Strategically
located at the crossroad of 2 continents (Asia & Australia) and 2 oceans
(Pacific and Indian Oceans), the area presently known as Indonesia has lured the
major forces of the past. The
Dutch, British, Portuguese and Japanese had occupied the area until the end of
World War II, when the Indonesian nationalists declared independence. Prior to World
War II, the archipelago was occupied by the Dutch, and known as Nederland East
Indies (NEI), until the arrival of the Japanese in 1942, who stayed until the
end of the war. At the later stage
of the World War II, aircraft from the Allied forces began to arrive especially
on the eastern part of the archipelago and started harassing the Japanese
forces. After the war,
the Dutch intention to return to her ex-colony didn’t go smooth as the
“Indonesian rebels” was now equipped with ex-Japanese weapons and
hostilities continued until 1949. This article
tried to portray some foreign planes that had been based in the archipelago
presently known as Indonesia. Due
to limited time frame, I only managed to complete 3 aircraft P-40N RAAF No.80 Squadron, No.78 Wing, 1st Tactical Air Force, RAAF. Morotai in the Moluccas islands, February 1942 (Academy 1/72 with kit decal)
Photos and text © by Iwan Winarta |