PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Maj. Gen. Stanislav Hlucka, considered one of the best Czech pilots of World War II, has died. He was 88.

Hlucka, who was one of the last living Czech World War II fighters, died in Prague's military hospital overnight, the Czech Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

Hlucka was born Oct 19, 1919 in the eastern village of Blazovice. He fled Czechoslovakia, which was occupied by Nazi troops, and moved to France to join the Czech army there before moving to Britain to join the Royal Air Force.

In May 1943, he became part of the RAF's No. 313 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron. The following year, he moved to the Soviet Union to join the 1st Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron.

After the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Hlucka was arrested and sentenced to a one-year prison term in 1949. He was not allowed to return to the army until the 1960s.

Officers who fought in the West during in the war were expelled from the Czech army and many were arrested and imprisoned by the communist regime.

Hlucka later received many Czech, Slovak and British state and military decorations.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately made public.