Tomáš Kruml
Tomáš Kruml was born in 1911 in Holásky. As a boy, he loved to learn and, despite modest circumstances, he graduated from a technical high school. After his military service, he became an air force pilot. In 1939, shortly after the Nazi occupation, he secretly left the country with friends through the Beskydy mountains into Poland. His journey continued through France to the United Kingdom. He was determined to defend his homeland at all costs.
Fighting in France and Britain
In 1940, he joined the air battles in France, flying over ten combat missions against German bombers. After France fell, he sailed to Britain and became a founding member of the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron of the RAF. He flew Hurricanes and later Spitfires. In 1941, his aircraft caught fire, and he had to parachute to safety.
Instructor and commander
Besides combat flying, Tomáš trained young pilots. He served as an instructor in British training units and later as a squadron leader in the RAF. He took part in more than one hundred combat flights and logged hundreds of flight hours. He was respected not only for his courage, but also for his discipline, responsibility, and kindness.
School for reserve air force officers. Tomáš Kruml sits in the middle of the group. Prostějov, May 1932.
Tomáš Kruml in a French air force uniform
French Morane-Saulnier MS460 fighter aircraft
Challenges after returning home
After the war, he returned to Czechoslovakia as a hero, but when the communist regime took power, he was labeled “undesirable.” Although he was allowed to remain in the military, he was denied promotion. Despite this, he continued to teach new military pilots and served his country under difficult conditions.
Colonel Tomáš Kruml. Brno, 1965.
A quiet hero
Tomáš Kruml was awarded four Czechoslovak War Crosses, two Medals for Bravery, the British Mentioned in Dispatches, and many other honors. Yet he remained a humble man who never complained. He died in Brno in 1994. In 2005, a memorial plaque was unveiled on his childhood home in Holásky.
We draw information from the book 'Letci z Holásek a Tuřan ve II. světové válce' by Miroslav Kopecký Tomáš Jambor, a Václava Kolesa.