Count Manfred Beckett Czernin Manfred Beckett Czernin ( 18 January 1913 – 6 October 1962 ) was a World War II Royal Air Force Pilot and later in the war an operative with the Special Operations Executive . Early life . Czernin was born in Berlin , the fourth son of Count Otto von Czernin , an Austrian diplomat , and his English wife , Lucy , daughter of the Ernest Beckett , 2nd Baron Grimthorpe . Several years after he was born his parents were divorced and young Manfred moved to Italy with his mother , but was educated in the United Kingdom at Oundle School . In September 1931 he moved to Rhodesia to work on a tobacco plantation . On 26 November 1931 he officially changed his name to Manfred Beckett . Royal Air Force . Czernin returned to the United Kingdom in April 1935 to take up appointment as an Acting Pilot Officer on a short service commission . Qualifying as a pilot , he was posted to No . 57 Squadron RAF at RAF Upper Heyford , and enjoyed several more squadron postings until placed on the Class A Reserve on 16 August 1937 . Previously , on 27 November 1936 , he had adopted the name and title of Count Manfred Beckett Czernin . Recalled on the outbreak of hostilities , Czernin passed a fighter pilot assessment course and was posted to No . 504 Squadron at RAF Debden in January 1940 . A few days later , was transferred to No . 213 Squadron at RAF Wittering and in May to No . 85 Squadron , flying Hurricanes . Just like others in the BEF , this unit had a hard time in fighting against the German Luftwaffe . On 16 May had to walk back to his Squadron at Lille Airport after force landing his aircraft , damaged by a Bf 109 of 3 / JG76 . On 19 May he shot down an Heinkel He 111 and two Dornier Do 17 , and an Henschel Hs 126 the next day , adding one more Heinkel 111 to his tally on 12 May before he returned again to England on 21 May by boat . Upon his return he was posted to No . 17 Squadron at RAF Martlesham Heath . One of " The Few " . Still with No . 17 Squadron , Czernin fought with distinction throughout the Battle of Britain , tallying a Do 17 of II / KG2 on 12 July ( shared ) which crashed into the sea near a convoy off Orfordness . In the following month he shared a Ju 88 on 21 July and got three Bf 110s ( including one shared ) on 25 July . Later on , Czernin shot down two more Bf 110s on 3 September , a Bf 109 and two shared Heinkel 111s on 5 September , a Bf 110 on 11 September , a Ju 88 shared on 19 September and one more Bf 110 on 27 September and a Do 17 shared on 24 October . Czernin himself was shot down on 17 November by German ace Adolf Galland in a combat over RAF Wattisham . Despite being wounded , Czernin managed to escape by parachute . His Hurricane crashed just west of Bradfield Church . In May 1941 he was posted to an Operational Training Unit at RAF Debden and promoted to Acting Squadron Leader in December . In February 1942 he was given command of No . 146 Squadron RAF , in India , and later on was posted to HQ No . 224 Group as a Staff Officer . He returned to the United Kingdom to take up a similar posting at HQ No . 28 Group , RAF Uxbridge , until he was recruited by SOE - the Special Operations Executive - under the cover of another similar assignment . Special Operations in Italy . Czernin was parachuted into northern Italy , not far from the Austrian border , on the night of 13 June 1944 , winning in the process a Military Cross for his decision to go ahead with the jump in spite of dubious signalling from the " welcome party " on the ground : as a matter of fact , it was not infrequent for the Germans to try to intercept Allied airdrops to get hold of both of men and supplies directed to the Italian Resistance . A fluent speaker of Italian , Czernin operated from a farmhouse in the Tramonti area near Pordenone , and he set up a very effective Partisan network before being picked up by a Lysander special operations aircraft and flown back to Bari at the end of the year . His second mission took place in March 1945 when he parachuted in Lombardy , taking command of the operations that led to the surrender of Bergamo . After the war Count Czernin was accused of arranging the execution of 43 Italian fascist servicemen of the " Legione Tagliamento " during the night of 27 / 28 April 1945 ( Rovetta massacre ) . Historian Grazia Spada , however , maintains that the leaders of the largest Partisan brigades in the area were liable for the execution , and that the " Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale " had planned it well before the final uprising against German forces and their Italian allies . Postwar . Discharged from the Royal Air Force as a Squadron Leader in October 1945 , he became sales manager for Fiat in England , but died suddenly on 6 October 1962 . Awards . The citation for his DFC cited his " great keenness in his desire to engage the enemy " and specifically mentioned that in August 1940 , " he led his section in a head - on attack on large formations of enemy aircraft , destroying three of them . " His citation for the Military Cross reads : The Distinguished Service Order was awarded for activities behind the enemy lines in March to April 1945 . Directed to " co - ordinate the various scattered Partisan units into a unified command " which was to " carry out the directions of 15 Army Group " he was parachuted in . To reach the Bergamasco area he had to cross the " Passo del Diavolo " which was six feet deep in snow . On the move for 24 hours in the cold , he suffered frostbite but crossed it on 4 April - his third attempt . Throughout his " energy and personality " he " quickly built up a large aggressive Partisan Command " . The Partisans then began operations on 28 April 1945 . Three enemy garrisons surrendered unconditionally , another three were captured or " eliminated " . This was followed by the surrender of Bergamo . Czernin and the leader of the Partisans initially demanded unconditional surrender of the Germans . Boldly driving into the city in a car " draped with the Union Jack " , they had to withdraw after the Germans fired upon them . He ordered an attack on the city simultaneously with the underground elements within Bergamo . In the morning of 28 April 1945 , Czernin obtained the unconditional surrender . The DSO citation said that he " displayed the highest qualities of leadership and by his courage and daring made a notable contribution to the Allied success in North Italy . " Campaign medals . In addition he received the following campaign medal s :