after the czechoslovak leaders in exile reached an agreement with the soviet government in january 1941, most of the czechoslovak soldiers were released from soviet internment and joined the czechoslovak units in middle east and africa. their commander lt col. ludvík svoboda became member of the czechoslovak military mission in ussr and after the german invasion he was commander of the 1st czechoslovak independent field battalion in ussr and later on the commander of the czechoslovak army corps. on the other side, general lev prchala, who shortly became commander of czechoslovak forces in poland and successfully escaped to france via romania, was blamed by fellow officers for abandoning his troops, got isolated, and later he became a leader of the opposition against czechoslovak government-in-exile led by eduard beneš. other notable members of the legion include richard tesařík and otakar jaroš who later received the highest soviet decoration (hero of the soviet union), or the aces of the battle of britain such as josef františek.