Dygrýn, Josef

Warrant Officer, Colonel in memoriam Josef Dygrýn-Ligotický

He was born in Prague, but spent most of his childhood with his aunt in Hněvkovice. Already at a young age he began to show an interest in machinery and technology, which was confirmed by his choice of a mechanical engineering school, where he trained as a locksmith. After graduation he lived, among other places, in Lhotice, from which his later name Ligotický (Lhotický) is derived.


In 1937, he enrolled in the School for Aviation Adolescents of the Air Force at VLU in Prostějov. On 16 June 1939, three months after the beginning of the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Dygrýn escaped to Poland, where after a short stay he boarded the ship Kastelholm, with which he sailed to France on 29 July 1939. After the start of the war he was promoted to corporal and underwent retraining at Avord, La Rochelle and Virson. However, it was too late to defend France, so on 24.06.1940 he sailed for Britain, where he was sent with the rank of Sergeant to the 6th OTU at Sutton Bridge for retraining on British Hurricane fighters. After retraining he was sent to 85th Fighter Squadron on 14 October 1940, but after less than two weeks he was transferred to 1st Fighter Squadron. He did not stay long in the ranks of the 1st RAF Squadron either, however, for after the ill-fated landings in which he destroyed two Hurricanes, he was sent to the CFU (Central Flying School) on 27 November 1940 for further pilot training.


Josef Dygryn achieved his first success on the night of 10-11 May 1941, when he managed to shoot down 3 German bombers during three operational flights. For these kills he received a decoration from the Czechoslovak government on 4 June 1941. The RAF undertook many sorties over occupied France in 1941, in which 1st Squadron also took part. On one such flight, Dygryn managed to shoot down two enemy aircraft, shooting down one in a group and damaging the other. After this success he was nominated for other Czechoslovak decorations but also for the British DFM Meritorious Flying Medal (12.03.1942). In September 1941 he was transferred to 310th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron, which was stationed in Scotland at the time and retrained as Spitfire fighters. Promotion to Warrant Officer soon followed.


Due to the aforementioned achievements he accomplished in 1941, Dygryn became the most successful Czechoslovak pilot in 1941. He served in the ranks of the 310 Squadron until May of the following year. At that time, F/Lt Karel Kuttelwascher, one of the most successful night fighters of World War II, was planning to form a Czechoslovak squadron in his home 1st Squadron. Dygryn thus left the ranks of 310 Squadron on May 20, 1942, and returned to 1st Squadron. Two weeks later, on the night of 3 to 4 June 1942, seven 1st Squadron machines took off in succession from Tangmere Aerodrome, among them Josef Dygrýn. The pilots' task was to patrol the area around the airfields at Evraux-Fauville and Chartres, waiting for enemy aircraft to land. However, Josef Dygryn never returned from this flight and for a long time his fate remained unknown.


His body washed up in the sea only on 08.09.1942. However, there were concerns whether it was really Dygryn, finally, thanks to the engraving on his personal pistol, the true identity of the victim was determined - it was indeed Josef Dygryn. He was buried on 14.09.1942 in Wastwell Cemetery in Kent, next to his wife Doris, who had been dead for four months and whom he had married in September 1941. In 1947 he was promoted in memoriam to Second Lieutenant in the Reserves and finally to Colonel on 01.06.1991. Dygryn Street in Prague is also named in memory of Josef Dygryn. During his service in the RAF, Dygrýn shot down 6 aircraft.

Military Personalities of the Czechoslovak Resistance 1939-1945; Prague, 2005; ISBN 80-7278-233-9
Na nebi hrdého Albionu, 3.čast - Jiří Rajlich; Svět křídel, ISBN: 80-85280-77-9
Web: www.topsid.com
photo: http://www.praha14.cz/MC/letci/dygryn.html

family grave in Lhotic (district Pelhřimov)