A study of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School
Building Dutch Air Power in World War II: The Role of Lend-Lease and Aircrew Training in the United States, by Nicholas Michael Sambaluk, examines how Dutch military aviation was rebuilt after the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies.
Published by McFarland & Company in 2025, the book focuses on the establishment and operation of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School at Jackson, Mississippi. Over approximately 21 months, 532 Dutch pilots, aircrew and other aviation personnel were trained in the United States.
From the Netherlands East Indies through Australia
The book has an important Australian connection.
As Japanese forces advanced through the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942, Dutch flying students, instructors, technical personnel and their families were evacuated to Australia. Training was briefly continued at Australian bases, including Mallala and Parafield in South Australia and Rathmines in New South Wales.
Australia was simultaneously expanding its own wartime air force and urgently needed its available aircraft, airfields and instructors. The Dutch training organisation was therefore transferred to the United States, where considerably greater training capacity was available.
A large contingent left Melbourne aboard the Mariposa in April 1942. After arriving in San Francisco, the personnel travelled across the United States by train to Jackson, Mississippi. The Royal Netherlands Military Flying School became operational there in May 1942.
Training in the United States
Although centred at Jackson, the Dutch training program used facilities in several American states. Personnel were trained for numerous operational and technical roles, including:
- pilots;
- navigators;
- bombardiers;
- wireless operators;
- air gunners;
- flying instructors; and
- aircraft maintenance and technical specialists.
Training included preparation for aircraft such as the B-25 Mitchell bomber, P-40 Kittyhawk fighter and Catalina flying boat. These types would become important to Dutch operations in the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean theatres.
The program was closely connected with American wartime assistance. The United States not only produced aircraft and equipment on an unprecedented scale but also provided training facilities for Allied personnel under arrangements associated with Lend-Lease and wider wartime cooperation.
Return to operational service
The Royal Netherlands Military Flying School was not itself an operational combat unit. Its importance lay in preparing the personnel needed to rebuild Dutch military aviation.
After completing their training, many graduates were sent to Australia. They provided aircrew and technical specialists for units including:
- No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF, operating B-25 Mitchell bombers;
- No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF, operating P-40 Kittyhawk fighters;
- Netherlands East Indies military transport services; and
- Royal Netherlands Navy aviation units.
Others served in Europe, Ceylon and elsewhere within the wider Allied air war.
The arrival of trained personnel from the United States allowed the Dutch to replace casualties, expand their operational capacity and continue planning for a return to the Netherlands East Indies. However, shortages of aircraft, aircrew and Australian ground personnel continued to limit the number of squadrons that could be formed.
Importance of the book
Sambaluk’s study explains a part of the Dutch wartime experience that links the Netherlands East Indies, Australia and the United States.
Australia provided the first place of refuge and reorganisation following the collapse of the Netherlands East Indies. The United States supplied the extensive training facilities, aircraft and equipment required to rebuild Dutch air power. Many of the trained personnel then returned to Australia and served alongside members of the Royal Australian Air Force.
The book therefore provides valuable background to the Dutch and Netherlands East Indies squadrons formed in Australia and to the multinational cooperation on which their operations depended.
Book details
Nicholas Michael Sambaluk, Building Dutch Air Power in World War II: The Role of Lend-Lease and Aircrew Training in the United States, McFarland & Company, 2025.
Further information from McFarland & Company
- Dutch and Netherlands East Indies Air Forces in Australia during World War II – Research Portal
- The evacuation of the Netherlands East Indies flying schools to Australia
- The 18 Netherlands East Indies Squadron RAAF
- 120 Netherlands East Indies Fighter Squadron RAAF
- The NEI Personnel and Equipment Pool Squadron—Canberra and Bundaberg
