GBLA Stamps by Captain Šlechta
When a film is made about the Great Bitter Lake Association, the most moving sequence will probably look something like this. On the Great Bitter Lake, 14 anchored ships are scattered. The Czechoslovak ship Lednice, by far the smallest of all the ships and therefore nicknamed Baby, is somewhere in the middle. This image is on the cover of the GBLA Collectors`Encyclopaedia and Stamp Catalogue.
Suddenly, the silence on the Lake is broken by the wail of a siren – the Lednice signals distress. The other ships start their engines, raise their anchors, and send rescue boats to the Lednice. They approach the Lednice, which has lowered its flag halfway down the mast; the captain and crew sit quietly with tears in their eyes. The siren continues to wail. However, the other ships cannot help them. It is August 21, 1968; the occupiers have just invaded Czechoslovakia.
The captain was Vladimír Antonin Slechta. He took command on the GBL just five days ago, replacing another veteran, Captain Benda. He was even two years older than him. He was surprised by the number of letters requesting GBLA stamps, so for the next stay in 1969, when he again replaced Captain Benda, he came prepared. He had stamps printed at home for the second anniversary of the GBLA, for which the crew on the lake added an image of the Czechoslovak flag.
Later, he decided to black out his name on the stamps.
Only a minimum number of unaltered stamps have been preserved. The crew
of the Lednice used the altered stamps on letters home, and the captain
used them on letters to collectors.
One of those collectors was the legendary Dr. Zappala.
Captain Šlechta was Flight Sergeant of the RAF during the WWII. He is burried at the Brookwood Military Cemetery (London Necropolis).
He was posthumously awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Sources: GBLA Encyclopaedia and files of the author
Contact: valdpete@yahoo.com,
www.valdpete.blogspot.com
