This is a photograph illustrating the collision of dad‘s Ilyushin IL-14 with an eagle. I got beautiful feathers for my “Indian” headdress.

This is a photograph illustrating the collision of dad‘s Ilyushin IL-14 with an eagle. I got beautiful feathers for my “Indian” headdress.

Iveta, aged 17, dutifully practices guitar in the garden.

"To už je snímek ze slavnostního křtu v Mánesu 19. 4. 2000, kde se tehdy sešlo tolik lidí, že nebylo nejen kde sedět, ale ani místečko na stání. Kromě kmotříčků Taxmenů byl hlavním kmotrem mistr světa v letecké akrobacii Ing. Petr Jirmus, s nímž přišla i jeho úžasná manželka Alenka. Ta ale na snímku není – někde sedí u stolu mezi letci."

The VIP guests included Jindra Polák, the director of Nebeští jezdci [Riders in the Sky, a 1968 movie]. and those airmen who remembered Ant in person. At the end of the book, there are their personal reminiscences and portrait photographs. Here, from the left: colonel JUDr. Lubomír Úlehla, colonel Jaroslav Hofrichter and Petr Jirmus. He is looking towards the stage where I’m probably talking to the microphone at the moment.

"After the book presentation, we got a photo taken in front of the bar. The paintings hanging there are oil paintings beautifully painted by Petr Hampl, M. A. {left); they were meant as illustrations for the book. Next to me, lieutenant colonel Jan Bozděch is standing. He is the son of the owner of Ant the dog, whose godfather was Jan Masaryk [the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the exile government in London during WWII].

Very rare snapshot from a book signing during the celebrations of the end of WWII in Plzeň in 2001. Ivana went on tour with the book along with the Taxmen band and other book presentations and signings were organised. They began in Rakovník and after a stop in Plzeň, they ended in Přeštice. "Mom did all the driving and it was very tiresome for her but the experience was worth it! Moreover, nobody can take my memories away from me!"

"This photograph was taken by a family friend, Karel Mařatka. It was shot just after the end of an unveiling of a memorial plaque on the 19th of May, 2001. "Dad's former colleagues, civilian pilots, asked the Czechoslovak Airlines to sponsor the event. Their flags were hoisted on wooden masts on the lawn near the house and the marketing department agreed that I would represent them wearing their uniform. My relief that we managed the event is well visible. It rained and we were soaked to the bone and tired dead. The preparations for the event were exhausting even though my mother was a great help as a sort of 'liaison officer'."

A reminder of an anniversary concert of the Taxmen band. The photograph was taken at a party which took place in Mánes [gallery] probably at an anniversary of starting the Taxmen band; other artists participated as well. On the left, founder of Taxmen and a wonderful historian, Jaroušek Čvančara. Iveta as a co-organiser of the event added a bonus for the band members, she invited an astrologer, dr. Peter Messany, to foretell them further career. Far right, on Iveta’s left, there is another long term member of the band, owner of a mesmerising baritone, Vráťa Vyskočil. (This was in 2002 or 2003).

„This is the beginning of my end, a photograph from the police files documenting the dramatic day of the 26th February of 2008 when I was hit by a 20-year-old Romanian from behind in full speed. I rode my beloved bike, returning with my (now former) boyfriend from a visit at relatives‘ and just before the turn to Uherce, we were badly hit. It was a really strong impact as shown by the distance between the car and my bike. I was even further away after I ended my flight somewhere. What hurt me most was the destroyed airbrush on the tank which showed dad’s airplane which would match my bike – Marauder and B-26.“

"Another heart ache of mine. The back of the bike got destroyed. It could be repaired but the stickers from all bike reunions were lost, and these can't be replaced; so were those on the front light and on the speedometer."

"Another heart ache of mine. The back of the bike got destroyed. It could be repaired but the stickers from all bike reunions were lost, and these can't be replaced; so were those on the front light and on the speedometer."

„My helmet mostly survived but the passenger’s one is irrepairably destructed and I keep it in my cottage a permanent reminder that shouts in the space, whenever someone comes, that something good happen for a change and the bad go away.“

„The police officer told me when they closed the case that a bike this strong (800 ccm) saved my life. Should it be a smaller bike, we would be both dead. It was a damn bang as the Romanian guy's destroyed car shows. My bike practically halved the car in the impact and my former boyfriend Lukáš added to the damage when he was thrown in the air backwards (I was told I flew towards like a little angel) when he landed head-first on his windshield and broke it with his full face helmet that got destroyed by the crash.“

„The impact came many meters before the car came to a final halt. The driver did not pay attention, he chatted with his friends in the car and looked wherever, just not at the road. The long and prominent skid marks flanked by a line of fluid coming out of the punctured cooler, are shown on this photograph.“

"This pic was taken by the boys who came to pick me from the hospital and take me home."

“This is at home at the Úherce cottage just after my arrival. I wouldn't make it during the transfer to Prague and if I did, in my Prague flat, it was ten stairs up to my bed. Problem solved, then. You can see how my head is swollen due to brain œdema and full of blood clots.”

„Excruciating headache and pain all over my body, almost totaly blind due to severe concussion, deaf on one side because of punctured eardrum, that was just a selection of injuries. I was relieved by cold compresses on my face and nearly constant sleep. I did not smoke, I did not eat and if I did, then only some soup when I was pressured to. I didn't know what I was eating anyway because I lost the sense of smell and taste in the crash. There was an advantage to it – in two months, I lost 15 kilos. I'd take it even today but not for such a price.“

„This is after my second release from hospital when Lukášcarried me on his back to the porch so that I could get a bit of fresh air and change my position from time to time. Despite 12 – 15 different daily meds, I was in severe pain and I could manage only for a few minutes. At leasts he took a picture of my changing colours.“

„Paradoxically, the worst injuries both on the outside and inside of my head and on my spine were caused not only by the crash and fall but by the fact that I was actually wearing a helmet. That's what the constable told me. The intensity of the impact and being thrown in the air tore the helmet off which damaged the ligaments at the sides of my neck and caused further injuries which were avoidable. Especially on my left side where there's another colourful skull fracture behind my ear and bruises all over the neck. These caused the worst pains and even nowadays I suffer like a beast when my neck gets stuck and I end up with meds and neck brace in bed. And, better not to talk about the migraines!“

„It took several months before I started walking, step by step, slowly. My loss of proprioception which was not improving at all did not help, though, and one day, I got dizzy and fell down the stairs. Then, it indeed started to seem that I wouldn't be able to walk ever again.“

"I was in terrible pain even when my leg was in a cast. They suspected embolism but luckily, it was ruled out. The swelling remained, I could only wear house slippers, all other shoes were too narrow. Physiotherapy and exercise, be it in water or on the floor, did not work. I was unable to walk for a long time and I was mentally drained and at the same time, exhausted by the crutches and I was about to give up being able to walk ever again."

"Lukáš devotedly carried me on his back, carrying me there and back like a cat carries kittens. I do not wonder and in retrospect, I understand that after some time, he got fed up with it. Forever."

Rubová strana poslední dochované společné fotografie před zatčením Václava Vachka a Zdeny Vachkové

Věra Vachková 18 měsíců. Václav Vachek měl tuto fotografii u sebe při zatčení. Po úmrtí byla rodině gestapem vrácena.