ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 48726
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| Date: | Wednesday 11 February 1942 |
| Time: | 23:30 |
| Type: | Dornier Do 24K-1 |
| Owner/operator: | MLD - Marine Luchtvaartdienst |
| Registration: | X-29 |
| MSN: | 699 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Madura Island, East Java -
 Indonesia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Bandjarmasin,Borneo |
| Surabaja,Java |
The last flight of the Dornier flying-boat X-29
This story is based on the report of the corporal AJCBrekelmans.
He was gunner on board the X-29, a flying-boat of the Royal Dutch Navy.
This Dornier flying boat was a unit of Aircraft Group 6 (GVT6) in Dutch East Indies.
From December 1941 till March 1942 the crews of the naval wing (MLD) of the Royal Dutch Navy fought a japanese enemy with great determination and courage.
The japanese attack on Borneo.
After the raid on Pearl Harbor the Japanese army and navy continued their assault on south east asia.
The oil-rich island of Borneo in the Dutch East Indies was one of their prime targets.
After a brief and fierce battle the cities Tarakan and Balikpapan on the east coast of Borneo were taken in January 1942.
The Japanese continued the encirclement of Borneo along the coasts of the island.
Groundforces headed on foot and by bicycle through the jungle along the east and west coast to the city of Bandjarmasin in southern Borneo.
A landingfleet sailed along the coast of Borneo to attack the city from the sea.
At the beginning of February 1942 Bandjarmasin was the last city in dutch hands.
The actions of GVT 6.
The main task of GVT 6 was to observe the Japanese advance along the west coast of British and Dutch Borneo.
In January 1942, the Dorniers X-28, X-29 and X-31 of GVT 6 flew day and night.
The positions of the approaching enemy were continually passed to the navy headquarters in Bandung on Java Island. Kuching’s airstrip on British Borneo was overrun by the japanese army halfway January 1942.
For 3 days GVT 6 then attacked the airstrip till it was bombed beyond repair.
On January 24, the X-29 evacuated russian sailors from the torpedoed s.s. Perekop from the Natoena islands north-west of Borneo.
On January 25, the X-29 flew in rice for the starving people of the Tambalan islands
On January 26,the X-29 set fire to japanese troopship off the coast of Pontianak.
In this action one crew member was injured and one was killed by enemy fire.
By the end of January 1942, as the fall of Borneo was approaching the flying-boats retreated to Java.
The Dornier 24 flying-boat
The dutch navy needed a long-range flying-boat to succeed the Dornier-wal flying-boat for operations in the dutch east indies.the Dornier flying boat 24K was built under dutch specifications by the german Dornier factory in Switzerland.
The so-called X boat was a big 3 engined and very seaworthy flying boat.
The aircraft was designed for flying long patrols in the vast archipelago.
The crew of 6 received special training and had specific tasks on board.
The members worked closely together during the weeklong patrols.
The X-29 was damaged during confrontations with the enemy over Borneo.
The ongoing war conditions had worn out the aircraft as well as the crew.
Early February 1942 the X-29 had seen major repairs and overhaul.
The fall of Bandjarmasin
Lieutenant Colonel Halkema was ordered to defend Bandjarmasin against the japanese attackers. Nevertheless Halkema pulled back his troops on 9.February and left the city at the mercy of the enemy.
In the morning of 10.February Bandjarmasin was occupied by a few hundred Japanese ground troops.
During the intake war crimes were committed by the japanese officers and soldiers.
Residents including Mayor Mulder of Bandjarmasin were assaulted and slain.
Yet during the war Halkema had to justify his actions before a military court martial.
The evacuation mission
The navy leadership ordered the MLD to evacuate personnel from Bandjarmasin.
Flight Lieutenant P.L.G. Adriani received orders to carry out the mission.
Lieutenant Adriani was the pilot commander of flying-boat X-29.
At short notice 3 Dorniers and 3 crews were assembled.
During the first week of February 1942 there were fierce air battles over Surabaya.
The city of Surabaya and nearby naval airbase Morokrembangan were bombed daily by the Japanese Air Force.
After this week of air battles the airspace over Java was under Japanese control.
Of all dangers of an evacuation mission in occupied Borneo there was also the hazard of an encounter with a superior enemy in the air.
The flight to Bandjarmasin.
It was decided to carry out the evacuation during the night.
