OTTO SMIK
Born in 1922 in a town near Tbilisi, where his father was imprisoned during WWI, Smik's family returned to Slovakia in 1934. Sensitive to the political changes in the country, Smik left six years later in March during the celebration of Slovak independence. He crossed the Hungarian border and reached France through the then still independent Yugoslavia. Soon after, when the Germans took France, Smik sailed to England. On the boat he met a Czech officer who later helped him meet British pilots. Between 1940 and 1943, Smik shot down nine German Messerschmidts and Fockewulfs, and three V-1 rockets, making him the fifth most successful combatant among the Czechoslovaks fighting in the West in WWII. In 1943, British King George VI, the father of Elizabeth II, awarded Smik the highest pilots' decoration, the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Soon after, the British named the 21-year-old Smik leader of the 127th British squadron. Only two other foreigners received such an honour.