Part 1: Journey to Britain
(15.3.1939 – Summer 1940)
A brief notice board devoted to the emigration of Czechoslovaks after the declaration of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; their journey through Europe at war – through Poland, the Balkans, Northern Africa to France and their subsequent evacuation to Great Britain; the emerging Czechoslovak exile government.
The destruction of Czechoslovakia, which was forced to accept the terms of the Munich Agreement was completed on 15 March 1939 as Germany occuppied the rump of Czechoslovakia. Many people were not happy to accept the emergence of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Home resistance emerged and an ever increasing wave of refugees headed abroad. Politicians, businessmen, soldiers and many others left their homeland. The majority of young men fleeing wished to fight for the liberation of their country from abroad. Their journey was not easy – they headed to Poland and later, when Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany, they passed through Slovakia and Hungary to the Balkans. Once the Czechoslovak authorities in exile had signed an agreement with the French Government, they were able to enrol in the French Foreign Legion, one of the terms being that in case of a war with Germany they would be allowed to participate in direct fighting in the ranks of the Czechoslovak Free Army. Their dream came true when in September 1939, Czechoslovak military units in exile were set up in Agde, southern France. After the capitulation of France, they were successfully evacuated to Great Britain, based on an agreement with the British. Here, the Czechoslovak Government – in –Exile, headed by President Eduard Beneš, took on a distinctive form. The camp at Cholmondeley near Chester became the basis for the emerging 1st Czechoslovak Regiment. In the autumn of 1940, Czechoslovak soldiers moved to Leamington Spa.
