{{Short description|1942 WWII Czech anti-Nazi operation}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=February 2023}} {{Expand Czech|Operace Out Distance|date=December 2012}} {{Expand Polish|Operacja Out Distance|date=December 2012}} }} {{Infobox military operation | name = Operation Out Distance | partof = World War II | subtitle = | image = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | scope = | type = Military operation | location = Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia | location2 = <!-- 2 through 10 for more locations --> | coordinates = | coordinates2 = <!-- 2 through 10 for more locations --> | map_type = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_label = | map_label2 = <!-- 2 through 10 for more locations --> | planned = | planned_by = Czechoslovak Ministry of Defence in London | commanded_by = | objective = Sabotage, delivering radio equipment and transmit by radio to London | target = Gasworks in Prague | date = {{start date|1942|03|28|df=y}} | time = | time-begin = | time-end = | timezone = | executed_by = Adolf Opálka, Karel Čurda and Ivan Kolařík | outcome = | casualties = | fatalities = | injuries = }} '''Operation Out Distance''' was a [[Czech resistance to Nazi occupation|Czech resistance]] group active during [[World War II]]. It was dispatched by Special Group D of the Ministry of Defence of the [[Czechoslovak government-in-exile|Czechoslovak government in exile]] in London. The group operated in the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]], a region of occupied [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keary |first=F.E. |title=SOE in Czechoslovakia: The Special Operations Executive’s Czech Section in WW2—An Official History |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |year=2022 |isbn=9781399082754}}</ref>
<div align="center"> <gallery> File:Operace Anthropoid - Adolf Opálka.jpg|[[Adolf Opálka]] File:Operace Anthropoid - Karel Čurda.jpg|[[Karel Čurda]], became a [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|Nazi collaborator]] File:Ivan Kolařík, Czechoslovak resistance fighter.jpg|[[Ivan Kolařík]] </gallery> </div>
==Operations== At 2 AM on 28 March 1942, the group parachuted from a British [[Handley Page Halifax|Halifax]] aircraft which also carried the unsuccessful group Zink. Their objectives included sabotaging gasworks in [[Prague]], delivering radio-sets to other resistance fighters, and guiding bombers to the [[Škoda Works]] in [[Plzeň]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burian |first1=Michal |last2=Knžek |first2=Aleš |last3=Rajlich |first3=Jiří |last4=Stehlík |first4=Eduard |title=Atentát |date=2007 |publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (Czech Republic)|Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic]]|location=Prague|isbn=978-80-7278-411-0 |pages=54, 76 |url=https://www.army.cz/assets/files/9952/atentat_cz.pdf |access-date=7 February 2023}}</ref>
Due to a navigation error they landed in [[Ořechov (Jihlava District)|Ořechov]], not their intended destination, resulting in the loss of significant material and pursuit by the [[Gestapo]]. Consequently, the group members decided to split and operate independently. [[Ivan Kolařík]], a member of the group, committed suicide on 1 April 1942, after losing his fake ID, in a desperate attempt to shield his family from reprisals following the compromise of his cover.
First Lieutenant [[Adolf Opálka]] and [[Karel Čurda]] travelled to Prague to join [[Operation Anthropoid]], aimed at assassinating high ranking German [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] official [[Reinhard Heydrich]]. Upon joining group Silver A, Opálka was tasked with commanding the parachute groups. The operation [[Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich|successfully eliminated Heydrich]], but in the aftermath, as mass executions started during the second martial law, Čurda sought refuge with his mother in Nová Hlína. Unable to withstand the physical and emotional strain and seeking to protect his family, Čurda betrayed his military oath by providing the [[Gestapo]] with information after an announcement promising leniency for such intelligence. This led to the discovery of the assassins’ hideout at Prague's [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Karel Curda |url=https://www.ww2inprague.com/articles/karel-curda |website=ww2inprague |access-date=7 February 2023}}</ref> A fierce battle ensued, resulting in the death or suicide of Opálka and other resistors. Čurda subsequently assisted the Gestapo in identifying the bodies of fellow parachutists, receiving a portion of the 10 million [[Reichsmark]] reward offered by the occupiers.
After the war, Karel Čurda was apprehended and brought before an extraordinary people's court, which found him guilty of [[treason]]. He was sentenced to death and subsequently executed by [[hanged|hanging]] at [[Pankrác Prison]] on 29 April 1947.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{in lang|cs}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718191806/http://www.vysocina-news.cz/clanek/sedesat-pet-let-od-seskoku-u-orechova/ Out Distance parachute memorial] * {{in lang|cs}} [http://www.libri.cz/databaze/kdo20/list.php?od=c2&start=21&count=20 Who was who in Czechoslovak history]
{{Czechoslovakia in World War Two}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Czech resistance groups]] [[Category:People killed by Nazi Germany]] [[Category:Czechoslovak soldiers]] [[Category:Operation Anthropoid]]