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This is, however, more than a story about the 900 bombing
raids, reconnaissance missions and attacks on Japanese
shipping that the squadron flew in its three years of existence
under Australian control. At its heart is a powerful and
compelling story of a group of very different men, thrown
together for a common purpose, and the strange and
sometimes difficult friendships they formed.
VA N V E L Z E N
Marianne van Velzen is a Dutch journalist who lived in
MARIANNE
Australia for many years. She has a life-long interest in the
country. She is the author of Call of the Outback, the story
of Ernestine Hill, published in 2016.
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF A GROUP
OF AIRMEN WHO ESCAPED THE JAPANESE AND
BECAME THE RAAFS CELEBRATED 18TH SQUADRON
Cover design: Luke Causby/ Blue Cork
Cover image: Authors collection
MILITARY
M A R I A N N E VA N V E L Z E N
Bh2797M-PressProofs.indd i 13/02/17 3:46 PM
Bh2797M-PressProofs.indd iii 13/02/17 3:46 PM
Cover image: MacDonald, NT, c. 1943. The crew of a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber
from No. 18 (NEI) RAAF Squadron.
Uncredited photos are part of the authors collection. All attempts have been made to locate
the owners of copyright material. If you have any information in this regard, please contact
the publisher at the address below.
First published in 2017
Copyright Marianne van Velzen 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968
(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever
is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational
purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has
given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Email: info@allenandunwin.com
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Authors note ix
Map of 18th and 120th Squadrons:
Bases and flight movements xiii
1 Java, 1942 1
2 The dispatch rider 15
3 Attack on Broome 25
4 Escape to Australia 39
5 Stapleton Station, NT 51
6 The bombing of Darwin 63
7 Archerfield Air Base, Brisbane 73
8 Flying under the bridge 83
9 Fairbairn Airfield, Canberra 95
10 The making of three traitors 107
11 Nothing is fair in love and war 121
12 Picking up the pieces 131
13 The move north 143
Epilogue 295
Bibliography 301
Acknowledgements 305
ix
RANKS
The Dutch and the Australians had different names for different
ranks and I have tried to be accurate for each man and his rank.
Here is a list of equivalent Military Air Force ranks.
Dutch Australian
Luitenant General Air Marshal
General Majoor Air Vice Marshal
Kolonel Air Commodore
Overste Group Captain
Majoor Wing Commander
Kaptein Squadron Leader
1e Luitenant Flight Lieutenant
2e Luitenant Flying Officer
Vaandrig Pilot Officer
Onder Luitenant Pilot Officer
xi
Dutch Australian
Adjudant Warrant Officer
Sergeant Majoor Flight Sergeant
Korporaal Corporal
ABBREVIATIONS
MEASUREMENTS
xii
PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS
N
NORTH
BORNEO
SARAWAK
Darwin
BATCHELOR Gulf of
Carpentaria
MACDONALD
CORAL SEA
BROOME
NORTHERN
TERRITORY
POTSHOT QUEENSLAND
WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA ARCHERFIELD Brisbane
INDIAN
OCEAN
NEW
SOUTH WALES
Perth Sydney
Adelaide
Canberra FAIRBAIRN
VICTORIA
Melbourne
No. 18 (NEI) RAAF Squadron
theyd fix the bike and keep an eye on it for him. He gave them
the last of his money, and hoped theyd keep their word.
Trudging down the dirt track from the hills, Tom had set
out on foot to the main road to Bandung. The city was about
ten miles away, and he knew that once he was on the road it
wouldnt be hard to hitch a ride and hed reach Bandung within
the hour. But the message from the radio had thrown a spanner
in the works and now he had no idea what to expect. Shutting
down the radio station suggested the Japanese were already in
Bandung. He didnt know where his unit was, and for all he
knew they might have beencaptured.
Its a hard thing to kick yourself, but Tom almost managed.
Stupid idiot, he mumbled, realising he was stumbling along
in a world that had changed overnight. Why hadnt he known
what was happening? How could he have been so nave? He
felt like a blind man in more ways than one as he made his way
along the narrow path through the thick jungle. Suddenly the
path ceased, spitting him out onto the highway.
