17.10.2008, 10:20
Re the Dutch DB-7s: they were ordered for the MLD, the Dutch Naval Air Service, not the ML-KNIL. Six arrived in Java, only one was completed in time to fly from Tjilatjap to Andir before the fall of Java; at least one was captured by the Japanese. Photos show that this was an aircraft originally intended for the RAF as it had an RAF serial number on the rear fuselage- a batch of RAF Bostons was diverted to Java as an emergency shipment but too late to be of use.
The DB-7s of the original MLD order apparently ended up in the USSR- I have seen an account of Soviet DB-7s with cockpit instrumentation etc in Dutch but cannot confirm whether this is accurate. I don't know whether they were solid-nosed, but the ex-RAF planes most definitely were not.
The DB-7s of the original MLD order apparently ended up in the USSR- I have seen an account of Soviet DB-7s with cockpit instrumentation etc in Dutch but cannot confirm whether this is accurate. I don't know whether they were solid-nosed, but the ex-RAF planes most definitely were not.