Zbyšek Nečas-Pemberton

Born on 6 March 1921, ZBYŠEK NEČAS was just eighteen, and still a student, when he escaped from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia a month before war broke out. He made his way to Britain where he had a cousin. He eventually enlisted in the RAF, and having trained as a radar operator, eventually served in Beaufighters and Mosquitoes. After the war, Zbyšek returned to his homeland, only to learn that none of his immediate family had survived, having been killed in the Holocaust. He returned to the UK, re-enlisted in the RAF, and changed his name to John Pemberton to protect himself from the Communists who had seized power in Czechoslovakia. Colonel Nečas-Pemberton was awarded the Medal for Heroism by the President of the Czech Republic in June 2017. He passed away on 15 March 2018, aged 97.