This three
planes are build in memory of my gran dfather who suddenly died on
Saturday, March 3rd. Today, on March 9th will be his funeral. My
grandfather served with the Dutch Army in the East Indies during 1947-1950. He
had a office job, and did not actually fight during the actions. His
highest rank was Sergeant-Major. These three planes were the
workhorses of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force during those
days.
One of the first things I
thought about when I g ot home that
Saturday, was to do something for him,
to honour him. I took a look at my stash and found these 3 planes.
I think
it's the best way for me to honour him.
Click on
images below to see larger images
All these
kits are build straight out of the box, except for the decals which came
from Dutch Decals. Most interior parts were pre-painted so that I could get
everything together as soon as possible, I wanted to have the models ready
on the day of his funeral, so I had only 5,6 days. The fit was quite
good, filling and sanding was not necessary.
Some History :
Following the capitulation of Japan at the end of the
second World War, a group of nationalists, among others Sukarno and Mohammed
Hatta declared the independence of Indonesia, sparking armed conflict when
the Dutch attempted to regain control of the region. The Dutch were able to
first regain control of Jakarta, forcing the removal of the Indonesian capital
to Yogyakarta. A second offensive resulting in the takeover of Yogyakarta
meant that capital was again moved, this time to West Sumatra. However, pressure
from Australia and newly independent India forced a negotiation brokered by the
United States of America resulting in the Round Table Conference of 1949 in
which the Dutch acknowledged the sovereignty of Indonesia excepting the region
of western New Guinea.
The offensive actions by the Dutch army were called "Politionele
Acties" (Police Actions).
* C-47 flew with 20th squadron during 1949 -
1950, based at Tjililitan and used mostly to drop paratroopers during the 2nd
police actions, this plane was probably handed over the the AURI (Indonesian Air
Force)
* P-51 flew with 122
Squardron during 1949 - 1950, based at Medang and was used to bomb and
straff Indonesian Republicans during the Police actions, and before it was
handed over to the AURI, it flew as a escort of the Willem Ruys with General
Scholte aboard, who was leaving the Dutch Indies.
* P-40 flew with 120
squadron during 1946 - 1949, based at Semarang. Mostly used as air support for
the paratroopers. Most P-40's were totaly warn-out and at their end of their
service life. probably the dutch P-40's where one of the last in active service.
Another important
aircraft of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force was the B-25 Mitchell,
but I wasn't ably to build one in this short period, I will do this in the next
couple of weeks, so that my collection of the Police Actions era is quite
complete.
Thanks for looking,
and I hope you like these pictures. Thanks to my brother, Björn Dol, for making
these pictures (his camera is better then mine)
Best Regards
Niels
Niels Dol
Lelystad, The Netherlands
http://scalemodeling.dwaal.net/
Click on
images below to see larger images
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