Czechoslovak Air Force winter flight suit from 1938

This winter leather flight suit of the Czechoslovak Air Force is an absolutely unique piece of history in our collection. It was in this suit that Warrant Officer Cadet Jiří Mikulecký completed his first combat flight of the outbreak of World War II. After a successful mission and a safe landing in Allied Romania, he traveled back to Bohemia by train with this very suit. During his brief stay in the East Bohemian village of Sloupnice, before going into exile, he gifted it to Bohuslav Mikulecký, and it remained in his care for nearly fifty more years.

Here is a brief account of this flight suit and of Jiří Mikulecký from March 1939.

By mid-March 1939, Czechoslovakia was in agony. The country had been crippled by the humiliating Munich Agreement, in which it was sacrificed for “peace in Europe,” allegedly to protect the rights of the German minority “harassed” by the government in Prague. As a result, the nation lost not only 33% of its territory and a significant portion of its industry but, most importantly, the sophisticated system of fortifications along its original borders. From a military standpoint, the Czech lands were practically indefensible.

In our story, we now move to the far east of a dying Czechoslovakia, to Carpathian Ruthenia—the poorest part of the united country. Even there, the situation had not been easy for some time: Poland and Hungary both had their eye on its territory, and other actors also had interests in the region. And it did not end with mere talk. While Poles and Hungarians were sending terrorists across the border, the German Nazis—seeking to destroy Czechoslovakia—threw their support behind the so-called “Sichovtsi,” Ukrainian nationalists who aimed to secede and establish their own independent state, Carpatho-Ukraine. As early as 1938, Czechoslovak soldiers, gendarmes, members of the financial guard, and SOS (State Defense) units had been engaged there in what was virtually continuous warfare.

The hardest trial, however, came in the early morning hours of March 14, 1939. At six o’clock in the morning, the regular Hungarian army launched an offensive along the entire length of the demarcation line that had been established here following the Vienna Arbitration of 1938. The Czechoslovak units were at a significant disadvantage—outnumbered, under political pressure that resulted in unfavorable positions, awaiting the convening of the Slovak Assembly (from which no one expected anything good), and struggling with the eroded morale of some Slovak conscripts. Despite all this, under the leadership of General Oleg Svátek, our forces began fighting, and continued to fight until March 21, when the last contingent of Czechoslovak soldiers still defending Velký Bočkov crossed into the allied Kingdom of Romania.

The Czechoslovak Air Force faced severely challenging conditions while operating in Carpathian Ruthenia. Following the Vienna Arbitration, the modern prewar airport in Uzhhorod ended up in Hungarian hands, leaving only the small, mostly sport-oriented airfield at the popular spa town of Slatinské Doly available for regular use. This setup did not allow for the permanent stationing of a larger unit, so only a three-aircraft flight of Letov Š.328 multipurpose planes from the 12th Squadron of the 3rd Air Regiment in Spišská Nová Ves was deployed here. These planes carried out patrol, reconnaissance, and courier duties. Flying these open-cockpit aircraft, especially during the winter months, was anything but easy—just as flying among the Carpathian peaks posed its own challenges. Nevertheless, for the crews stationed here as well as for local residents who remained loyal to Czechoslovakia, their presence was of great importance.

Just before the outbreak of the Hungarian attack, an order was issued for all aircraft to return to their home base in Spišská Nová Ves. Two aircraft took off, but the third remained behind due to a technical malfunction. Not only the remaining mechanics but also its crew—First Lieutenant Václav Pálka and Warrant Officer Cadet Jiří Mikulecký—worked diligently to make it airworthy again. It must also be noted that, at the time, Central Europe was experiencing extremely adverse weather conditions, which among other things thwarted all plans for escape flights by pilots stationed in the Czech lands during the German occupation.

On Thursday, March 16, the aircraft is finally ready for flight—its engine running, fuel topped off, weapons primed for combat. However, the weather remains far from ideal: low clouds and frequent snow flurries are hardly conditions that offer much hope of surviving a takeoff in the Carpathians. But when word arrives at the airfield that an evacuation train full of Czech civilian refugees at the station in Khust is being threatened by bands of Sichovtsi, the aircraft takes off directly from the hangar. Once its onboard weapons come into play, including machine-gun strafing, the armed gangs quickly lose their nerve, and the train is able to depart, crossing the Tisza River into the safety of Romania.

The crew of the “Šmolík” must head in the same direction, as returning to Slatinské Doly is out of the question. Again, the weather proves challenging, and the crew is grateful to manage a successful landing in the midst of a snowstorm at the Romanian military training ground in Marmarošská Sihot. The following day, members of the Royal Romanian Air Force take possession of the aircraft and subsequently fly it on to their base without incident.