who had trained as aircrew in Jackson, Mississippi, added to
the Dutch numbers in Australia. I am pleased to see some of
them are with us today here at the Memorial Grove. The East
Indies refugees brought with them 20 transports, 11 flying
boats and 28 Ryan trainers. These aircraft were a welcome
addition to allied aircraft numbers in Australia during the
dark days of 1942, but even more important were the 230
Dutch owned aircraft, including 162 Mitchells, now arriving
from the US. Ordered and paid for to help defend the Dutch
East Indies, these aircraft would now be used to help defend
Australia.
At first the Dutch were too few in number to form their own
squadrons, and the Dutch owned aircraft were absorbed into
the RAAF and the US forces. But within weeks of their arri
val, an agreement was reached to form composite Dutch/
Australian units so that the Dutch could fly some of the air
craft they had bought and paid for. The first composite
squadron, Number 18 (NEI) Squadron, RAAF, was formed in
April 1942 and equipped with Mitchell bombers. Number
120 (NEI) Squadron, with its Kittyhawk fighters, was formed
the next year. As mentioned, both squadrons were initially
based at Canberra. A Personnel and Equipment Pool to pro
vide operational training and support was also formed in
Canberra and operated here throughout the war. In all three
units the commanding officers were Dutch, as were most of
the aircrew, while the ground staf was mainly Australian.
De Mitchell N5-237 in een shelter tijdens de
vl u ch tvoo rberei d i ng.
As the war progressed men who had escaped from occupied
Holland, the Dutch West Indies and other parts of the world
also joined both squadrons. This made the squadrons very
'multi-cultural'. Indeed, by 1944, 18 Squadron's 600 person
nel consisted of 38 different nationalities speaking 13 langu
ages, and the Commanding Officer at times addressed the
squadron in English, Dutch and Indonesian!
The story of these Dutch squadrons in the RAAF would have
been largely forgotten, were it not for the interest taken by
one of the RAAF's own, Group Captain (retd) Doug Hurst
who wrote a history of the Dutch forces in Australia during
the Second World War. Because of his book the story became
better known and led to the RAAF Association's very kind
invitation for us to place a memorial plaque here today.
I am extremely grateful to the Association for their kind
offer and I am honoured and proud that I am able to pay
my respects today to these countrymen of mine who helped
fight our common enemy and whose efforts in the Pacific
War are now finally gaining the public recognition they
deserve. I am particularly pleased that this unveiling takes
place today and is part of this larger ceremony in which the
Royal Australian Air Force Memorial Grove is being rededi-
cated. As the Dutch and Australians fought side by side, so
they are now being honoured side by side.
May they rest in peace.
Met dank aan Joost Dirkzwager. Nederlandse
Ambassade Australië
