“Gratias Agit is a prestigious award. It is a great achievement that this year it has been awarded to two people who have worked closely with our Embassy in London. For many years, Gerry Manolas and Tom Doležal have helped ensure that the stories of Czechoslovak servicemen are not forgotten, both in the United Kingdom and in the Czech Republic. I greatly appreciate their work,” said Ambassador Václav Bartuška.

The Gratias Agit Award is a prestigious distinction conferred by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic on individuals and organisations whose long-term activities have made a significant contribution to promoting the Czech Republic abroad. It recognises people of any nationality who foster awareness of Czech culture, history, language, science and the arts, or who contribute to international relations and friendship with the Czech Republic.

“It was so wonderful to share the event with the other laureates and your friends from the Czech Embassy London and MAFCSV. I am proud beyond words and would like to thank everyone for their nominations and support,” said Gerry Manolas right after the ceremony.

“A great honour for me to receive this award and I am very mindful of all in the FCAFA team, without whom, our CzRAF remembrance project would not have achieved the excellence that it has. A very memorable and humbling day, and my sincere thanks to all who made this Gratias Agit Award happen,“ said Tom Doležal.

Gerry Manolas

Gerry Manolas has served as Chair of the Memorial Association for Free Czechoslovak Veterans (MAFCSV) since 2018. The organisation is one of the United Kingdom’s key veterans’ associations dedicated to preserving the memory of Czechoslovak servicemen who fought for the freedom of Czechoslovakia. In this role, she has played a leading part in organising commemorative events, particularly at the Czechoslovak Military Cemetery in Brookwood, at Cholmondeley Castle, and at a number of other remembrance ceremonies of significant international and symbolic importance.

In addition to her organisational work, she actively assists descendants of Czechoslovak veterans and British citizens in tracing the stories of family members connected with Czechoslovak military units or exile communities during the Second World War. Through her efforts, she has long fostered links between Czech, Slovak and British communities and has made a major contribution to the intergenerational transmission of historical memory.

A major milestone of her work was her involvement in the creation of the memorial stone dedicated to Czechoslovak veterans and defenders of freedom and democracy during the years 1939–1945, as well as the organisation of its unveiling ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire in June 2025. Home to more than 400 memorials commemorating modern British history, the Arboretum provides a permanent and dignified tribute to the contribution of Czechoslovak servicemen and exiles. The project, delivered under the auspices of MAFCSV, has significantly strengthened awareness of the shared history of the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

Tom Doležal

Tom Doležal co-founded the Free Czechoslovak Air Force Associates Ltd. (FCAFA ltd) in 2010 and serves as its Chairman. Over time, the organisation’s archive has become the most extensive and trusted source of information on Czechoslovak RAF personnel outside the Czech and Slovak Republics. Thanks to its bilingual format, it serves not only veterans’ families but also historians, museums, authors, academic publications and the media.

Tom has long worked as a volunteer and expert adviser to numerous British and Czech heritage institutions, including the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne and the Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge, where he has helped expand exhibitions dedicated to Czechoslovak airmen. He was a consultant on the Winged Lion Monument project since it started in 2014, and provided all of the 2,534 Czechoslovak RAF airmen and WAAF names.

Between 2018 and 2019, together with his colleagues, he visited every known grave of a Czechoslovak RAF airman in the United Kingdom and abroad, making FCAFA the only organisation to complete this task on a global scale. The organisation continues this work to this day. He has also played an active role in establishing several new memorials to Czechoslovak airmen in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, including the Czech Four-Leaf Clover Memorial, the Czechoslovak Battle of Britain Memorial plaque,  the memorial plaque to Tomáš Glaser in Hawkinge, and the memorial to Josef František at Priest Hill, Epsom and Start Point,  Devon for W/Cmdr Alois Vašátko.

Through his long-standing research, organisational and public outreach activities, Tom Doležal has made a significant contribution to preserving the legacy of the Czechoslovak resistance, strengthening Czech-British relations, and promoting the good name of the Czech Republic abroad.