The Inspectorate of the Czechoslovak Air Force in London (1940-1945)
The Inspectorate of the Czechoslovak Air Force was based in a hotel in London. Brigadier General Alois Vicherek was convinced that, as the senior officer, he should have been the one to command the Czechoslovak Air Force in Great Britain. But the British gave priority to Karel Janoušek, which Vicherek greatly resented, as evidenced by the entries in his diary. The post of commander of the Czechoslovak Air Force was not used for most of the war. Alois Vicherek was unable to find gainful employment, and even at the beginning of 1945 he had the honorary position of chairman of the Czechoslovak Red Cross in exile. Some of Vicherek's assertions and statements must therefore be taken with a grain of salt:
"Saturday, 7 December 1940: In the afternoon I took a walk with Berounský, who explains how everything is set up, so that I cannot voluntarily go to the squadron. With the English, it is done in such a way that it seems that the government dismissed me for certain reasons and now has no interest in me. It was arranged by Gen. Janoušek and Beaumont, and perhaps by Gen. Ingr. Anything is possible. I trust the President, whatever they want to entrust to me, I will accept everything. I don't want to cause any trouble. I wanted to raise morale on the broadest possible basis. If that isn't possible, it is necessary to reckon with today's reality and submit."
At the beginning of January 1941, Karel Janoušek was promoted to the British rank of Air-Vice-Marshall (AVM, equivalent to the current Czech rank of Major General). Alois Vicherek was aware that he had lost the first round of the contest to Janoušek. But he did not lay down his arms, as evidenced by his diary entry of Thursday, 30 January 1941: "Today is a big day for me. I was called to a meeting with the President where we will discuss the Air Force and the case of Gen. Janoušek. The President said that J. should have been an inspector and I should have been the commander of the Air Force. There were a lot of political interventions made on behalf of Janoušek, while nobody did so for me. I said openly that Janoušek was subversive and a demagogue in the Air Force and he is one here as well. The President said he knew all this. I replied that the Air Force must be independent and when two generals get into a fight, then they should both be sent down and Colonel Berounský should be appointed as the commander. Berounský has a solid character. People of no character have no place in the Army. He said he would consider it. I can see that he understands me well, and my democratic views. I cannot accept any other position."
According to an entry in Alois Vicherek's diary from the last day of February, either Colonel Josef Berounský or Lieutenant Colonel Karel Mareš were supposed to become the head of the aviation department of the Ministry of National Defence in exile, but supporters of General Janoušek are said to have proposed Lieutenant Colonel Alois Kubita. Karel Mareš (code name Karel Toman) was already too tired from operational activities, and therefore it would be appropriate to use him in this staff position. Already on Saturday 8 March 1941 Vicherek noted in his diary that General Janoušek had finally sent a note suggesting that it was lieutenant colonel Mareš who should become the head of the III. Department (Aviation). But then he writes in his diary that "at dinner, Col. Berounský explains that Lt. Liška during his last visit with the No. 311 Squadron said that there were two camps in London, namely Slezák [Brigadier General Alois Vicherek — author’s note], Berounský, Toman and others and then Janoušek, Hess [Lt. Colonel Alexandr Hess — author’s note], Ambruš [Lt. Colonel. Ján Ambruš — author’s note], Malý [Major General Jaroslav Malý — author’s note] and the President. What a twit to be putting wedges in between people like this".