No. 119 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

which formed part of the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). The squadron was formed in September 1943 but could not be made operational due to a shortage of Dutch personnel. As a result, it was disbanded in December 1943.

History

No. 119 (NEI) Squadron was raised at

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

on 1 September 1943. As a joint Australian-Dutch unit it was intended that the Dutch authorities would provide all the squadron's aircrew and aircraft while the RAAF would provide its ground crew. Once formed No. 119 (NEI) Squadron was to operate alongside

No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian bomber squadron of World War II. Formed in April 1942, the squadron was staffed by a mixture of Dutch and Australian personnel and placed under Royal Australian Air Forc ...

, which had been formed on the same basis in April 1942 and was flying operations against the Japanese from Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

under RAAF command as part of the

North Western Area Campaign The North-Western Area Campaign was an air campaign fought between the Allied and Japanese air forces over northern Australia and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) between 1942 and 1945. The campaign began with the Japanese bombing of Darwin on ...

.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 105 Personnel began to be assigned to the squadron from 1 September, though its commanding officer, Squadron Leader E.C. Rutter, was not appointed until the 16th of the month. By the end of September the squadron had a strength of 11

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

officers and 14 other ranks as well as three Australian officers and 32 other ranks. It was loaned two

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

bombers and a Lodestar transport, but there is no record of these aircraft being flown while assigned to the squadron. Due to a shortage of Dutch personnel it was decided to disband No. 119 (NEI) Squadron in late 1943, before the unit had become operational. Accordingly, the squadron was disbanded at Canberra on 10 December. The concise history of the squadron published by the RAAF Historical Section states that its personnel were posted to the newly formed

No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF No. 120 Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian squadron of World War II. The squadron was first formed in December 1943 as part of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and saw combat in and around New Guinea during 1944 and 1945 equipped wi ...

while an essay by historian Albert Palazzo published on the Australian War Memorial's website states that they were transferred to No. 18 (NEI) Squadron.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

History

References

Further reading