Free Czechoslovak Army Memorial Fountain

A memorial fountain commemorating the Free Czechoslovak Army, which was based in Leamington Spa during the Second World War, and in particular those who died following Operation Anthropoid; designed by John French, and erected in 1968.

MATERIALS Hornton stone.

DESCRIPTION The memorial takes the form of a fountain, with a wide, shallow, seven-lobed bowl standing on seven clustered piers, representing the seven men commemorated. The piers carry a carved rampant lion, the contemporary symbol of the then Czechoslovakia. From the centre of the bowl rises a water feature in the shape of an open parachute, with water emerging at the apex, and running down the ‘seams’ of the parachute into each of the lobes of the bowl below. The running streams of water resemble the cords of the parachute. This feature carries the names of those commemorated, one on each section. The water runs out of the lobes of the bowl via carved channels, and falls into a shallow, circular pool at the foot of the stem, which is fashioned in roughly-hewn stone. The pool is lined in Hornton stone paving with brick sides, and blue brick capping. The pool is surrounded by granite setts laid in concentric circles. Alongside the fountain is a bronze memorial plaque, about 0.9m x 0.75m, set on a block of rough granite. The plaque reads: IN TRIBUTE/ TO ALL/ CZECHOSLOVAK SOLDIERS, AIRMEN AND PATRIOTS/ WHO FELL IN WORLD WAR II./ FROM ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA, IN 1941,/ VOLUNTEERS FROM FREE CZECHOSLOVAK FORCES/ STATIONED IN THE TOWN, WERE PARACHUTED INTO/ THEIR HOMELAND TO RID IT OF THE TYRANT/ "PROTECTOR" S.S. GENERAL HEYDRICH. TWO OF/ THEM - JAN KUBIŠ AND JOSEF GABCÍK -/ ACCOMPLISHED THEIR MISSION IN MAY 1942./ THEY AND THEIR COMPANIONS LAID DOWN THEIR/ LIVES/ FOR FREEDOM.