MLD Flight Instructors In 1940-1941

[Tommy Wo!]

Prior to / following the occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, were Marine Luchtvaartdienst flight instructors (specifically those in the East Indies) required to have a flight instructor's permit / license? How stringent was this requirement?

In 1941, the the KM hired 12 American flight instructors to teach flight training at its new MLD flight school at MVK Morokrembangan / Perak Airfield at Soerabaja.

One of the most persistent complaints about the Americans was that they did not possess civilian flight instructor permits. Thus, most were considered unqualified. In some 200 pages of documents from the NIMH, this complaint is extensively quoted by multiple KM / MLD senior officers.

I'm trying to get an idea of the requirements for MLD flight instructors in 1940-1941. I know the MLD only trained handful of pilots annually, so each cadet received a great deal of individual attention.

This was compared to the US Navy / Army Air Corps which was training thousands of pilots at the same time. Thus, there was a pretty vast difference between MLD / USN training techniques and doctrine at the time.

[Pim Pouw]

Hello Tommy,
I did some search on delpher.nl what the newspapers were reporting in de Dutch East Indies on pilot training.
So between n1940 and 1941 there are a number of articles which mentions the shortage of pilots in Australia and the short time needed to train them.
Also in the Dutch East Indies themselves the pressure was felt to act quickly.
Even a private funded "pre" pilot school was formed to help the army in any way to deliver some training to would be army recrutes.

Important to note is also that the bond between the pilots of the KLM and the MLD was very close. With this in mind I believe the experienced KLM instructors now working for the MLD must have felt that there qualifications were no longer important and "anybody" could be an instructor.

I think the MLD just hired anybody which could do the job and didn't ask for the appropriate papers.......

[Tommy Wo!]

Hi Pim...

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm currently finalizing my next book which details the activities of those 12 Americans flight instructors hired by the KM / MLD to train flight cadets on Java in 1940-1941.

I'm aware of the Vrijwillig Vliegercorps (VVC) flying schools that supplied reserve pilots to both the ML-KNIL and MLD in the East Indies. In particular, they allowed the common man a way of learning how to fly at a greatly reduced price. Unfortunately, due to the large build-up in forces by the ML-KNIL / MLD, there was a shortage of instructors in 1941. To fill the gap, the MLD leaned heavily on operational pilots which took experienced personnel from operational units.

That of course, is the primary reason why the 12 American instructors were hired in the first place. Upon their arrival on Java, the MLD flight school considered these pilots (almost all were US Navy / Marine Corps reservists released directly from active duty) vastly inferior compared to MLD pilots and most were deemed unqualified to train MLD cadets.

I have around 200 pages of documents from the NIMH. Surprisingly, despite being severely pressed for time, the Netherlands Purchasing Commission still conducted a full round of due diligence on each American flight instructor who applied. This included in-person interviews, reference checks and confirmation of medical history, etc.

I've corresponded with Peter Boer who also contributes to this forum. He mentioned that MLD pilots of that era were not necessarily "licensed" instructors. Rather, they were experienced pilots whom it was felt could effectively train student pilots. From what Peter has told me, there wasn't a "formal" process for becoming a MLD flight instructor.

What I find interesting -- hence the reason for my original question -- is that while the MLD didn't strictly require their flight instructors be licensed, the need for a civilian flight instructor license was a MAJOR requirement for the Americans. So important was this requirement that it was repeatedly cited in late 1941 as a reason to terminate early, the contracts of several American instructors.

I'm trying to get a feel for MLD flight instructor requirements in 1940/41 vs. those of the American instructors they hired.

[Bofors]

Perhaps keeping a somewhat neutral/non military appearance to not upset other foreign powers (e.g. Japan) had something to do with it.


Or they were advised to mention the civilian flight instructor license need in the US as America was still neutral.


Or a bit of both. Just a thought.

[Tommy Wo!]

Perhaps keeping a somewhat neutral/non military appearance to not upset other foreign powers (e.g. Japan) had something to do with it.


Or they were advised to mention the civilian flight instructor license need in the US as America was still neutral.


Or a bit of both. Just a thought.

That's certainly a consideration I hadn't thought of before. Releasing the American flight instructors from active duty with the US Navy for employment with the Dutch was kept secret in the US. That was because President Roosevelt was in the midst of a very tight presidential re-election campaign in October 1940. There was real fear of him losing the race, so his decision to (very narrowly) skirt strict US neutrality laws at the time was a sensitive subject. The US Navy by the way, STRONGLY opposed letting the flight instructors go to Java for different reasons. However, FDR won the 1940 election by a landslide and the need to keep the program secret became less of a concern. The flight instructors subsequently received quite a bit of newspaper attention in December 1940, which didn't seem to generate much response from Japan. I'll have to look thru my documents again to see if there's a specific reason for the hard requirement for all to be licensed instructors.