In the afternoon of February 10. 1942 the 3 flying boats took off from the water in the darkness and set heading for japanese occupied Borneo.
The flight from Java to the south coast of Borneo took them over the vast Java Sea and lasted two and a half hours.
In the dark the three Dorniers circumnavigated the monsoon thunderstorms and headed for the estuary of kali (river) Barito on southern Borneo.
There, a dozen miles inland near the port of Bandjarmasin was the meeting point with the refugees from the city.
The evacuation
The refugees would be taken aboard by the flying boats in the vicinity of the port of Bandjarmasin.The 3 flying-boats had to be landed on the river.
Contact had to be established with the evacuees on the shore of the river.
Commander Adriani flew the X-29 over the area to look signs of the evacuees.
However there were no signals seen instead the X-29 was heavily machine gunned.
The area was occupied by japanese troops and the enemy was prepared for the arrival of the flying-boat ...
By immediately climbing into the monsoon clouds the X-29 escaped the shelling.
The flight back to Java.
The X-29 was hit by the groudfire and immediately returned to Java.
Observer Jan de Vries in the nose turret was hit in the leg and was injured.
The flying-boat had sustained unknown damage.
Finally around 10 o'clock in the night came the island of Madura, in sight.
There at the height of the western tip of Madura, two of the three engines failed.
Were fuel-tanks hit and leaking ?
Did the engines stop due to damage because of the shelling?
The emergency landing.
The X-29 was loosing altitude quickly
Suddenly an emergency landing had to be made at the sea at night.
A night landing is difficult because lack of reference of height.
Especially above water altitude is difficult to estimate.
On top of that rate of descent could not be controlled due to a double enginefailure.
Added to that, the crew was exhausted by the long flying under war conditions.
All these circumstances made the emergency landing particulary difficult.
The landing in the waves was so ill fated that aircraft immediately started to sink.
The rescue.
Despite a broken wrist corporal Brekelmans managed to climb out of the tail turret.
He crawled over the hull forward and found commander Adriani lying injured in sea.
Brekelmans saved his commander from the water and laid him on top of the wing.
Corporal gunner Bert Ostayen also managed to get out of the sinking Dornier.
The 2 corporals pulled out a life raft and launched it into the high sea.
Paul Adriani was laid in the small boat.He was unable to speak or to move.
The men had to wait for the next day and their rescue.
The disaster.
3 Crew members in the X-29 were unable to get out of the aircraft.
The unlucky young men were trapped inside the fast sinking flying-boat.
These crew members were:
Sergeant pilot Pieter de Ru
Sergeant observer Jan de Vries and
Corporal telegraphist Jan Woltjes.
The aftermath.
The next morning two Dorniers searched the area for the lost flying-boat.
The last position of the X-29 was known and the three survivors were quickly found and rescued from the sea.
Paul Adriani died in the evening of 11. February 1942.
He is buried in the military cemetery of honor Kembang Kuning in Surabaya.
After the surrender of the Dutch East Indies Dré Brekelmans and Bert van Ostayen ended up in a japanese concentration camp till the end of the 2nd world war.
After the war Dré Brekelmans continued his career in the Royal dutch Navy.
For my uncle Paul Adriani and the crew of flying-boat X-29
Michael Klaversteijn
February 2011
Literature:
"Wings of the fleet" by L.Honselaar (1950)
"Heroes hares and dogs" by C. van Heekeren (1969)
"Scouting and guarding" by N.Geldhof (1978)
"The dutch naval air force against Japan" by T.Womack (2006)
"The Borneo affair" file in the National Archives
Take off and landing by a Dornier 24 flying-boat is to be seen in a 1937 film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU8JMbe9ljU[/video]]
Sources:
http://www.veteraneninstituut.nl/media/med_view.asp?med_id=227
https://www.ipms.nl/artikelen/nedmil-luchtvaart/vliegtuigen-d/vliegtuigen-d-dornier-24k-2
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Dec-2008 08:33 | ASN archive | Added |
| 31-Jan-2015 13:37 | mklaversteijn | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 09-Feb-2015 20:26 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 22-Jan-2019 17:51 | Cobar | Updated [Cn, Source] |
| 08-Jun-2022 09:36 | Ron Averes | Updated [Registration, Operator] |
| 11-Jun-2022 03:29 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 09-Jul-2022 10:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
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