KLM
Co-Pilot Hendrik Willem Nieuwdorp (MIA / KIA)
Engineer Marinus Veenendaal (POW / KIA)
Radio Pieter Pronk (KIA / body recovered)
Crashed February 26, 1942
Aircraft History
Construction Number 1981.
Wartime History
Took off from Broome Airfield for a night flight to Andir. Due to lack of fuel an emergency landing was made 30km from Palembang, and crashed into the trees near Loeboekkelihat, but the crew survived. Some of the crew members where wounded.
Fates of the Crew
Postwar, the crash was investigated by the Dutch Authorities in 1948. The bodies of Blaak, Nieuwdorp and Veenendaal where never found. It is believed that pilot Blaak was murdered by locals or Japanese forces. Co-Pilot Nieuwdorp managed to escape but is still reported as missing. Engineer Marinus Veenendaal was captured and died later at the Birma Railroad Works, and Pieter Pronk was killed and later recovered and burried. Pronk is the only crew member who has a grave at the Dutch General Cemetary at Pandu, Bandung Indonesia.
Relatives
Jaap Blaak (son of Cornelis Blaak)
Ed Ijsbrandij adds:
"I am a friend of the Blaak family and it is very difficult for them to accept that there is no known grave. The Dutch Authorities and KLM Historians from Holland can not help the family more than they did. My question is; Is there anybody who knows the crash site or have contacts in the area of the crash site at Loeboekkelihat? All the info we have so far, is based on the report of 1948."
References
Thanks to Ed Ijsbrandij for additional information
DC-3
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