Dutch Defenders in May 1940

[Brandy]

Lovely builds of unusual subjects, and thanks for the background too. That makes it all even more interesting!

 

Ian

[Terry1954]

These two have come out looking absolutely beautiful! I followed the WIP and of course thoroughly enjoyed that, and your backstory is such interesting reading. Oh, and the colours of course are splendid.

 

Well done Heather!

 

Terry

[Autle]

Finally got around to commenting on these fantastic looking aircraft. Great subject, great story and great modelling. Glad you're obsessed with this subject because it's not mainstream but needs to be better known. Keep them coming.

[Heather Kay]

Thanks for all the nice words, folks!

[corsaircorp]

Excellent job Heather !!

Amazing good rendition of these unusual aircrafts !!

Congratulations !!

Your 1940 collection is almost complete now ??

Sincerely.

CC

[Maginot]

Very interesting, unusual types nicely modelled. Camo scheme attractive, insignia striking.

[Navy Bird]

You keep building all these wonderful aircraft from 1940 and the next thing you know it'll be 1941.    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Giampiero Piva]

Very nice builds of unusual subjects,, well done  background too. Bravo !

 

[Winenut]

Absolute works of art Heather

 

Superb builds and beautiful finish

 

The colours and detail are exceptional

 

[MACALAIN]

On 29/06/2022 at 23:11, Heather Kay said:

When I embarked on my rather single-minded pursuit of trying to model at least one example of each aircraft in military service in North-Western Europe during 1940, I didn’t realise it would lead me down such interesting byways of discovery.

 

The Netherlands in 1940 was a neutral country and had remained outside the growing conflict between its neighbours. This didn’t mean the Dutch authorities weren’t worried about the situation. While the 1920s and early 1930s had seen the Dutch military being neglected, the rise of a belligerent neighbour to the east caused a flurry of investment and renewal in the late 1930s. The Fokker aircraft company hoped to get in on the deal.

 

 

Fokker G.I "Mercury" No 307, 3rd Jachtvliegtuigafdeling, Luchtvaartafdeling, Waalhaven Airfield, Rotterdam, May 1940

 

With the single-seat D.XXI fighter already on the drawing board, the same designer, Erich Schatzki, began working on a twin-engined concept known as jachtkruiser, or heavy fighter. The aircraft was expected to be able to gain air superiority over the battlefield, as well as being used as a bomber. The twin-engined, twin-boom layout had a central nacelle housing up to three crew members. It also featured formidable armament, concentrated in the nose.

 

Like all Fokker aircraft of the time, the G.I was of mixed construction. A welded frame covered in aluminium sheeting made the front of the central nacelle, while the rear and the wings were built from wood. The original prototype was displayed at the 1936 Paris Air Show, to much interest. Testing began in early 1937, the prototype powered by a pair of 650hp Hispano-Suiza radial engines. After an accident, the engines were replaced with 750hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasps.

 

Interest in the new plane came from the Spanish Republican government, which placed a contract with Fokker for 26 P&W powered aircraft. Although the deal was paid for, the planes weren’t delivered as the Dutch government placed an embargo in supplying military equipment to Spain. The aircraft were still built, with a cover story they were intended for Finland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Luchtvaartafdeling (LVA), Dutch army air force, ordered 36 aircraft, to be fitted with 825hp Bristol Mercury VIII engines for ease of maintenance since several other aircraft used Bristol powerplants. The Fokker classification system seems to intermix Roman and Arabic numerals, but interestingly the “a” and “b” suffix to denote different versions is a post-war affectation. For reference, I shall continue to refer to this model as the G.I “Mercury”. Four were to be ground attack, the rest finished as two-seat fighters. Twenty-six were operational with the 3rd Jachtvliegtuigafdeling (JaVa) at Waalhaven Airfield, Rotterdam, and 4th JaVa Fighter Group at Bergen, near Alkmaar. The aircraft were active patrolling the Dutch borders and ensuring neutrality.

