KK’s 50th anniversary

Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Karel Kuttelwascher, my wife’s father. He was a Czech pilot who fought with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and became an outstanding night intruder ace who won the Distinguished Flying Cross twice in 42 days. He was only 42 when he died of a heart attack here in Britain.
Today, over in the Czech Republic, my wife Vee and her twin sister Mari will be attending the unveiling of a plaque in the village where their father was born. In the course of the next couple of days, they will give speeches and media interviews to mark the anniversary and I know that this will be a very proud time for them.
During the war, the media dubbed Karel Kuttelwascher ‘the Czech Night Hawk’ which is the origin of the name of this blog. You can read a summary of his story here.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 7:23 am and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Comments

  • Joe
    August 19th, 2009 at 5:43 am

    Hello.
    I got a chance to attend the unveiling of the plaque and one next small familiar meeting with Vee and Mari. These events were really amazing and very impressive! Your wife and Mari are very pleasent and hearty!
    I took a few photos and put the chosen few into a gallery linked here.
    Best regards to Mr. Darlington and a sincere tribute to our Czech Night Hawk!

  • Roger Darlington
    August 19th, 2009 at 9:51 am

    Thank you so much for this, Josef.
    Roger

  • Joe
    August 19th, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Good morning Mr. Darlington.
    It is a honor for me to get in contact with you. I have to say, your book Night Hawk is great. I am reading it second time these days to on the occasion of the anniversary.
    I am very happy due the personal meeting with KK’s daughters. In addition to this have obtained one piece of book containig your and their signitures from your dear wife. Extra thanks to you for it.
    There are lots of photos taken during there event. Hopefully you are going to obtain the best of them or at least a link to view them. I will let you know.
    Have a nice day.
    Josef ‘Joe’ Vochyan

  • Joe
    August 21st, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    Dear Mr. Darlington,
    I have published some next photos taken during the mentioned informal meeting with KK’s daughters. The gallery is here.
    Greetings from Czech Republic,
    Joe

 




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