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

operational command. Initially it undertook anti-submarine patrols on the east coast of Australia, before moving to northern Australia and taking part in operations against the Japanese in the islands of the

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

(NEI). At the conclusion of hostilities, the squadron came under Dutch control and Australian personnel were transferred out. The squadron then undertook operations 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 ...

, before eventually being disbanded in July 1950 after being transferred to Indonesia.

History

World War II

No. 18 (NEI) Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Canberra on 4 April 1942, under the operational command of the

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

's No. 79 Wing. Like the other two joint Australian-Dutch squadrons – Nos. 119 and 120 Squadrons – the Dutch authorities provided No. 18 Squadron's pilots and aircraft, which had been obtained from the United States via the

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

program. The majority of the aircrew were Dutchmen who had been evacuated from the Netherlands East Indies after the Japanese invasion, while most of the groundcrew were Australian. Unlike the other two squadrons, however, the RAAF also provided many aircrew to the squadron: on formation there was a total of 242 Dutch and Javanese personnel and 266 Australian personnel; all aircraft were captained by a Dutch officer, while the remaining aircrew positions were filled by a mixture of Dutch and Australian personnel. The squadron was commanded overall by a Dutch officer throughout the war; but the unique situation of having Dutch and Australian members meant that Dutch personnel were administered under

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

regulations, while the Australian component was administered and commanded separately by an Australian officer of the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

. The squadron's aircraft were painted with Dutch flags, instead of RAAF markings. No. 18 (NEI) Squadron received its first five

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 ...

medium bombers in April 1942. These aircraft were used for both training and anti-submarine patrols. While the squadron briefly operated 10

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was o ...

light bombers in early 1942, it was fully equipped with 18 B-25s by 21 September 1942, following what was wrongly believed to have been a successful attack by one of the squadron's Mitchells, piloted by Captain Guus Winckel, on a Japanese submarine off the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

coast near

Moruya Moruya is a town located on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River. The Princes Highway runs through the town that is about south of Sydney and from Canberra. At the , Moruya had a population of 4,29 ...

in June. On 4 December 1942, No. 18 (NEI) Squadron deployed to a partially constructed

MacDonald Airfield MacDonald Airfield was an airfield built alongside the former northern road, west of Stuart Highway, north of Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia during World War II. History The airfield was constructed by the 43rd Engineer Regiment ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

to operate in the North Western Area. After a period of further training, the squadron began flying operational missions in early January 1943 and was primarily tasked with reconnaissance flights and raids on Japanese ships and bases in the occupied NEI, focusing on

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

, and on

Tanimbar The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and F ...

and

Kai Island The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such ...

. While the squadron suffered considerable casualties in these raids, it did not receive any replacement crews until September 1943 when new and more heavily armed B-25s were delivered along with fresh crews who had been trained at a Dutch flying school in the United States. No. 18 (NEI) Squadron relocated from MacDonald to Batchelor in May 1943. As the Japanese presence in the eastern NEI declined, the Dutch authorities requested that No. 18 (NEI) Squadron be re-equipped with longer ranged

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

heavy bombers, but was declined and the squadron continued to operate B-25s. Throughout 1943, the squadron undertook further reconnaissance missions and attacks on Japanese shipping around the NEI, before shifting focus in November 1943 and March 1944 upon Japanese supply routes to north-eastern Papua New Guinea, during which the squadron sank over 25,000 tons of Japanese shipping. Part of the squadron was detached to Exmouth, Western Australia in March 1944, in response to Allied intelligence that a Japanese attack on Fremantle or Perth was likely, but it returned to Batchelor shortly afterwards after which the squadron attacked targets in the NEI for the remainder of the year, focusing especially on Japanese airfields. Anti-shipping attacks were also undertaken, and on one raid around Tioor Island on 23 June, the squadron's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel E.J.G. Te Roller, was killed. In February 1945, part of the squadron was moved to

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

, where it was based at

Jacquinot Bay Jacquinot Bay is a bay in East New Britain Province, south-eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . It is near the mountain where twenty-eight people died when a Royal Australian Air Force plane crashed in November 1945. To its west is the Gas ...

, as part of a plan to relocate the entire squadron. In April, the squadron took part in an attack that damaged the Japanese cruiser ''Isuzu'' north of Sumbawa. The detachment on New Britain was moved to Morotai Island in June after the plan to move the squadron to New Britain was reversed following Dutch appeals to be sent to the NEI instead. The following month, the whole squadron was relocated to

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

, which had recently been liberated following the Battle of Balikpapan. After arriving at Balikpapan the squadron's main task was to drop propaganda leaflets and locate and drop supplies to Allied personnel in prison camps throughout the NEI. It also provided support to an Australian amphibious landing on

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Meda ...

in late September 1945, after the conclusion of hostilities with Japan. During World War II, No. 18 (NEI) Squadron flew over 900 operation sorties; 102 airmen were killed, including 25 Australians.

Post World War II

The RAAF component of No. 18 (NEI) Squadron was disbanded on 25 November 1945 and the squadron passed to Dutch control on 15 January 1946. The squadron relocated to Tjililitan in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

on 9 March 1946 and saw active service against Indonesian Nationalists during the

flying a variety of missions including reconnaissance, bombing and close support to Dutch troops fighting against the Indonesians. Following the end of Dutch rule, No. 18 Squadron was the last squadron to be handed over to the Indonesians and was disbanded on 26 July 1950. A total of 4,000 personnel from 38 nationalities served in the squadron during the eight years it existed.

Aircraft operated

No. 18 (NEI) Squadron operated the following aircraft:

Squadron bases

The squadron operated from the following airfields:

Commanding officers

Officers commanding No. 18 (NEI) Squadron were as follows:

Notes

Bibliography

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