There is nothing as paralysing as doubt in a mans mind.
As Tom Derks tried in vain to convince himself that it couldnt
be true, that the Japanese could never have invaded the islands
so quickly, the sound of what he now assumed to be artillery
fire came from the direction of the city, picking up momentum
and volume. Doubt settled in his mind like an uninvited guest,
making him feel uncomfortable andcautious.
He needed to get to Bandung; he looked around, searching
for something motorised that could take him to the airport.
On the highway, people were scurrying past and the road was
he saw that the driver looked Japanese, and there were three
olive-skinned passengers peering at him through the front
window of the truck. The four men remained straight-faced as
Toms expression took on a look of shocked horror; he almost
made the fatal mistake of making a run for it. It wouldnt have
got him anywhere but dead, he realised as he raised his hands
in a gesture of surrender. Surrendering would keep him alive for
the time being, and he didnt much fancy a bullet in the back.
The uniform Tom was wearingthat of the ML-KNIL, the
Royal Netherlands Dutch East Indies Airforcesuddenly made
him feel painfully uncomfortable. He wished hed dressed in
civilian clothes, but he realised he could do nothing more than
hope they wouldnt kill him on the spot. If the Japanese thought
he might come in handy as a source of intelligence later, they
might think twice about killing him. His uniform didnt have
many stripeshe was a flight officerbut the Dutch uniforms
nevertheless looked pretty impressive.
As one of the men got out of the jeep, Tom forced a faint
but friendly smile, thinking it couldnt hurt the situation. The
Japanese soldier was not amused; he yelled at him, slapped his
face and roughly turned him around. After checking him for
weapons, he tied Toms hands behind his back, all the while
yelling words that to Tom sounded strangely short but highly
intimidating. He was shoved into the back of the vehicle next
to another Japanese soldier, his captor squeezing in beside him.
The car recommenced its journey and no one spoke. Tom found
the silence just as intimidating as the yelling. With his body
10
Tom could make out the sound of mortar and shots. Someone
was still holding the fort, he thought, so there might be a shred
of hope left.
As he entered the hotel, he saw two men tied to chairs at
the far end of the lobby near a window and noticed both were
slumped. One looked badly beaten and hardly conscious, while
the other, an American by the look of his uniform, simply stared
in apathy as Tom was forced towards them. Grabbing a chair
and placing it next to the other prisoners, a barking Japanese
soldier forced Tom to sit down and then wound a rope around
his chest. Pulling the rope tight, he tied its end to the back of
the chair.
Slapping Toms scratched face, the Jap yelled at him some
more and thrust a gun under his nose to underline the point he
was making. Tom nodded furiously, making it clear he got the
picture. Yes, he was to stay put. Another slap. Yes, he under-
stood. For no reason he could fathom, he was slapped one more
time and then the four men left, their boots making confident,
rhythmic clunking sounds on the marble floors.
Toms face was hot where a Japanese hand had imprinted itself
on his cheek like a stamp. He sat contemplating for a moment
and then began to squirm in his bonds. He asked the American
how long hed been sitting there but the man, obviously terrified,
shooshed him and resumed staring into the distance. Tom had
no intention of passively staying put. The prospect of being
battered and tortured by the Japanese, and ending with a bullet
in his skull after theyd finished, wasnt the way he wanted to
go. Being shot trying to escape suddenly had a morbid charm
11
12
13
that would mean contact with the locals, and he had no idea
who was with him or against him, nor whether he should take
the risk. Hed hardly encountered any other whites, so most
of them were probably hiding somewhere. The Japanese might
not have seized the airport yet. Ever since theyd entered the
outskirts of Bandung, Tom had heard the sound of mortars
and gunfire, so he knew there were still soldiers putting up a
fight. Hed head for Bandungs Andir Airport and try to find
a planeor even hijack one. He had to get back to his unit, to
his brother, although he feared they might have been captured,
or even killed. Pushing those thoughts away, he hurried through
the concrete pipes. Getting to the airport was his only hope
for the time being.
14