Willem Frederik August “Gus” Winckel was a pilot with the Military Aviation service of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army—ML-KNIL—and one of the best-known Dutch airmen to serve in Australia during the Second World War.
He participated in the evacuation of Java, defended Broome during the devastating Japanese air raid of 3 March 1942, joined No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF and flew operational missions from Australia against Japanese forces.
His wartime service is remembered at both Broome and Moruya.
Early life and flying career
Gus Winckel was born at Muntok on Bangka Island in the Netherlands East Indies on 3 November 1912.
As a teenager, he was sent to the Netherlands, where he studied at the nautical school in Delfzijl. He initially worked in the merchant marine and subsequently joined the Royal Netherlands Navy.
In 1935, Winckel entered the Military Aviation service of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He became an experienced transport pilot and flew extensively throughout the Netherlands East Indies.
This knowledge of the archipelago and his experience in long-distance navigation became particularly valuable after Japan entered the war in December 1941.
Evacuation flights from Java
During the Japanese advance through the Netherlands East Indies, Winckel flew Lockheed Lodestar transport aircraft carrying personnel, ammunition, food and wounded servicemen between islands.
Many of these operations were conducted at night and with limited navigation and radio facilities. In a 2005 interview, Winckel recalled flying approximately 603 hours during a period of three months.
As the defence of Java collapsed, the Lodestars were used to evacuate military personnel, officials and civilians to Australia. Winckel flew between Bandung and Broome, one of the principal evacuation routes connecting Java with Australia.
The Japanese attack on Broome
On 3 March 1942, Winckel arrived at Broome aerodrome in a Lockheed Lodestar carrying evacuees from Java.
Shortly after landing, he noticed aircraft approaching from the direction of the sea. The aircraft were Japanese Zero fighters attacking Broome and the flying boats anchored in Roebuck Bay.
The raid destroyed numerous Allied aircraft and killed many of the military personnel and civilian refugees waiting at Broome.
Winckel removed a machine gun from his Lodestar and took up a position beside the airfield. Because the gun was not mounted, he had to support and aim it himself. The hot barrel reportedly burned his hand during the engagement.
Winckel was officially credited with shooting down one Japanese Zero and believed that he damaged several others. Japanese records confirm that a Zero piloted by Osamu Kudō failed to return from the raid. The surviving evidence has made Winckel’s action one of the best-known individual episodes of the attack on Broome.
The Lodestar was damaged during the raid, but Winckel continued helping with evacuation flights. He later flew survivors from Broome to Port Hedland and returned to collect members of his crew.
The story of the Broome raid is also preserved in a 1942 ABC radio interview with a Dutch pilot held by the National Archives of Australia.
A dangerous return to Java
Only days after the Broome attack, Winckel was selected to fly back to Java to evacuate senior Allied personnel from the Bandung area.
Japanese forces were closing upon the city, and normal airfields were exposed to attack. Winckel reportedly landed on a road or improvised landing ground illuminated by vehicle headlights. After collecting his passengers, he returned safely to Australia.
The mission was particularly demanding because he was already exhausted from the evacuation flights and had suffered burns during the Broome raid.
Formation of No. 18 Squadron
No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF was formed at Canberra on 4 April 1942. Dutch and Netherlands East Indies pilots and other aircrew served alongside Australian personnel, who provided much of the squadron’s ground organisation and support.
Winckel was among the squadron’s original pilots. The unit initially received only a small number of B-25 Mitchell bombers and undertook training and maritime patrols from bases in southeastern Australia.
Following the Japanese midget-submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May–1 June 1942, No. 18 Squadron was ordered to search for Japanese submarines operating off the New South Wales coast.
The reported submarine attack off Moruya
During a patrol on 4 June 1942, Winckel’s B-25 crew sighted what they believed to be a Japanese submarine off the New South Wales coast.
The position recorded in the navigator’s log was approximately 35°22′ south, 152°36′ east, southeast of Moruya. Winckel made an attack using bombs and reported wreckage and an oil slick on the surface.
First Lieutenant J. van Loggem, the aircraft’s observer and bombardier, played an essential part in locating the target and directing the bombing attack.
The action was accepted at the time as a successful submarine sinking. Australian newspapers reported that a Dutch Mitchell had destroyed a Japanese submarine, although the crew members’ names were withheld to protect relatives who remained in Japanese-occupied territory.
Winckel was taken to Parliament House in Canberra, where he described the action to Prime Minister John Curtin and members of the Australian War Cabinet. Australia’s High Commissioner in London, Stanley Bruce, subsequently conveyed the Curtin Government’s appreciation to Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch Government-in-Exile.
No Japanese submarine is now known to have been lost at the recorded location. Postwar Japanese naval records account for the submarines involved in operations off Sydney, and Australian official histories do not record a confirmed submarine sinking by No. 18 Squadron.
The evidence nevertheless shows that Winckel’s crew attacked what they identified as a submarine and that Australian and Dutch authorities formally treated the operation as successful at the time. Winckel, Van Loggem and other squadron members continued to describe the engagement in later interviews.
