Surprisingly, the leading RAF fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain was not from Britain, but from Eastern Europe. Joesf Frantisek was a Czech airman who ended up in Britain after a long journey through Europe. First, he had piloted a plane to Poland after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, and joined the Polish air force. Sergeant Frantisek fought for three weeks againist the Luftwaffe, and when Poland fell, he left for Romania. After being captured and escaping from an internment camp, he made his way through the Balkans to the Middle East, and then to France. Again Frantisek fought againist the Luftwaffe, this time with the French air force, who awarded him the Croix de Guerre for shooting down several enemy aircraft. When France fell in June 1940, Frantisek made his way to Britain, where he was assigned to a Polish RAF squadron as a "guest". Flying a Hurricane againist the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, he recorded seventeen confirmed kills. Frantisek was a skilled pilot but had a lack of air combat discipline, and he operated best when left alone to do what he pleased-which usually meant chasing after Luftwaffe aircraft by himself. On October 8, 1940, Sergeant Frantisek was reported killed in action after he failed to return to base.