I selected this letter to show not only his
enthusiasm and eagerness but that of the thousands
of other men who volunteered to serve in the KNIL.
Today, there are families here who have received
similar letters from sons or daughters serving in
Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Tub published many articles about aviation safety
during his career as well as after his retirement.
Not until 2002 did Tub begin writing his memoirs.
He called his memoirs Postscript to Defeat.
His memoirs stop in 1942. He never completed
them.
Allow me to read a small selection from his
memoirs.
On May 10, 1940,1 lost all contact with my family
until October 1945.
Java was now my only home. We were fascinated by
the Battle of Britain and the courageous manner in
which the British pilots held their own At Jirst, we
were skeptical about hearing the British motto
"we can take it". Later we realized that winning a war
means first of all, not to give up when you are hard
pressed
We kept improving our flying skills by drawing from
the experience in the Battle of Britain.
We practiced battle formation and fired on ground
targets at a stage field in the north west Java....
We never practiced aerial gunnery.
I should mention that the gun sight of the Brewster
Buffalo was similar to that of an old-fashioned rifle.
The aircraft had no radio and no oxygen installation.
The only things in which we had faith were ourselves,
our planes, and our mechanics. The best thing I can
say about the Brewster is that as a pilot, one could not
pull it apart....
Not long after our arrival in Singapore, one of our
two flights was repositioned to Java so that we
remained at Kallang with five pilots:
Captain Jacob van Helsdingen, Gus Deibel, Jan
Scheffer, Blackie Swarts, and I.
The longer we stayed in Singapore, the more
frustrated we became....
The Japanese landed near Rembang, about 100 miles
west of Soerabaja.
Tub continues later
"a group of Japanese fighters strafed the field and
destroyed practically all aircraft, including mine....
We were ordered to destroy what was not yet
ruined and to return with ground transportation to
Bandoeng... Thus, a long convoy left Ngoro later that
morning. The leader of the convoy was Lt. Anemaet.
We stopped at the Madioen airfield to drop off the
Americans who had traveled with us.
The Americans had orders to fly their B-17 bombers
and personnel to Australia.
There was plenty of space on the B-17s, and the
Americans invited us to evacuate with them.
Lt. Anemaet called headquarters in Bandoeng. He was
told that anyone who left with the Americans would
be considered deserters. After traveling about 24 hours,
we arrived in Bandoeng on March 2.
We heard that the Japanese had landed in Java
and that Kalidjati was already in their hands.
The Japanese controlled the sky over the Bandoeng
plateau.... The situation at Andir was chaotic.
There was widespread damage to buildings and to
aircraft. Ground personnel tried to salvage what could
be rescued.
I will now read Tub's description of the last flight of
March 7, 1942
"We had to report early to the north hangar. There
were four flyable Brewsters and too many pilots.
When van Helsdingen asked for volunteers, everybody
stepped forward. He selected three men who had flown
the most with him: Deibel, Scheffer, and me.
Van Helsdingen went to central command to get our
mission details. There were high clouds that morning.
Japanese aircraft were flying over Bandoeng. No allied
aircraft were operating from Andir.
Van Helsdingen said we had to support our ground
troops in the Lembang area.... There was no discussion
of the tactics that we were to use. There were no
topographical maps that showed the position of Dutch
troops.
When a low cloud cover provided some protection
against prowling Japanese fighters, we left Andir.
We took off directly from the north hangar, diagonally
across the field towards the control tower;
van Helsdingen and I went first, followed by Deibel
and Scheffer. After takeoff, van Helsdingen and I
climbed at moderate speed over the rising terrain
along the winding road towards Lembang.
Whenever my leader turned into one direction I would
cross over to the other side of him....
On one of these occasions, probably after we passed
over Lembang, I saw three single-engine aircraft
behind and above us.
To warn van Helsdingen, I moved forward on his right
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