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The Last Czechoslovak pilot died


The Embassy of the Czech Republic has been struck by a sad news, that Kurt Taussig (96) died after a short battle with cancer on 19th September 2019. Kurt Taussig was a last Czechoslovak pilot of Spitfire who lived in the United Kingdom after the WWII.

Kurt Taussig left Czechoslovakia with his brother Karl by one of Sir Nicholas Winton´s train in 1939. Their parents and older brother were transported to a concentration camp. The both brothers in UK felt that they should pay their debt. Whilst younger Karl as an Army soldier fought near Singapore, Kurt wanted to join the Air Force. But when he was consenting in 1941 and he applied to join a Czechoslovak Squadron he got a strong deny. The official statement was that he had not been educated for special works at the Air Force. Seven decades later historians discovered the reason that Kurt could not speak Czech and that would be a problem for his Czech companions. Kurt did not surrender so easily and he joined the RAF directly in 1942, he passed a pilot training in the Southern Rhodesia, Palestine and Egypt. But it had to be approved by president Beneš. That is the reason why Kurt Taussig wore on his first RAF uniform a sign of Czechoslovakia. Kurt Taussig participated operational flights at the beginning of 1945 and he flew on Spitfire over fifty operational flights he served at the 225 Squadron in Italy and Austria till 7th January 1947. Kurt Taussig during his military carrier at the RAF reached the rank Flight Lieutenant (F/Lt).

Kurt Taussig´s funeral will be at Golders Green Crematorium at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday 25th September.

Kurt Taussig

Kurt Taussig