 

All this changed around 4am on 10 May 1940. The German invasion started with attacks on the Dutch airfields. The 4th JaVa lost all but one aircraft on the ground, while eight 3rd JaVa G.Is scrambled in time from Waalhaven and engaged several Luftwaffe aircraft. The surviving aircraft suffered mounting losses, with three still flying by the end of the first day. By scavenging spare parts, the 4th JaVa could still fly some aircraft. During the so-called Five Day War, available G.Is were used on ground attack missions, and also used to attack Luftwaffe Ju52/3m transports. Reports are fragmentary, but G.I crews are credited with contributing to the loss of 167 Ju52s, scoring up to 14 confirmed aerial kills.

 

The model is the Mikro-Mir kit, released in 2021. It is a well-engineered kit, with a very detailed interior that takes up most of the construction process! I have a link to the WIP thread, which also features the next model, at the end of this post.

 

 

Fokker T.V No 863, Luchtvaartafdeling, Schiphol Airfield, May 1940. 

 

Like the heavy cruiser concept that gave rise to the G.I, the LVA was also interested in the luchtkruiser, or aerial cruiser, concept. It was a multi-purpose aircraft with a primary role of intercepting and destroying enemy bomber formations, but also capable of operating as a long-range bomber. Colonel P W Best, commander of the LVA, controversially said more luchtkruiser should take precedence over smaller fighters, such as the D.XXI. Indeed, he proposed cancelling D.XXI procurement to release funds for the larger aircraft.

 

Fokker had been working on a design since the LVA specification, which was accepted in late 1934 and became the T.V. A five-seat, twin-engined monoplane, of mixed construction of wooden monocoque centre fuselage, fabric-covered steel tube rear fuselage and duralumin forward fuselage. To meet the bomber destroyer remit, a 20 mm Vliegtuigmitrailleur M.37 (Solothurn S18-350) cannon was fitted in the nose. I have seen photos with a large machine gun also fitted in the upper fuselage behind the second pilot’s position. Defensive armament was five 7.92mm Mitrailleur M.20 Vliegtuig (Lewis gun without jacket) in dorsal, ventral, and lateral positions, as well as in the tail cupola. A bomb bay under the centre fuselage could carry up to 1,000kg of bombs. The aircraft was powered by a pair of 930hp Bristol Pegasus XXVI 9-cylinder radials driving 3-bladed variable-pitch propellers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sixteen T.Vs were ordered in December 1936, and the first production aircraft taking to the air in October 1937 from Schiphol airfield. The first 11 aircraft were delivered as medium bombers in 1938. While the type had good handling characteristics, engine and propeller reliability was a serious problem and the Dutch government seriously considered purchasing 24 Dornier Do215s to replace them.

 

On 10 May 1940, eight T.Vs managed to take off from Schiphol to avoid the incoming air attack, and encountered a formation of Luftwaffe bombers, shooting down two. The T.Vs then reverted to the bomber role, attacking German airborne troops landing at Den Haag and Rotterdam. By the end of the first day of fighting, only two T.Vs were still serviceable. They were sent to attack bridges over the River Maas at Rotterdam on 11 May, with one aircraft shot down. The last airworthy T.V was shot down attacking bridges at Moerdijk on 13 May.

 

The T.V compared well with its contemporaries of the 1930s, but proved to be outclassed by Luftwaffe aircraft come the invasion of 1940. Nevertheless, the crews flew the aircraft valiantly, and gave a good account, in defence of their country.

 

The T.V is the Valom kit. It could be said to be a little basic, but it has everything you need to make a creditable model of a Fokker T.V. I like Valom kits. They make some interesting models of aircraft that fit right into my 1940 kick. 

 

Work in progress thread for both models begins here:

 

Well done.

 

Alain

[Pete Robin]

Beautifully modelled and presented.

Regards

Pete

[Teuchter]

Excellent modelling of little known subjects that deserve a bit more prominence.

[TheBaron]

Vibrant, original, colourful and informative. A great body of work complete with splendid footnotes. Bravo Heather!

[Bedders]

Really good. Very well done on both.

 

Justin

[Heather Kay]

Thanks everyone! 
 

My Dutch odyssey will continue in time. I’m on the hunt for some more of the aircraft in service with the LVA. Meanwhile, attention turns back to a Shelf Queen in the form of a Special Hobby Avro Anson.

[Cookenbacher]

These are wonderful Heather, and the photography is top notch as well, making them seem so real.

[RidgeRunner]

Very nice, Heather. I always loved the golden triangles of those Dutch machine. The G.I is particularly nice

 

Martin