Francis Kopecky (František Kopecký)

Francis (František) Kopecky (Kopecký) was born on 11 December 1881 in Cerekvice nad Loučnou in Bohemia. At the turn of the century, he moved to London and worked as a painter of miniatures and an illustrator. Kopecky was a leading figure among Czechs and Slovaks in Britain during the Great War. He was secretary of the Czech National Alliance and involved in agitating for Czech independence from Austria-Hungary In October 1916 the War Office allowed Czech volunteers in the British Army and Francis Kopecky volunteered for the Royal Artillery on 11 December 1916. He saw action at Messines in March 1917 and was poisoned by gas in August 1917. After this, he saw action in Cambrai, Arras, Lys and participated in the final offensive between July and November 1918. After the war, Kopecky worked in the expatriate movement and organized the archive of the first Czechoslovak resistance in the United Kingdom. His war experiences and memories were incorporated into the novel 'Island of Eternal Games', which was published in 1926. He died on 15th March 1941 in a hospital in Royal Tunbridge Wells and is buried on Islington & St. Pancras Cemetery in London.