Out Distance
Out Distance was a Czech resistance group during World War II, operating in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (part of occupied Czechoslovakia).
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Adolf Opálka
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Karel Čurda
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Ivan Kolařík
Operations
At 2AM on 28 March 1942, the group parachuted from a British Halifax plane. Their plan had involved the sabotage of gasworks in Prague, providing radio-sets to other resistance fighters, and navigating bombers to the Škoda Works in Pilsen.
Due to a navigation error, the parachutists did not land where they had planned, and having lost a significant amount of material, the group members decided to split and operate on their own. One member, Ivan Kolařík, committed suicide on 1 April 1942 after he was revealed, in order to protect his family members against reprisals.
First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka, and Karel Čurda went to Prague and joined Operation Anthropoid, a group preparing to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. The assassination was successful, but Čurda revealed information that led to the finding of the hiding place of the assassins (Prague's Church of St. Cyril and St. Methodious) by the Gestapo. Following a fierce battle around the church, Opálka and others were killed in combat or committed suicide rather than be caught.
After the war, Čurda was captured and hanged for treason at Pankrác Prison on 29 April 1947.
External links
- (Czech) Out Distance parachute memorial
- (Czech) Who was who in Czechoslovak history
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