"Fly, idea, on golden wings!" The words from Giuseppe Verdi's epic opera Nabucco seemed well-suited as they echoed through the funeral of František Fajtl, for whom flight was synonymous with a burning idea: to liberate his Nazi-occupied homeland.

The last surviving Czech fighter pilot to fly in the Battle of Britain as a member of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in World War II, Fajtl died Oct. 4 at the age of 94 and was laid to rest Oct. 13 at the Strašnice crematorium in Prague 10.

The service attracted hundreds of dignitaries.

Fajtl was "one of the biggest Czech heroes of the 20th century," President Václav Klaus told mourners. "He was a man whose fate reflects our nation's history."

Fajtl was one of 2,422 Czech and Slovak pilots who served with the RAF during World War II. In harsh conditions, the Czechoslovak pilots gained respect for their skills and courage. Those like Fajtl who did not die in combat — 486 never returned home — came back to the Czech lands only to be imprisoned for long spells under the communist regime.

At the funeral service, Hana Fajtlová, the pilot's widow, sat alongside her two daughters. The elderly woman, white hair crowning a finely featured face, wore a silver necklace in the shape of a Hurricane fighter plane, the same plane her husband piloted over the skies of Britain — when she was often paralyzed by the fear he would never return.

A leader of many

Fajtl graduated from the Czechoslovak Military Academy and fled Czechoslovakia in June 1939 right after the Nazi occupation. He turned up in France and enlisted in the Allies' fight against Hitler's army. After France fell, he fled to England by way of North Africa. In 1940, he joined the RAF as a pilot officer.

"I recognized immediately that he was an extraordinary person," recalled friend Tomáš Sedláček, a war veteran and communist victim himself. "There was a certain fineness about him. He was a real gentleman."

Fajtl would later become the commander of the British 122nd fighter squadron, a rare position for a foreigner to hold, according to Sir David Cousin, a RAF veteran who knew Fajtl.

"Fajtl was known to be very caring for his soldiers," Cousin said.

Fajtl spent 275 hours flying in combat during the war, most of that time spent with the RAF.

In May 1942, he was shot down over France. With a pack of German soldiers searching for him, Fajtl managed to reach Paris and make contact with Viktor Formánek, a Czech native who had settled in France.

Fajtl obtained false papers and escaped to Spain across the Pyrenees a month later.

He served in England until 1944, when he was sent to the Soviet Union to join the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment. In the closing days of World War II, he also took part in the Slovak National Uprising.

He was promoted to major in November 1944.

A tough homecoming

The communist regime arrested Fajtl in 1950 and imprisoned him for 16 months for having fought with the Western army. His wife and infant daughter were forced to flee their Prague apartment.

Under the regime, Fajtl later found work as a laborer, cashier and clerk in Louny, a town northwest of Prague.

He would have to wait until after the 1989 revolution to get full honors for his military service. In 1990, he was promoted to the rank of major general (retired).

Fajtl went on to write a number of books about his war experience. Among other awards, he received the Order of White Lion in 2004 as well as the French Order of Honorary Legion.

Vanishing breed

Fajtl's life inspired Zdeněk Svěrák, the screenwriter best known for the 1996 Oscar winner Kolja, to write a screenplay based on Fajtl's adventure. The movie, Tmavomodrý svět (Dark Blue World), tells the story of Czech pilots serving in England during the war.

In the movie, Svěrák captures the mood of the pilots at war's end: their pride and anticipation that they will be recognized as heroes back home. If they could have foreseen the future, however, many of them would probably never have returned.

"I have been trying to figure out why I was so fascinated by this short and modest man," said Svěrák. "It was the unity of idea and deed, his truly chivalrous character, and his firmness to stand up for what he swore was keeping his head above the water during the years of communist persecution."

Czech war pilots are a vanishing breed. Fajtl managed to outlive his fellow flyer, František Peřina, who died five months ago.