced-landing near Upminster, slightly wounded. On 15th September he shared a He111 and on the 18th shared in the destruction of a Ju88.

Commissioned in December 1941, Prchal served with 68 Squadron, a night-fighter unit with many Czech pilots and radar operators. He was later posted to 511 Squadron, Transport Command and flew VIP’s to and from the Middle East and ferried aircraft from Canada to the Middle East.

On 4th July 1943 Prchal was pilot of a Liberator going from Gibraltar to London, with General Sikorksi and members of his staff on board, as well as other VIPs. Soon after taking off the aircraft crashed into the sea and Prchal was the sole survivor. He was taken from the water badly injured and unconscious. He returned to 511 Squadron after recovering from his injuries (see account below).

After the war Prchal returned to Czechoslovakia with his wife and daughter. He was in the Czech Air Force until January 1946 when he joined Czech Airlines as a Senior Captain. In 1950 he escaped to England with his family and two other Czech airline pilots, Kaucky and Rechka, and their families.

Prchal went to the USA in 1951 and became Czech language instructor at the US Army Language School at Monterey, California. He retired in 1978.

Prchal died at St Helena, California on 12th December 1984. His ashes were taken to England. Part of them was scattered over the Channel and the remainder buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery.

Prchal is commemorated in his home village, please see:

http://dolnibrezany.cz/slavnostni-odhaleni-pametni-desky-plk-e-m-prchalovi-23-5-2015/gs-1080/p1=4147

There is also an immensely detailed account of his life here:

https://fcafa.com/2012/02/01/eduard-prchal/

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The Sikorski crash.

Prchal stated that he received the green light from the tower and began the take-off roll. He pulled the stick back and the aircraft started to climb. At an altitude of 150 feet, he pushed the controls of the aircraft forward to gain speed when he discovered he was then unable to pull the stick back.

The control column was jammed or locked. The aircraft then lost height rapidly. He closed the four throttles and warned the crew through the intercom. The aircraft crashed into the sea 16 seconds after take off. Prchal was thrown through the windscreen before the aircraft became inverted in shallow water off Europa Point.

He was rescued unconscious and very badly injured.

The crew casualties were:

S/Ldr. WS Herring
WO L Zalsberg DFM
F/Sgt. GBR Gerry
F/Sgt. D Hunter
Sgt. FS Kelly

All the passengers were killed:

General Wladyslaw, Chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile.
Major General Tadeusz Klimecki – Polish Army Chief of General Staff.
Brigadier JP Whiteley OBE – Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Buckingham.
Colonel V Cazalet MC – British liaison officer to the Polish forces.
Colonel Andrzej Marecki – Polish Army Chief of Operations.
Jan Gralewski – a Polish Home Army courier.
Lieutenant Józef Ponikiewski, Polish Navy - Sikorski's adjutant.
Warrant Telegraphist H Pinder, Chief of the RN signals station in Alexandria.
Adam Kułakowski – Sikorski's adjutant.
Zofia Leśniowska – Sikorski's daughter and secretary.
Mr. WH Lock – Ministry of Transport representative in the Persian Gulf.

Above: there is no image of AL523 extant, this is its sister ship AL522.

A British Court of Inquiry convened on 7th July 1943 to investigate the crash, following the order by Air Marshal Sir John Slessor of 5th July 1943. On 25th July 1943 the Court concluded that the accident was caused by the "jamming of elevator controls" which led to the aircraft being uncontrollable after take-off.

The report noted that "it has not been possible to determine how the jamming occurred" although it ruled out sabotage. Slessor was not satisfied with the report and on 28th July ordered the Court to continue its investigation to find out whether the controls were indeed jammed or not, and if they were, then for what reason.

Despite further investigation the Court was unable to resolve Slessor's doubts. The Polish government refused to endorse this report because of the contradictions cited therein, and the lack of conclusive findings.

Above: a memorial near the crash site (images courtesy of Moshi Anahory).

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Sikorski's body was recovered and his coffin was taken from Gibraltar to Plymouth by the Polish destroyer ORP Orkan, then by train and road to the Polish government-in-exile’s headquarters at Kensington Gardens. On 15th July, the coffin was taken to Westminster Catholic Cathedral for a Requiem Mass attended by 3,000 people, including Churchill. Sikorski was interred the next day in the Polish airmen's cemetery at Newark-on-Trent (below).

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On 14th September 1993, his remains were exhumed and flown on a Polish Air Force Tu154M, escorted by Tornado F3 fighters of 56 Squadron RAF, to lie in the royal crypts at Wawel Castle in Kraków, Poland.

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In 1967 the German writer Rolf Hochhuth wrote the play 'Soldiers', which alleged that Churchill condoned the murder of General Sikorski in order to appease Stalin, who was trying to remove possible leaders of postwar Polish resistance to Soviet occupation.

The play was intended to be premiered by Britain's National Theatre Company but this was cancelled and the play was produced instead in the 'New Theatre' in the West End.

Hochhuth, who apparently was unaware that the aircraft's pilot Eduard Prchal was still alive, accused him of participating in the plot.

Prchal won a libel case but Hochhuth never paid the £50,000 imposed on him by the court by leaving the UK. However the London theatre staging the play agreed to out-of-court compensation.