„We have continuously emphasised the historic heritage of Czechoslovak exile pilots, namely those serving in the Royal Air Force in the Great Britain during the WWII. The new uniforms are inspired by the original RAF Service Dress of General František Peřina. I believe Aeropartner pilots will be wearing them with respect and dignity, to commemorate the courage of Czechoslovak airmen, of whom only few are left to bear witness of the wartime stories“, says Richard Santus, AEROPARTNER CEO, the motive author and an active pilot himself.
October 26 2016: Richard Santus wearing his new uniform in front of company's Citation Cj3
František Peřina was a Czechoslovak Air Force pilot who left the country on June 25, 1939, few months after the occupation and only a day after his marriage to Anna Klimešová. He went to Poland and later sailed for France to join the Foreign Legion. When the war started he was released from the Legion to join the French Air Force and fly Curtiss Hawks with Groupe de Chasse I/5. During French campaign he shot down a total of 12 enemy aircraft and became the second most successful fighter pilot after Alois Vašátko, his fellow countryman. In June 1940 he was shot down over Paris but he managed to escape the hospital for the Great Britain to continue fighting with 312. squadron (Czech) RAF. Towards the end of the war he shot down another two enemy aircraft and this made him the fourth most successful Czech fighter pilot of all times.
F/Lt Stanislav Fejfar- the authentic photo in his RAF Service Dress. He died in the air combat on May 17 1942
1943: 311th (Czech) Bomber Squadron Commander S/Ldr. Vladimír Nedvěd wearing the same type RAF Service Dress. After his rehabilitation in 1991 he was ranked a major-general. He died at age of 95 in Sunshine Coast Australia.
He returned to the liberated Czechoslovakia in August 1945, and escaped yet again in 1949 after the communist takeover. He flew away with his wife and a friend in a small plane to the West Germany. He re-joined RAF and later worked in Canada and the US. In 1993 he returned to his homeland to finally receive the tribute he deserved, including the White Lion Order from the president of the Czech Republic. He died in 2006, leaving some of his precious belongings (including his RAF Service Dress Aeropartner adopted) with Sochanova Elementary School in Prague, that was later renamed to General Peřina Elementary School.
František Peřina during his service with 312. squadron (Czech) RAF. He has the pilot life vest pulled over his uniform- a mandatory equipment for missions over La Manche
The new uniforms were tailor made with the reasonable amount of historic pattern applied by Respect Fashion, a Prague based VIP clothing company: “To us, this piecework has been both very attractive and obligating. We put a great effort to draw as close to the precious sample as possible and at the same time make it suitable for a comfortable daily use”, says Mr. Martin Pavlík of Respect Fashion and his business partner Mr. Zdeněk Hartman nods: "At first sight the new edition of Service Dresses (may we call it this way) only differs by sleeve ranking i.e. four stripes = captain, three stripes = first officer. The original meaning of sleeve stripping was different within RAF during the war: One stripe stood for a Pilot Officer, two ranked a Flight Lieutenant. Uniforms of Czechoslovak Airmen were further distinguished by CZECHOSLOVAKIA shoulder patches and frequently also by the Czechoslovak Pilot Badge on the right upper pocket".
All Aeropartner pilots are supposed to be re-branded with the new uniforms by the end of November 2016.