The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), Dutch Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu), is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Its ancestor, the Luchtvaartafdeling (aviation department) of the Dutch Army was founded on 1 July 1913, with four pilots.
Royal Netherlands Air Force in The War That Came Early[]
Despite the Netherlands being a rich country, the RNLAF was completely unprepared when the Germans invaded their country two weeks before Christmas in 1938. Outnumbered, the Dutch still flew against the Luftwaffe with gusto, but within four days, they had been all but wiped out. After the bombing of Rotterdam, what was left of the air force fled to France when the Dutch Government capitulated so they could continue the fight.
In January 1941, the Dutch Air Force found itself heavily out gunned against the Japanese Navy aircraft as they cut a huge swath through the Dutch East Indies. Although they joined forces with the Americans and the British they failed to provide proper air support for the combined allied fleet, which ended up being decimated.
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