Joop van Doorn was posted to Java in 1937 and flew Glen Martins, Lockheed Lodestars and Mitchell B-25.
Joop and pilot Yves Henri Mulder (nickname Bels as he came from Belgium – he was killed in action in 1944) ferried British Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell to Singapore for the ABDA meeting on 10 January 1942.
Joop and Bels fled Java in the Lockheed Lodestar LT-925. They had flown senior military personal from Java to Bangalore they then returned immediately to Java picked up families and a few suitcase and fled straight to Broome, (which was under attack). On March 5 they landed at a place called Anna Plains refueled and onto Perth and then to Melbourne and finally to Canberra.
He was posted at Canberra joining the newly formed 18 Sq (he was one of the initial 242 Dutch servicemen). He was a radio/telegraphist/navigator and apart from the 18th he was also posted to the Personnel Equipment Pool (PEP) and then to 19 Squadron Transport and later the 119 Squadron the latter supplied the forces in Dutch New Guinea and later after the liberation also in NEI.
Joop was awarded the Vliegerkruis, Ereteken voor Orde en Vrede and the Oorlogsherinneringskruis.
The family returned to Java in late 1947, and once again, Fatima and the Children fled Java in late 1949 to the Netherlands. Joop remained in Java until 1950 and returned to Netherlands after Indonesia gained their independence”.
Three of their children were born between 1942 and 1947 in Australia. Three more children were born in the Netherlands (1949-1954), They immigrated to Australia in 1954 and settled in Brisbane were a further two children were born (1955-1958).
For a long time Joop van Doorn was a member of the Dutch Club in Brisbane and went to Bambu.
Joop passed away at 96 in 2016. There is a yearly reunion of the children of the 18 Squadron. At the 2022 reunion there were still three veterans of the squadron alive.
With thanks to Ingridijs Schodel
See also:
Below are military documents of Joop
Interview with Joop van Doorn – 2005
