Out Distance


Out Distance was a Czech resistance group during World War II, operating in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Operations

At 2AM on 28 March 1942, the group parachuted from a British Halifax plane. Their plan had involved the sabotage of gasworks in Prague, providing radio-sets to other resistance fighters, and navigating bombers to the Škoda Works in Pilsen.
Due to a navigation error, the parachutists did not land where they had planned, and having lost a significant amount of material and being chased by Gestapo, the group members decided to split and operate on their own. One member of the group, Ivan Kolařík, committed suicide on 1 April 1942 in a futile effort to protect members of his family against reprisals after his cover was blown.
First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka, and Karel Čurda went to Prague and joined Operation Anthropoid, a group preparing to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. The assassination was successful, but Čurda revealed to Gestapo information that led to the finding of the hiding place of the assassins by the Gestapo. Following a fierce battle around the church, Opálka and others were killed in combat or committed suicide rather than be caught.
After the war, Čurda was captured and hanged for treason at Pankrác Prison on 29 April 1947.