Lomsky, Bohumir

By nationality Czech . The son of a metalworker, during the First World War, emigrated abroad and fought on the side of the Entente as part of the Czech legion in France . He graduated from high school , after which in 1933 he entered the military service in the Czechoslovak army. He graduated from the school of junior officers, in 1934 he commanded a platoon in the 6th infantry regiment named after Jan Hus (Ceske Budejovice). In the same year he entered the academy. In 1936 he graduated from the Military Academy in the Border . From 1936 he commanded a platoon and from January 1938, a company in the 14th infantry regiment in Kosice . In September 1938 he graduated from the courses of aviation observers in the city of Prosteyev , commanded a link and was the deputy commander of a squadron in the 3rd aviation regiment ( Uzhgorod ). After the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the forces of Nazi Germany in March 1939, he was dismissed from the army. Entered the University of Chemical Technology in Prague. But in August 1939, he illegally fled from Czechoslovakia to Poland , where he joined the Czechoslovak Legion.

Shortly after the start of the Second World War, the Czechoslovak Legion was interned in the USSR during the occupation of the eastern regions of Poland by the Red Army . At first, Lomsky managed to escape and worked as a hired worker in the village. In the spring of 1940, he revealed himself and was sent to an internment camp in the Gorky Region in March 1940. He was enlisted in the so-called "Eastern Czechoslovak Army Group" (mission of the Czechoslovak Army in the USSR) where he was on the posts of the commander of the aviation squadron (although there were no aviation units in the group) and the chief of staff of the group. One of the first in February 1942 responded to the call for the formation of the 1st Czechoslovak Separate Infantry Battalion , arrived in the city of Buzuluk and entered the disposal of the battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Ludwik Svoboda . He became one of his closest comrades, in February 1942 he was appointed assistant battalion commander. In January 1943 he was appointed deputy commander of the 1st Czechoslovak battalion for combat training.

In February 1943, with the battalion, he arrived at the front and participated in the battle of Sokolovo on the Southwestern Front during the Kharkov defensive operation . In this battle, which became a baptism for him, Bohumir Lomsky showed courage and bravery. In May 1943, the 1st Separate Czechoslovak Infantry Brigade was created on the basis of the battalion; in June 1943, the Staff Captain Bohumir Lomsky was appointed its first chief of staff. And when, in April 1944, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps was established, it became its chief of staff. At these posts he went through the entire combat path of the brigade and corps, took part in the Kiev offensive , Zhytomyr-Berdichev , Eastern-Carpathian , Western-Carpathian , Moravian-Ostrava , Prague operations. For bravery during the war he was awarded several Czechoslovak and Soviet orders.

During the war, in order not to hurt family members in the Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, he took the pseudonym "Lenz". However, the Germans established the fact of Lomsky’s participation in the war, his father and mother were arrested and sent to a concentration camp . Fortunately, they remained alive and were released in May 1945.

After the Victory, a short time in May 1945, he was Chief of Staff of the 1st Czechoslovak Army, but was soon sent to study. Present as guest of honor at the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945 . In 1947 he graduated from the Higher Military Academy named after KE Voroshilov in Moscow . From August 1947 - Head of the Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak Army. From October 1949 - Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division ( Susice ). Since September 1950 - Chief of Staff of the 1st Military District ( Prague ). From August 1951 - rector of the Military Technical Academy of the Czechoslovak Army in Brno . From September 1953 - First Deputy Minister of National Defense of Czechoslovakia. Since April 1956 - Minister of National Defense of Czechoslovakia . He had the reputation of a professional and did much to make the Czechoslovak People’s Army considered one of the most efficient armies of the Warsaw Pact member states . But since he was a member of the conservative leadership of Czechoslovakia as minister, soon after the beginning of the events of the Prague Spring in April 1968, he was dismissed from his post and sent to work at the Institute of Military History of Czechoslovakia. He openly expressed his disagreement with the introduction of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia .

In 1950 he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (left it in 1968), was elected to its Central Committee in 1958 and in 1966. Member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia in 1960-1968. Deputy of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia in 1969-1971.

In May 1970, he was dismissed. He worked at one of the technological institutes in Prague.

• Graduate Student (1933)
• The Lieutenant (1936)
• Nadporuchik
• Headquarters Captain (12/25/1943)
• Major (10/01/1944)
• Lieutenant Colonel (03/21/1945)
• Colonel (10/01/1946)
• Brigadier General (December 1, 1949)
• Divisional General (10/3/1950)
• Lieutenant-General (06/12/1953)
• Colonel-General (12/08/1953)
• Army General (11/05/1959).

Czechoslovakia

• Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• Order of the Red Star
• Two Orders of the Red Star of Labor
• Order of the White Lion "For Victory"
• Order of the Slovak National Uprising of the 1st and 2nd degrees
• Six Military crosses , the first - in 1943 for the battle of Sokolovo ,
• Two medals "For courage before the enemy"
• Military merit medal
• Sokolov Memorial Medal (1948)
• other medals of Czechoslovakia

Foreign

• Order of the Red Banner ( USSR , 03/23/1944), for the liberation of Kiev ,
• Order of the Patriotic War , 1st degree ( USSR , 1943), for the battle of Sokolovo ,
• Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (USSR, 1945)
• Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" (USSR, 1945)
• Order of the Grunwald Cross , 3rd class ( Poland )
• Order "Virtuti Militari" 2nd class ( Poland )
• Order of National Liberation ( Yugoslavia )
• Order of the Star of Romania
• Medal "Brotherhood in Arms" ( Poland )
• Other medals

• Jiri Fidler . Sokolovo 1943. Malý encyklopedický slovník. - Vydavatelství Naše vojsko, 2004. - ISBN 80-206-0716-1 .
• Information about B. Lomsky at the Czech Military History Forum
• Biography of B. Lomsky (Czech)