Jacob Pieter van Helsdingen (7 March 1907 – 7 March 1942) was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. Van Helsdingen and August Deibel were the most successful Dutch pilots on the

Brewster F2A The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II. Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrestor hook and other modification ...

fighter. He was twice awarded the

Military William Order The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William ( Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Ora ...

for bravery in battle.

World War II

Singapore

Van Helsdingen's squadron arrived in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 9 December 1941 with 9-12

Brewster Buffalo The Brewster F2A Buffalo is an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II. Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrestor hook and other modification ...

fighters and was stationed at Kallang Airfield. They first went into action on 12 January 1942 during a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

air raid over Singapore. At 10:00 hours, a formation of Japanese bombers appeared, escorted by five Ki-27 Nate fighters. They were intercepted by three Dutch Buffalos, who succeeded in chasing them away, damaging one of the bombers. When they returned in the afternoon, Van Helsdingen and two other pilots were scrambled to intercept them, encountering nine Ki-27s. Four of them were shot down, one by Van Helsdingen, with the Dutch losing one Buffalo. When the Japanese raided Singapore again on 15 January, Van Helsdingen and two other pilots took off. They ran into an overwhelming number of

A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

s, scoring no kills and losing one Buffalo and its pilot. His squadron returned to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

on 18 January, missing out on the

Battle of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

. Van Helsdingen led eight Buffalos to Semplak, while 23 others flew to Andir and Tjilitian.Brewster Buffalo: in Dutch service
/ref>

Balikpapan

Van Helsdingen was awarded his first Military William Order on 11 February 1942, for carrying out attacks against

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

(IJN) ships in the Battle of Balikpapan on 23 January. Twenty Buffalo fighters carrying two 50 kg bombs each escorted nine

Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 is a bomber aircraft designed by the Glenn L. Martin Company. It was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, having entered service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It wa ...

bombers to attack a fleet of IJN ships in the

Makassar Strait Makassar Strait () is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat P ...

. Eight hits were scored on four Japanese ships and one destroyer, sinking two transports, with the Dutch losing one Buffalo.

Lembang

Van Helsdingen was killed on his 35th birthday by an A6M Zero while providing

air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as Strafing, strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS r ...

Royal Dutch East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherl ...

forces fighting in

Lembang Lembang is a town and administrative village of West Bandung Regency in the province of Jawa Barat, West Java in Java (island), Java, Indonesia. The town has about 17,000 inhabitants (at census 2010). The population of the Lembang District was 17 ...

with three other Buffalo aircraft on 7 March 1942. Despite the Japanese having an almost complete air superiority over Java, he nevertheless chose to take off from Andir airfield. He ordered another pilot to stand down and hand over his Buffalo aircraft to him because he was married, despite the fact that Van Helsdingen was himself married. Three other pilots, 1st Lieutenant August Deibel, Gerard Bruggink (flying B-3107) and

Officer Cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

Jan Scheffer, volunteered to join him using the last three working Buffalo aircraft on the airfield. The squadron travelled 200 metres before running into three Japanese A6M Zeros. Deibel's plane was hit in the oil tank and had to break off from combat. His wingman, Scheffer, escorted him back to Andir airfield, where Deibel crash landed his aircraft without injury. The other two remained above Lembang, but were now

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...

ing six Zeroes. Van Helsdingen shot down a Zero before he too was hit, but Bruggink managed to escape into the clouds before returning to Andir airfield. Jacob's body was never found. The Dutch forces in Lembang surrendered the next day. All four Dutch pilots were awarded the

, while Van Helsdingen and Scheffer (who died a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

) were

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

awarded the honour on 14 July 1948.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helsdingen, Jacob Pieter Van 1907 births 1942 deaths Dutch World War II pilots Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots Royal Netherlands Air Force officers Royal Netherlands Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II Dutch military personnel killed in World War II People from Surabaya Knights Third Class of the Military Order of William Recipients of the Airman's Cross Aviators killed by being shot down Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies