The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) from 1939 until 1950. It was an entirely separate organisation from the

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

. The unit was founded in 1915 as the "Test Flight Service" (). In 1921, it became the "Aviation Service" (), before finally receiving the designation of ML-KNIL on 30 March 1939. In 1950, following Dutch recognition of Indonesian independence, its bases and facilities were handed over to the

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "''Indonesian National Military-Air Force''") sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF, is the aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The I ...

(TNI-AU).

World War II

On 1 January 1942, the Dutch forces joined the

American-British-Dutch-Australian Command The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consists of the forces of Austr ...

, but at the onset of the Japanese assault the ML-KNIL was not up to full combat strength. Of the aircraft that had been ordered, only a small number had been delivered, and many were obsolete models. There were five groups, three of bombers and two of fighters, each of three to four squadrons. A sixth depot group provided support, transport and training. Reconnaissance aircraft were placed directly under command of the Army to give support to ground troops. Despite stubborn resistance the Japanese occupied the Dutch colonies, though numbers of aircraft found their way to northern Australia to continue the fight. Four Dutch squadrons were formed in Australia. The first of these,

No. 18 (NEI) 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 ...

, was formed in April 1942 as a

medium bomber A medium bomber is a military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carried ...

squadron equipped with

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 ...

aircraft. The second joint Australian-NEI squadron, No. 119 (NEI) Squadron RAAF, was also to be a medium bomber squadron. No. 119 NEI Squadron was only active between September and December 1943 when it was disbanded to form

No. 120 (NEI) Squadron RAAF No. 120 Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian Squadron (aviation), 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 ...

, was a fighter squadron. In 1944, the KNIL formed No. 1 Netherlands East Indies Transport Squadron, later absorbed by the RAAF as No. 19 (NEI) Squadron RAAF. Both No. 18 and No. 120 Squadrons saw action against the Japanese during World War II. From late 1945, numbers 18, 19 and 120 squadrons fought against Indonesian nationalists, during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcol ...

. The squadrons were disbanded in 1950.

Aircraft

1915–1918

* Deperdussin-Léon de Brouckère Monoplane (never flown) * Farman F.22 * Léon de Brouckère No.1 & No.2 (type reconnaissance & trainer, Farman copies) * Glenn L. Martin Model TT * Glenn L. Martin Model TA * Glenn L. Martin Model TE * Glenn L. Martin Model R

1919–1935

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

K * Curtiss P-6E Hawk * De Havilland DH-9 * Fokker C.IV * Fokker C.V (D/E) * Fokker C.X *

Fokker DC.1 The Fokker DC.I was an aircraft produced in the Netherlands in the early 1920s to fulfill a role of combined fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. The company designation chosen by Fokker, "DC" reflected this, with "D" being the '' Idflieg'' desig ...

* Fokker D.VII * Fokker F.VIIb-3m * Fokker S.IV * Morane-Saulnier AR / MS.35 * NVI F.K.31 * Pander D * Vickers Viking

1936–1950

Martin 166 bombers ML-KNIL over Malaya 1942

* Brewster B-339C/D (export Brewster Buffalo) * Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann * Commonwealth CA-6 Wackett * Consolidated Model 28-5MN * Consolidated Model 28-5AMN * Curtiss P-40E/N Kittyhawk * Curtiss Model 75A-7 (export P-36 Hawk) * Curtiss-Wright CW-21B * Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcon * Douglas C-47 Dakota * Dornier Do 24K *

Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

* Fairchild F-24R-9 * Glenn Martin 139/166 (export B-10) * Hawker Hurricane IIb *

Mitsubishi Ki-57 The Mitsubishi Ki-57 was a Japanese passenger transport aircraft, developed from the Ki-21 bomber, during the early 1940s. Development In 1938, when the Ki-21 heavy bomber began to enter service with the Imperial Japanese Army, its capability a ...

"Topsy" * Koolhoven F.K.51 *

Lockheed 212 The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private ind ...

* Lockheed 12 *

Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. Design and development Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the ai ...

* Lockheed C60 Lodestar * Messerschmitt Bf 108B-1 *

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

D/K) * Noorduyn Norseman * North American AT-16 Harvard *

North American 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 ...

C/D/J * Piper J-4E * Piper L-4J * Ryan STM-2 * Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper *

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

* Waco EGC-7 *

Waco UKC The Waco Standard Cabin series is a range of American single-engine 4–5 seat fabric covered cabin biplanes produced by the Waco Aircraft Company beginning in 1931 with the QDC and continuing until 1942 when production ended for the VKS-7F.Brandl ...

Commanders

* 1915 Captain C.E. Visscher * 1917 Captain C.L. Vogelesang * 1919 Captain C. van Houten * 1921 Captain J.A. Roukes * 1924 Captain P.F. Hoeksema de Groot * 1927 Major J. Beumer * 1928 Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Wesseling * 1932 Major G.A. Ilgen * 1934 Major-General L.H. van Oyen * 1945 Major-General E.T. Kengen * 1946 Colonel P.J. de Broekert * 1948 Major-General C.W. van der Eem

Notes

References

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External links

* * * * * {{cite web , url= http://www.adf-serials.com.au/research/nei.htm , title=NEI Aircraft in Australia , first= Jos , last=Heyman , work=ADF Serials.com.au , year=2011 , access-date=7 October 2015 Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force Military units and formations established in 1915 Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force Military history of Indonesia Military history of the Netherlands Dutch East Indies Army aviation units and formations