Květoslav Prokeš (1897–1949)
Květoslav Prokeš was born at Zábřeh (formerly Rudolfov, Šumperk District, Olomouc Region)on June 2, 1897, into a family of a worker and a washerwoman. After finishing elementary school he went to study at the Zábřeh Gymnasium, but in 1915 he was assigned to the Hranice military hospital as a nursing auxiliary. From there he was recruited in 1916 to the 93rd Infrantry Regiment deployed in Poland, to stay there until the end of war.
After returning to Czechoslovakia he continued his suspended studies, passed his GCE in 1920, and went on to the Military Academy at Hranice. In October 1921, Prokeš was sent as an aspirant officer to the French Military School at Saint-Cyr, and later studied at the Military Riding School at Saumar. He returned from France in 1924 to commence service at the 7th Riding Regiment in Hodonín as a Squad Commander. In 1925 he worked as an instructor at the Military Riding Academy in Pardubice, and later served in Bratislava and Prostějov as an officer of the 3rd and 6th Riding Regiments, respectively.
During the German occupation he joined resistance movement, and in November 1939 left for Switzerland to submit a report for Paris. He carried out a similar task in Vienna the same month. In order to avoid arrest, Prokeš left the Protectorate in December 1939 and via Slovakia tried to get to the Czechoslovak Army that was being formed abroad. His attempt failed, however, and he was arrested in Hungary and imprisoned in Budapest. Four months later he succeeded in fleeing to Yugoslavia and continued to France. After its defeat he was evacuated together with other Czechoslovak soldiers to England in June 1940. He served there at the Czechoslovak unit as a sports and publicity officer, and later headed the registration office.
At the turn of 1943, he was posted to Free French units on his own request and on request of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defence. He was deployed in the Middle East (Beirut) in the rank of Major to command motorized troops. After the dismissal of his request to be deployed in fighting against Germans in Italy, he applied for return to the Czechoslovak Army. In November 1944 he left the Middle East and via Turkey and Bulgaria got to Romania, where he later served at the Allied Military Mission and, among other things, provided material for the needs of (pokud souhlasíte, doplňuji: the Czechoslovak units of) General Svoboda. In March 1945 he was allowed to leave for Košice to join Czechoslovak forces, and he was posted to the staff squad in the rank of Major.
As of October 1945, Květoslav Prokeš headed the liquidation department of Czechoslovak forces abroad, but in November 1946 he was transferred, on the order of the 5th Department of the Army Headquarters, to rank-and-file service in Pelhřimov and later Tábor. At that time he was already kept under surveillance as an officer of Western orientation. After Feburary 1948 he was speedily retired. He tried to find a civilian job but his effort was purposefully hampered.
Květoslav Prokeš was arrested on May 17, 1949 and accused of masterminding an armed subversive putsch (Action Anton, Action Květa), which he allegedly planned with many other military and civilian persons. The State Court in Prague (with chairman Colonel Dr. Štella and prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Vieska) sentenced him to death in a fabricated trial on charges of high treason and espionage. Major Květoslav Prokeš was executed at Prague’s Pankrác Prison on November 1949, together with other convicts, J. Borkovec, V. Janda, E. Čančík, J. Charvát, and V. Polesný.