Shortly after the German occupation on 15th March 1939, the Czechoslovak Air Force disbanded. A lot of pilots decided to leave the republic and fight against the enemy abroad. The first country where they tried to fight was Poland. Some were accepted into the Polish Air Force while the rest of the airmen sailed to France. The short Polish war gave us the most famous four pilots Balejka, Frantisek, Kosar and Pavlovic.

    The next country where Czechoslovak airmen fought was France. There were tens of airmen posted to French air units, mainly fighter pilots. Two Czech fighters - Vasatko (15 victories) and Perina (14 victories) became famous in "The Battle of France". Twenty Five Czechoslovaks we killed during dogfights over France. After the fall of France, airmen evacuated to the last country which was still fighting against Germany - Great Britain.

    Czechoslovak airmen joined The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and they created two Czechoslovak air units in 1940 - Nos. 310 and 311. No 310 was a Czechoslovak Fighter Squadrons and No. 311 was a Czechoslovak Bomber Squadron. At all 88 Czechoslovak fighters took part in the "Battle of Britain" and Sgt Josef Frantisek became very famous with 17 victories which were claimed during one month. The last Czechoslovak air unit, No. 313 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron, was created in 1941 and one flight of No. 68 Night Fighter Squadron became Czechoslovak in 1942. Many of the Czechoslovak airmen had served during the entire war at many british squadrons and non-operational units. There were more than 2500 Czechoslovaks who joined the RAF and more then 500 of them were killed.