Sergeant Karel Pavlik is painting "MNOHO STESTI!" (Good Luck!) on
his Spitfire.

On May 5th, 1942, a major combat took place over the border area between Northern France and Belgium. Focke Wulfs of Jagdgeschwader 26 intercepted the Spitfires covering Circus 157 - a Boston operation against Lille, and shot down five of them. Hauptmann "Pips" Priller claimed a Spitfire which plunged into the Kemmelberg, one of the hills found in that particular part of the area. The body of the pilot could not be found. Only years after the war, a team of the British forces was able to recover the body, which turned out to be the Tsjech Sergeant Karl Pavlik, who was piloting Spitfire MkVb BM261. He was buried near the Menin Gate in Ypres/Ieper, Eastern Flanders.

Aviation historians Dirk Decuypere and André Vandenameele were able to trace the exact spot where it all happened, and wrote a book about this whole operation.

With the help of the Belgian Aviation History Association and Wim Huyghe, Dirk was able to successfully launch a recovery operation, during which the Rolls Royce engine and many other interesting artifacts were found. In 1999, a memorial stone was erected near the spot where the Tsjech pilot lost his life.