Operations from northern Australia
No. 18 Squadron subsequently moved north, operating first from McDonald Airfield and then from Batchelor in the Northern Territory.
From these bases, its B-25 Mitchells attacked Japanese airfields, shipping, supply installations and other targets across Timor, Flores, the Moluccas and the surrounding seas.
Winckel later recalled the extremely difficult conditions at McDonald Airfield, including inadequate water supplies and primitive accommodation. Batchelor offered better facilities and was more suitable for the squadron’s long-range operations.
In April 1945, Winckel began another operational tour with No. 18 Squadron, flying the heavily armed B-25 strafer version. He participated in attacks against Japanese barges and other targets in the Netherlands East Indies.
A kangaroo stops a mission
One of Winckel’s most memorable Australian experiences involved neither Japanese aircraft nor anti-aircraft fire.
During a night take-off from Batchelor, a kangaroo ran into the path of his fully loaded B-25. The aircraft was already travelling too quickly for Winckel to stop safely. The impact badly damaged the right propeller and caused the engine to run roughly.
With the aircraft carrying a full load of fuel and bombs, Winckel continued the take-off. He flew out to sea, jettisoned the bombs and carefully returned to the airfield on the damaged engine.
Winckel later said that this was the only No. 18 Squadron mission he had been unable to complete.
Wartime memories
In July 2005, Winckel was interviewed on the Gold Coast for Curtin University’s Migration and Ethnicity Research Centre.
The interview records his recollections of:
- the formation of No. 18 Squadron;
- conditions at McDonald and Batchelor airfields;
- the reported submarine attack;
- the Japanese raid on Broome;
- evacuation flights from Java;
- the kangaroo collision at Batchelor;
- operational missions against Japanese targets; and
- everyday life among the Dutch airmen in northern Australia.
As an oral-history account recorded more than sixty years after the events, it preserves Winckel’s personal memories and manner of storytelling. Some details should be read alongside official operational records and later historical research.
Interview with Gus Winckel, 2005
Postwar life
Following Japan’s surrender, Winckel continued serving with the Dutch forces during the Indonesian struggle for independence.
He later returned to the Netherlands and worked as a test pilot. In 1951, Gus and his wife Yvonne emigrated to New Zealand, where he obtained a commercial pilot’s licence and served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force Reserve.
He subsequently worked as a flying instructor, engineer and businessman. After making his final flight in 1960, he continued working in technical and commercial roles until his retirement.
Gus and Yvonne moved to Queensland in 1980. They later returned to New Zealand and settled at Pukekohe.
Winckel died there on 17 August 2013, aged 100.
Decorations
Winckel’s Dutch decorations included:
- the Bronze Lion;
- the Airman’s Cross;
- the War Commemorative Cross; and
- the Decoration for Order and Peace.
His Bronze Lion recognised the courage he displayed during the Japanese attack on Broome.
Remembered at Broome
Winckel’s defence of Broome remains an important part of the town’s wartime history. A street at Broome International Airport was named in his honour, and his story has been included in exhibitions, commemorations and historical accounts of the 3 March 1942 raid.
Remembered at Moruya
Moruya aerodrome was an important wartime operational base for maritime patrols along the New South Wales coast.
A memorial at the former aerodrome commemorates eleven Australian, American and Dutch airmen who lost their lives while operating from Moruya. The memorial incorporates an aircraft propeller and plaques recording the wartime service of the airfield.
Winckel attended the memorial ceremony at Moruya in 2009 with Member of Parliament Mike Kelly. His presence also recalled the Dutch patrols flown from the region and the reported submarine attack of June 1942.
Bomber Boys
Marianne van Velzen’s Bomber Boys recounts the experiences of the Dutch and Australian personnel who served with No. 18 Squadron. The following DACC book review provides an introduction to the squadron’s formation, operations and often difficult Dutch–Australian relationships.
Historical significance
Gus Winckel’s life connects several major elements of Dutch–Australian wartime history:
- the desperate evacuation of Java;
- the Japanese attack on Broome;
- the rebuilding of Dutch military aviation in Australia;
- the formation of No. 18 Squadron;
- maritime patrols along Australia’s east coast;
- operations from the Northern Territory against Japanese-occupied territory; and
- the postwar migration of Dutch military personnel to Australia and New Zealand.
His 2005 interview is particularly valuable because it preserves the voice of one of the original No. 18 Squadron pilots and his personal memories of events in Java, Broome, Canberra, Moruya and the Northern Territory.
Related DACC articles
- No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF
- The Drama of Broome, 3 March 1942
- The Java–Broome evacuation route, February and March 1942
- The Dutch at Batchelor Airport
- B-25 Mitchell bombers ordered by the Dutch but transferred to the USAAF
- DACC Air Force Research Portal
Sources and further reading
O.G. Ward, De Militaire Luchtvaart van het KNIL in de jaren 1942–1945, National Library of Australia catalogue record.
Dr Jack Ford, Allies in a Bind: Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War
Western Australian Museum—Gus Winckel and the attack on Broome
