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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0320.PDF
FEBRUARY 6TH, 1941. THE RIGHT TYPE : An air-gunner ofthe Royal Dutch Naval Air Service operating with the R.A.F. given special designations to their air. men. These Dutch flying officers in consequence wear naval uniform, with the addition of a wing and also a dis- tinguishing disc that indicates whether the officer is a pilot or an observer, or both. The men—one cannot help be- ing impressed by their physique, their obvious capacity of endurance, and their high spirits—have by this time been arrayed in British uniforms with an indication of their nationality. It has been possible to provide them with a separate kitchen where cooks from the Netherlands prepare the food in the fashion that these men prefer. This helps to alleviate the nostalgia they must now and then feel in being cut off from communication with their homeland, so that they can only hope that their families survive. Walked to Lisbon Another officer, a keen-faced naval engineer, was smiling reflectively. "If," he said, " I may put in a word, I can give you an example of one of our men in this squadron who hails from Rotterdam, which was so merci- lessly devastated by the Germans. He had witnessed the slaughter of his parei.ts, his wife and his children, and that only 'made him the more deter- mined to carry on the struggle. It was necessary for him to reach a port and get to England; the nearest port for that purpose turned out to be Lisbon. So he walked from Rotter- dam to Lisbon! By day he used to hide himself and sleep, while at night he plodded on and on. I should have mentioned that he did not walk quite all the way, because he came across a dead German by the side of his motor cycle. He made off on the cycle and was shot by another Dutchman wjjtf" took him for a Fifth Columnist All this has nothing to do with our work at this station, but as you art- writing for Flight it may be that the Editor also caters for those who are interested in the other sense of that word. I myself am very devoted to the literature of escape." Believe it or not, that is what he said, so perhaps his familiarity with our language will not be questioned, and most of his colleagues were not fat behind him. I asked the engineer whether he himself had been able to come to this country by air. WITH THE COASTAL COMMAND :Sir Archibald Sinclair talking to a Dutch Squadron Commander on theoccasion of a visit to a Coastal Command station. DUTCH AIRMEN IN BRITAIN (Continued) "After that man's OdysSey," he said, "my own journey with a couple of companions is hardly worth talking about. We secured a 30-foot boat and set sail on a dark night. It was rather lonely on the rough sea. We had no map and no compass. Eng- land, we knew, was to the west of us and we hoped to be lucky. You will agree that we were, because we came unscathed through a minefield. We had with us a Dutch flag, and as we neared the coast of Britain we waved it. Needless to say, we were received with the utmost kindness." . One of' his brother officers then joined in the conversation. "I know,'' he :..:d, "that you want to know about our work in this country. But how we are being treated here, that is of importance, too, as it naturally affects our morale one way or the other. An aerodrome is usually like this one, a few miles from the nearest town, and the British authorities in such a place have the same problem as ourselves—how to prevent the squadron from becoming bored and then depressed and ultimately less efficient, through having nothing to do in their leisure time. We cajfnot always be playing chess or dominoes or cards. So we lecture to each other, explaining the political situation and the reasons for which we are here. Some of us have been in parts of the world which are now very much in the news. Of course, we go to the town from time to time—I wish you could mention its name, because the people there have been so kind to us, organising football matches, concerts and dances. We have collaborated a little with our own musical talent." While he had been talking a Dutch warrant officer had come irtfo the room to look at a notice on the board and had then departed. Very ob- viously, he was not of unmixed European descent. " Yes," said one of the group when I enquired about this man, "our Dutch-East Indian can rise to any position. If he has passed through the high school in the East he will go afterwards to the Naval Academy at Den Helder if he hopes to become an officer in the navy. I need hardly tell you that he will have to display not merely the possession of know- ledge but qualities of character leadership. Talking of the East' Indies, you may have seen 'the announcement that we are going to be reinforced by a supply of pilots from there, and very competent fellows they are, of the same high standard as your own Indian airmen. Also, 1 am glad to say that we are going to receive a large consignment of books from our East Indies—it is being arranged by some wealthy merchants —of course, we-are cut off from Hoi land. In fact, a friend of mine, an airman who has got married here, can only let his mother in Holland know of it by wrjfcrfig to a friend in America and asking him' to pass on the in- formation and only to put my friend's nickname—you have to be careful in writing to a country where the- Gestapo is in power. But our com- patriots who have had to stay at home will often elude them." "Precisely," laughed one of his companions, " precisely like that man .,,
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