Description: Just ahead of the Japanese advance through Java, on one of the last evacuation ships to escape the attack on his home in the Dutch East Indies, Hans Van Der Kop, a Midshipman in the Dutch Navy, made his way with other officers and cadets to the relative haven of Britain under siege. A German bombing raid greeted his arrival in Exeter but over his first beer in an English pub he decided to join the R.A.F.

His introduction to that service was washing-up at RAF Bridgnorth but throughout 1942-43 he trained on elderly Ansons and Blenheims over the Isle of Man until he was finally posted to his first operational unit, No 320 (Dutch) Squadron flying B-25 Mitchells.

The squadron, flying ‘Ramrod’ sorties designed to weaken the German defences during the build-up to D-Day, was taking heavy punishment and on his first ‘Op’ Hans’ aircraft was so badly shot up that it had to make an emergency landing. But he survived, and between February and December 1944 he flew 78 missions, attacking railway yards, and bombing in support of the D-Day landings and subsequent fighting, including Arnhem and the Ardennes when Von Rundstedt tried his last desperate gamble. Still only 20 years of age, Hans became leading Navigator to the squadron’s much-decorated and immensely popular CO and with him flew sorties from recently liberated France and Belgium, before moving to Holland – a land that he had never known.

His account of his wartime experiences is both gripping and unusual, and is told with modesty and humour. It shows the very close relationship which existed between the Dutch aircrew and their RAF counterparts and fills an important gap in the annals of the war.

Post-war, the author continued flying with the Dutch Navy and in the 1960’s gained the command of his old squadron, No 320, by then equipped with Neptunes. Now retired, he is still a frequent visitor to England from his home in The Hague, Holland.