The photo with soldiers is taken from the book by Jiri Solc - Parachutes over Slovakia - "Ready for action - Officers of 1: battalion 2. čs. pdb. Standing from the left. Šlávka, npor. Jakab, Capt. Uchytil, Lt. Syrovátka, npor. Cholvád. Seated from the left: rtm. Ogurčák, npor. Pivoluska. Proskurov 1944"

Honour the military heroes of the past by adding this exceptional decoration of the 2nd Paradesant Brigade to your collection. This decoration is an important reminder of the heroism and courage of the paratroopers who bravely and courageously protected our country in many conflicts and operations.

The 2nd Czechoslovak Independent Paratroopers Brigade was formed during World War II in the Soviet Union as a Czechoslovak combat unit composed mainly of Slovak soldiers, who made up 70% of the unit's members. The total number of members of the unit ranged between 2,000 and 3,000 men

By the end of 1942, discontent began to manifest itself among the soldiers of the independent Slovak state, whose troops, as allies of Germany, were fighting against the Soviet Union. There had already been sporadic defections of Slovaks to Soviet captivity in the earlier period, but the situation began to change considerably thanks to the Czechoslovak military mission in the USSR, which had been interested in Slovak soldiers since 1941 and which had been making efforts to allow the defection of entire units from which to replenish the Czechoslovak military forces on the Eastern Front. Among the Slovaks themselves, especially the junior officers and soldiers, there was a deepening dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war and the murder of Ukrainians by the Germans, which they witnessed in their places of operation. Thus, from the beginning of 1943 onwards, entire military units defected to Soviet captivity or to Ukrainian partisan units. From May 1943 a detachment of fifty-six Slovaks under the command of Capt. Ján Nálepka.

At the end of 1943 in the area of Melitopol, in a surprise breakthrough, the Soviets managed to capture 2,000 men from the ranks of the 1st Slovak Infantry Division. The Slovak soldiers refused to continue fighting alongside the Germans. The Slovaks were concentrated in prison camp No. 82 in Usman, where they declared themselves a Regiment of Slovak Volunteers. A delegation of this unit met with President E. Beneš during his visit to the USSR, and presented him with a request for admission into the Czechoslovak foreign army. In this situation, on 28 December 1943, at a meeting of Soviet and Czechoslovak military representatives in Moscow, it was decided that the 2nd Czechoslovak Paratroop Brigade (pdb) would be formed from this regiment to take part in the upcoming uprising in Slovakia.

On 10 and 11 January, trains with members of the Czechoslovak Replacement Battalion arrived from Buzuluk, from which 658 soldiers capable of paratrooping were transferred to the 2nd Brigade. In mid-January, the soldiers left for a training centre in the town of Jefremov. Due to a shortage of officers, Czechs were also called to join the unit, especially officers from Great Britain, but they had to go through a selection process due to their political beliefs. As of 31 January 1944, the future paratroop brigade had 2,714 men, including 60 officers and 4 staff sergeants.In the early stages of the brigade's formation, a Special Task Force of 106 men was allocated from the paratroop brigade. The commander was appointed as a scpt. Jozef Knop. In mid-February, 255 men, mostly medically unfit, had to be returned to the 1st Czechoslovak Brigade. Already on 8 April, a tactical exercise was carried out with the participation of a military-political delegation and a delegation of the Polish Army. The brigade was declared combat capable and was given a battle flag. Colonel Vladimír Přikryl was appointed brigade commander.

The unit consisted of 70% Slovaks, 15% Transcarpathian Ukrainians, 14% Czechs and 1% members of other nationalities. Due to the losses suffered by the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Brigade, it was considered that the paratroop brigade would be disbanded and serve as a source of reserves. Thanks to the recruitment of Volhynian Czechs into the Čs. However, this did not happen, on the contrary. The units of the 2nd Czechoslovak Army, which were moved to Proskuriv, were enlarged by the incoming Volhynian Czechs. (WIKIPEDIA)