Fourth son of Count Otto von Czernin
Count
Manfred Beckett Czernin
,
DSO
,
MC
,
DFC
(18 January 1913 ? 6 October 1962) was a
Royal Air Force
pilot and later an operative with the
Special Operations Executive
in the
Second World War
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Count Maria Edmund Ralph Beckett Czernin von und zu Chudenitz was born as the fourth son of
Count Otto von Czernin
, an Austrian diplomat and a member of an old
House of Czernin
, and his first wife, the Hon. Lucy
Beckett
, daughter of
Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe
. Several years after he was born, his parents were divorced. Young Manfred moved to Italy with his mother, but he was educated in the United Kingdom at
Oundle School
. In September 1931, he moved to
Rhodesia
to work on a tobacco plantation.
[
citation needed
]
On 26 November 1931, he officially
changed his name
from Count Manfred Marie Edmund Ralph Czernin to Manfred Beckett.
[1]
However, on 27 November 1936, he changed his name from Manfred Beckett to Count Manfred Beckett Czernin.
[2]
Royal Air Force
[
edit
]
Czernin returned to the United Kingdom in April 1935 to take up an appointment as an
acting pilot officer
on a short service commission in the
Royal Air Force
(RAF). Qualifying as a pilot, he was posted to
No. 57 Squadron RAF
at
RAF Upper Heyford
, and he enjoyed several more squadron postings until placed on the Class A Reserve on 16 August 1937.
[3]
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, he was transferred to
No. 213 Squadron
at
RAF Wittering
and in May to
No.85 Squadron
, flying
Hurricanes
.
Like others in the
British Expeditionary Force
, this unit had a hard time in fighting against the German
Luftwaffe
. On 16 May Czernin had to walk back to his squadron at
Lille Airport
after force-landing his aircraft, damaged by a
Messerschmitt Bf 109
of 3/JG76. On 19 May he shot down a
Heinkel He 111
and two
Dornier Do 17
, and a
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"
[
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]
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
[4]
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
Special Operations Executive
(SOE) under the cover of another similar assignment.
Special Operations in Italy
[
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]
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: 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
.
Post-war
[
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]
Discharged from the RAF as a squadron leader in October 1945, he became sales manager for
Fiat
in England. He died suddenly on 6 October 1962.
Awards
[
edit
]
The citation for Czernin's
Distinguished Flying Cross
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."
[5]
His citation for the
Military Cross
reads:
On the night of 12?13 June 1944, Squadron Leader Czernin and his
Wireless operator
were to be dropped into enemy-occupied territory, but the reception signals were not satisfactory and they returned to base. On the following night, the reception was again incorrect. Entirely regardless of his own safety, Squadron Leader Czernin decided to jump with a view to making a personal reconnaissance of the situation. This he did without arms of any description and with the full knowledge that the Germans are constantly arranging bogus receptions for the receipt of Allied personnel and stores. On landing, he found the reception committee to be friendly. Thereupon he flashed a signal to the aircraft which dropped the Wireless Operator and equipment. But for this courageous action, a most vital operation would have had to be postponed at a stage when the time was of the utmost importance to the success of the major plan.
[6]
The
Distinguished Service Order
(DSO) 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 9,000 ft (2,700 m)
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."
[7]
Personal life
[
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]
On 4 November 1939 he married Maud Sarah
Hamilton
(1917-1995), great-granddaughter of
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn
. The couple divorced in 1947. They had:
- Countess Carolyn Lucile Czernin von Chudenitz (b. 1941); married to Charles Peploe (b. 1930)
- Count Nicholas Manfred Czernin von Chudenitz (b. 1942); married firstly Danielle Alligier; married secondly Orapin Champanich; had issue from both marriages
[8]
See also
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References
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Bibliography
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External links
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British World War II
flying aces
with 10+ aerial victories
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30+
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25?29
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20?24
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15?19
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10?14
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