Jan Šinágl angažovaný občan, nezávislý publicista

In Defense of Czechoslovakia!

“In 1935 an appeal was made by some leading Czechoslovak citizens[1] to the Czechoslovak public to subscribe to a "Fund for a Thousand Pilots" to enable 1,000 young Czechoslovaks to receive flying instruction in their spare time.”

Declassified documents from the United States National Archives bring new light to one Czech who supported the drive for pilots in the years running up to the Second World War. At the time of the national campaign for 1,000 pilots, Jan Bata’s organization trained 250 Czechoslovak pilots (1) in Zlin. Many of these pilots escaped from Czechoslovakia and flew for the R.A.F. The majority of Bata pilots flew for the: 310th 311th, 312th, and 313th Squadrons.

Notice the similarity of the Bata’s prototype fighter plane of 1937 plane and the poster from 1935. One has to wonder if the Bata advertising department was involved in the development of this poster?

It is remarkable how extensive Jan Bata’s support was for the defense of Czechoslovakia.

Serious questions should be asked of Czech historians. Why has such important information about Jan Antonin Bata’s support for the defense of the country been hidden from view?

Figure 1: Drive for 1,000 New Pilots at the Bata Institute in Zlin.

Figure 2: Bata’s Zlin XIII Fighter 1937

Figure 3: Jan Bata, Chief of the Bata organization meets with Czechoslovak President Edward Benes at an exhibition in Prague 1936.

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