page_title: Miloslav Mansfeld
section_title: Night fighter pilot
hierarchical_section_title: Miloslav Mansfeld / Royal Air Force / Night fighter pilot
caption_attribution_description: Information added by Wikimedia users.Čeština: Bombardér Heinkel He 111 H-Z
context_page_description: Miloslav Mansfeld DSO DFC AFC was a Czechoslovak fighter pilot who became a flying ace in the UK's Royal Air Force in the Second World War.
  Mansfeld was a Czechoslovak Air Force pilot in the 1930s, flying initially reconnaissance aircraft, then night fighters and latterly bombers. When Germany occupied and partitioned Czechoslovakia in 1939 he escaped via Poland to France. When France capitulated in 1940 Mansfeld was evacuated to Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
  From 1941 to 1944 Mansfeld flew Bristol Beaufighters with the Czechoslovak flight of No. 68 Squadron RAF and scored most of his victories. From 1944 he flew de Havilland Mosquitoes, with which he shot down two V-1 flying bombs.
  In 1945 Mansfeld returned to Czechoslovakia, but after the Czechoslovak Communist Party seized power in 1948 he returned to Britain and the RAF. He flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters, specialised in photoreconnaissance and commanded a squadron. In 1958 he left the RAF for a civilian career. He retired in 1970 and died in 1991.
context_section_description: On 22 April 1941 Mansfeld was posted to No. 54 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Church Fenton in the West Riding of Yorkshire where he was trained to fly twin-engined, twin-seat night fighters. The aircraft were equipped with AI Mk IV airborne interception radar. A fellow-Czechoslovak, Sergeant Slavomil Janáček, was trained alongside Mansfeld as his radar operator.
  On 18 July 1941 Mansfeld and Janáček were posted to No. 68 Squadron RAF, which was a night fighter unit and at the time operated Bristol Beaufighter Mk IF night fighters. The pair arrived just as the squadron's "A" Flight was becoming a Czechoslovak-manned unit.
  On the night of 12/13 October 1941 Mansfeld and Janáček shot down a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber and damaged another. On another occasion Mansfeld, flying with Sgt Rudolf Husar as his radar operator, shot down a Heinkel He 111 H-6 of VIII/Kampfgeschwader 40. It crashed into the Irish Sea off Holyhead, Wales, killing its four crew.
  On 12 November 1941 Mansfeld shot down two He 111 bombers of III/Kg 40 over the Irish Sea and damaged a third.
  On the night of 30 April and 1 May 1942 Mansfeld and Janáček shot down two He 111s over the North Sea off East Anglia. In the same patrol they and another 68 Squadron Beaufighter, with Squadron Leader Vlastimil Vesely as pilot and Flying Officer J F Mongomerie as radar operator, shared in shooting down a Dornier Do 217 bomber. That night Mansfeld and Janáček's Beaufighter was slightly damaged by enemy fire but the two men were unharmed. On 23 June Mansfeld was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
  On 22 October 1942 Mansfeld was promoted to second-in-command of "B" flight, 68 Squadron. On the night of 10/11 December he and Janáček shot down a Do 217 over the North Sea about 50 miles (80 km) off Cromer in Norfolk.
  68 Squadron was later re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighter Mk VIF night fighters with an improved radar, the AI Mk VIII. On 15 March 1943 Mansfeld and Janáček shot down a Ju 88.
  On 15 May 1943 Mansfeld was posted to No. 51 OTU at RAF Cranfield in Bedfordshire as a night fighter instructor. On 9 June 1943 he was posted to No. 3 Flying Instructors' School at RAF Castle Combe in Wiltshire to become a flying instructor.
  On 10 October 1943 Mansfeld was posted back to 68 Squadron to command "A" Flight. On the night of 14/15 May 1944 Mansfeld and Janáček shot down two Do 217s over the English Channel.
caption: As a Beaufighter pilot Mansfeld shot down five Heinkel He 111 medium bombers and damaged another
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