Jiří Benda

“At first we had an English training. It took about three weeks. It was a drill all the time. When we completed it, we all had to choose what we would like to do. Those who did not pass the exams for flying personnel went to the squadrons as assistant engineers, or those who were electricians went to do their profession. We, who were applying for the flying personnel and passed the tests, needed to learn English properly at first. The entire training and everything about machine-guns were all in English. If you got 70 percent on the English test, you could continue to an English training course, but I did not make it because the war ended. (I see, so you went through all these preparatory courses, but you did not get into combat.) I spent almost all this time in classroom. But it was planned this way, those who were applying for the flying personnel had to pass this flying training. For pilots it took longer, for navigators or vice-operators, or these positions, everyone had to go through it. You could not do anything if you did not pass it. (So you specialized as a rear gunner.) Because it was the fastest and easiest one. (What was involved in it?) There were either plain gunners, or gunners-wireless operators. This was more advanced and required a lot more training. So I applied for a simple ordinary gunner. I had to understand the machine-gun, disassemble it, and know how it worked. We learned the Morse code using light signals, recognizing airplanes, and things like that.”

“Dad sent me a telegram to hurry home. So I finished school and in September 1938, I went to Prague. I arrived to Prague and they closed the borders, so I got stuck here. I stayed there with friends. After takeover of the Sudetenland, they opened the borders, so I bought a ticket and traveled to Sweden as a fourteen-year-old boy. (And you could? Did they let you go without any problems?) No, I needed a lot of various permits to be allowed to leave the country. Then a notice came that the Czech authorities could not vouch for me- I was going at my own risk. They did not want to let me go because I was fourteen. I insisted that my dad kept writing what was going on with me. I showed it to them and I went. The worst thing was that when I arrived to Sweden, they wanted a visa. I stared at them as if thunderstruck and the customs officer said to me- at first he began in German, so I started speaking Swedish, 'Look, you got an invalid passport. Visas are required from midnight!' I replied, 'But how would I know about it if I was aboard a ship?' 'And where are you going?' 'To Stockholm.' 'Okay, then go. Let your parents deal with it as they want.´”

“Then I was assigned to civil defence, as a foreigner. They apparently did not even know that I was a foreigner. I got a card which provided me with access everywhere. I rode trams and buses for free, and I had access everywhere, even where the Swedes were not allowed to go. (What were your responsibilities in this Swedish civil defence?) At first I was a messenger for the police. When there was a drill, I walked with the policemen in the evenings. Then I was assigned to firemen. We usually had drills on Sunday or Saturday afternoons, so we would go for these drills. (Actually, how come that you ended doing such a job?) We were hired. I had been a Boy Scout. They were hired automatically. When it began, they called us as organizers. When we came there, they always put down our names. They did not ask anything- just our names and addresses. That was it. And since I had a Swedish name... Jiří is difficult to pronounce, therefore in Sweden I was using the name Georg. Georg’s name-day is on April 23. Jiří is on April 24, thus it is the closest name, an approximate Swedish translation. So I would say Georg Benda and I speak Swedish.”

“I was working there as an assistant engineer, taking care of the airplanes together with one other guy. There were two of them. He was English. We would come in the morning, start up the planes, leave the engine at 1500 rpm, checking the dials. We stopped it and waited for them to fill the tanks with fuel, which we had used up. They refuelled. A logbook was signed that the airplane was all right, and our job was over.”