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When I was in London this summer, I found myself with some time to spare, waiting for a train at Liverpool Street Station. I made a point of going out to the small open space on the south side of the station, known as Hope Square. Here you will find a plaque and a monument to remember the children of the Kindertransports.

Many Czechs were saddened to learn on Wednesday that Frantisek Fajtl, one of the country's most respected and famous WW II-era fighter pilots had died in Prague at the age of 94. For many, Mr Fajtl was a hero and not only for his feats in battle, but also for his work as a writer, his memoirs often naming Czech airmen who might otherwise have been forgotten. Jan Velinger has more on the pilot's life.

Antonin Sum, who was secretary to the post-war Czechoslovak foreign minister Jan Masaryk, has died in Prague at the age of 87. Sum, who was born in Prague and studied law at Charles University, was active in the anti-Nazi resistance during the war. After working at the office of the government for two years, in 1947 he became the secretary of Jan Masaryk, a man with whom his fate was ever afterwards entwined.

Czech participants in the Battle of Britain and other war veterans have commemorated the 65th anniversary of the legendary battle in which the Royal Air Force prevented a German invasion of Britain. Some of the Czechoslovak pilots, fighting with RAF, remained in Britain after the war for political reasons. Some 2,500 Czechoslovak citizens took part in the Battle of Britain, including 1,450 pilots, and nearly 500 of them were killed. At present, only a few dozen Czech participants are still alive, their average age being 86. One of the most famous Czech pilots who fought in England Frantisek Perina died a month ago, aged 95.

It's not often you get the chance to talk about history with those who participated in it. But recently while covering a festival of Jewish culture in the south Moravian town of Mikulov, I had that chance. The festival marked the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Mikulov's Jewish museum for Moravia and Silesia, which was closed when the Nazis arrived in 1938. Among the guests was William Teltscher, son of the museum's founder Richard Teltscher. William Teltscher fled the Nazis in 1938 and emigrated to London, where he's lived ever since. Now

Surrounded by the charming Brdy Forests in Western Bohemia, Zbiroh Chateau really catches the eye of anyone who visits. With its rich history and impressive Neo-Renaissance architecture, the chateau is one of the most curious in the country. The renowned Czech painter Alfons Mucha painted his famous Slav Epic here, along with much of his other oil based works. During World War II, the castle was occupied by a secret SS division which monitored radio communications all over the world. Now even more of the secrets of this intriguing castle have been

In September 1920, the last Czechoslovak legionnaires, who fought alongside the Allies in Russia during the First World War, and then found themselves caught up in the Russian Revolution, left Russian soil for France after months of travelling through harsh Siberian tundra. As the European front had been blocked by the Civil War, the White Czechs, as they were called, were forced to travel via the Pacific port of Vladivostok and the United States.

The Czech Republic has been celebrating the 61st anniversary of the end of World War II. A number of ceremonies were held on Monday, including a commemoration of those who died during the war at Prague's Vitkov national memorial. President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek were among those who laid wreaths during the ceremony, which was attended by a number of Second World War veterans.

The Second World War tore communities and whole nations apart. In the Czech Republic centuries of Jewish history were reduced to a few shattered fragments. Nearly 80,000 Czechs were murdered because of their Jewish origin. The scale of this destruction makes the few fragments that survive so much the more important, and in this programme, we look at how a single object, surviving from the pre-war Jewish life of Czechoslovakia, became the catalyst for creating a new and unexpected bond between two places at opposite ends of Europe. We start with

Anyone acquainted with Czech military history will likely have heard of ace pilot Frantisek Perina - who fought with distinction for Czechoslovakia in both the Battles of France and Britain during the Second World War. Mr Perina - named to the honorary rank of major general in 2000 - turned 95 just last month - and was honoured by the Czech Army and Air Force. On the occasion of the anniversary of the end of the war, we look back at key moments in Mr Perina's military career - ignored by the Communists for forty years.