* 16.04.1913, Praha, † 04.05.1995, Henley-on-Thames, UK - A member of 312 Sqn from October 1940 till June 1942
Ivo Tonder was a pre-war Czechoslovak pilot who served with Air Regiment 1 within the Czechoslovak army. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, he was demobilised and worked as a designer in the Aero Vodochody near Prague. In 1939, shortly after his demobilisation, he escaped to France via Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. In March 1940 he joined the Czechoslovak Depot in Adge. In France, he underwent appendix surgery and whilst still recovering escaped occupied France to Great Britain. He joined the RAF and after retraining to fly British aircraft he joined No.312 Czechoslovak Squadron reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
On 3rd June 1942, Ivo Tonder did not return from an operation code-named Circus 6. His aircraft was shot down by a German Focke-Wulf FW 190 but he successfully bailed out and survived. However, after this accident, he was captured by the Germans and sent to Dulag Luft POW camp in Oberursel, Germany, for Gestapo interrogation. He was eventually transferred to the notorious Stalag Luft III in Sagan where he took part in two unsuccessful escapes and eventually succeeded in what is now referred to as The Great Escape. His role as a member of the escape group was as tailor and tunnel digger.
On the night of 24th March 1944 after his escape, he intended to head towards the north of Poland and catch a boat to freedom. This plan was later deemed impossible so instead, he headed towards Switzerland via Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately, he was recaptured by Gestapo and spend eight months in a solitary cell in Prague. On 30th November 1944, he was sent to a Leipzig court and sentenced to death for the treachery of the Bohmen und Mahren protectorate. Two weeks later he was sent to the Oflag IVc POW camp in Colditz awaiting his execution. He stayed in Colditz till its liberation by the US Army on 16th April 1945.
On 29th June 1945 he joined No. 313 RAF Squadron and having reunited with the Czechoslovakian army he was demobilized in 1947.
On 31st May 1948, he made an attempt to escape from communist Czechoslovakia into Germany. He was captured by border police and sentenced to eight years in jail. After a year in this jail, he escaped and with the support of the CIA he successfully crossed the border into the American Zone of Germany. Here he joined his wife Jiřina Tonderová who served in the RAF as a radio operator. She was brought out of Czechoslovakia separately in 1948. Two years later the CIA smuggled their two children out. They spent the rest of their lives in the United Kingdom.
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