1/72 Italeri C-47 Dakota, Hasegawa P-51 

 Mustang & Hasegawa P-40 Kittyhawk

by Niels Dol

In memory of A.A. "Bertus" Wolthaar

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This three planes are build in memory of my grandfather who suddenly died on Saturday, March 3rd. Today, on March 9th will be his funeral.  My grandfather served with the Dutch Army in the East Indies during 1947-1950. He had a office job, and did not actually fight during the actions.  His highest rank was Sergeant-Major.  These three planes were the workhorses of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force during those days.

One of the first things I thought about when I got home that Saturday, was to do something for him, to honour him.  I took a look at my stash and found these 3 planes.  I think it's the best way for me to honour him.

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All these kits are build straight out of the box, except for the decals which came from Dutch Decals.  Most interior parts were pre-painted so that I could get everything together as soon as possible, I wanted to have the models ready on the day of his funeral, so I had only 5,6 days.  The fit was quite good, filling and sanding was not necessary.

Some History :

Following the capitulation of Japan at the end of the second World War, a group of nationalists, among others Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta declared the independence of Indonesia, sparking armed conflict when the Dutch attempted to regain control of the region.  The Dutch were able to first regain control of Jakarta, forcing the removal of the Indonesian capital to Yogyakarta.  A second offensive resulting in the takeover of Yogyakarta meant that capital was again moved, this time to West Sumatra.  However, pressure from Australia and newly independent India forced a negotiation brokered by the United States of America resulting in the Round Table Conference of 1949 in which the Dutch acknowledged the sovereignty of Indonesia excepting the region of western New Guinea.
The offensive actions by the Dutch army were called "Politionele Acties" (Police Actions).

* C-47 flew with 20th squadron during 1949 - 1950, based at Tjililitan and used mostly to drop paratroopers during the 2nd police actions, this plane was probably handed over the the AURI (Indonesian Air Force)

* P-51 flew with 122 Squardron during 1949 - 1950, based at Medang and was used to bomb and straff Indonesian Republicans during the Police actions, and before it was handed over to the AURI, it flew as a escort of the Willem Ruys with General Scholte aboard, who was leaving the Dutch Indies.

* P-40 flew with 120 squadron during 1946 - 1949, based at Semarang. Mostly used as air support for the paratroopers. Most P-40's were totaly warn-out and at their end of their service life. probably the dutch P-40's where one of the last in active service.

Another important aircraft of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force was the B-25 Mitchell, but I wasn't ably to build one in this short period, I will do this in the next couple of weeks, so that my collection of the Police Actions era is quite complete.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you like these pictures. Thanks to my brother, Björn Dol, for making these pictures (his camera is better then mine)

Best Regards

Niels

Niels Dol
Lelystad, The Netherlands
http://scalemodeling.dwaal.net/

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Photos and text © by Niels Dol