Wing Commander General František Peřina (8 April 1911, Morkůvky[1] – 6 May 2006, Prague) was a Czech fighter pilot, an ace during World War II with the French Armée de l'Air, who also served twice with Britain's Royal Air Force.

[6] On operations after 10 May 1940, after Germany began implementing its Manstein battle plan against France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, Peřina shot down four planes in two sorties.

While his colleagues attacked the bombers Peřina focused on a fighter escort of 60 Messerschmitt Bf 109's, shooting down one plane but getting badly shot up himself.

312 on recovery and moved with the squadron to Ayr, Scotland in 1941 to convert to the Supermarine Spitfire Mk V. On 3 June 1942 while escorting bombers he claimed two Focke-Wulf Fw 190s from a formation of four, one of which was confirmed destroyed and a second as 'probable'.

Peřina then served as sector gunnery officer for a year, and then spent the remainder of the war at Fighter Command as part of the Czechoslovak liaison establishment.

[4] His victory claims totalled 12, and consisted of 3 solo and 9 shared destroyed, 2 probables, and 1 damaged[8] Peřina returned to Czechoslovakia where his wife Anna had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1945.

He became the Commanding Officer of a gunnery school and an aerobatic pilot with his own Bücker Bü 131 "Jungmeister" biplane provided by the air ministry.

In April 1949 Peřina, his wife Anna and a friend flew to West Germany, belly landing at Passau, eight miles (13 km) from the Soviet zone.

Peřina applied for a United States visa in London in 1949 and emigrated to Canada, even though Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder tried to persuade him to stay.

[9] At Christmas 1959 the couple's US residency was confirmed and he joined the new plastics division of ejection seat specialist Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California (later a subsidiary of French-based Zodiac Group).

Peřina commented that he simply wanted to die on home soil and that it was the country that he fought for and stressed repeatedly that he loved the Czech countryside.

His wife Anna Peřinová (née Klimešová) had died several days before his admission to hospital on 21 April Radio Prague reported.

[10] In 2011 the Niue Island issued the 100 NZD gold coin depicting and commemorating the Legendary fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, General Peřina.