Don Bowen
Posts: 8183
Joined: 7/13/2000 From: Georgetown, Texas, USA Status: offline
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Here is some old data I have on Dutch equipment (put together from multiple sources): Multiple shipments of aircraft, tanks, and other military equipment enroute to the Netherlands East Indies were diverted to Australia when the Japanese overran Java. Here is the list that I have so far (and I'd appreciate any additional information that anyone else might have). SS Bantam - 18 P-40E, 29 Marmon-Herrington Tanks, 4 37mm A/T guns, 1595 M1928 (Thompson) sub-machine guns, 20 M501 Searchlights USAT Mapia - 6 DB-7B, 4 Brewster-439, 10 OS2U Kingfisher, 3 Marmon-Herrington Tanks, 25 M3 Light Tanks, 2 37mm A/T Guns SS Sloterdijk - 10 Brewster-439, 7 CW-22B Falcon SS Tabian - 3 Brewster-439, 7 OS2U Kingfisher, 12 Marmon-Herrington Tanks, 4 37mm A/T Guns, 375 Johnson semi-automatic rifles, 10,000 Enfield rifles SS Tabinta - 3 DB-7B SS Tarakan - 5 DB-7B, 5 Lockheed L-12 SS Tjibesar - 4 Brewster-439, 14 CW-22B Falcon SS Tosari (or Tossari??) - 3 DB-7B, 25 M3 Light Tanks, 9580 Enfield rifles SS Weltevreden - 5 DB-7B, 7 OS2U Kingfisher, 10 Marmon-Herrington Tanks, 6 M3 155mm Guns, 8 7.62mm Hotchkiss Machine Guns, 700 Ivor Johnson .38 revolvers, 10 TFQ 108" range finders. SS Zaandam - 5 Brewster-439 (reached Tjilatjap but did not unload - took on 892 refugees and withdrew to Australia) In addition, 36 Ryan STM and 6 De Havilland Tiger Moth Trainers were evacuated from the NEI aboard SS Tjinegara (with the intention of setting up a primary flight school for Dutch pilots in Australia). All of these cargos were unloaded in Australian Ports and allocated to the US, Australian and surviving NEI forces. Note that 21 Brewster-439 are listed but one of the was a previous model 339. There were only 20 of the model 439. The Dutch had ordered 628 Marmon-Herrington light tanks in 3 models: CTLS 4TA (Dutch 2-man) with 3 MG - 234 ordered CTMS-ITBI (Dutch 3-man) with a 37mm (some sources say 20mm) gun and 2 MG - 194 ordered MTLS-IGI4 (Dutch 4-man Tank) with two 37mm in a turret - 200 ordered The first 80 of the CTLS model were aboard the Straat Soenda which sank in shallow water off Java prior to unloading - partially flooding her cargo hold. Most of these were salvaged but had been in salt water for several days and only a few (7?) were repaired by the time of the Japanese Invasion. A further 54 CTLS were enroute aboard 4 merchant ships and were diverted to Australia. Eventually a total of 149 2-man tanks were received in Australia. Many of these were temporarily issued to US and Australian forces for training and patrol work and three were briefly used by the combined Dutch/Australian defense force at Merauke, New Guinea. Most were eventually broken up by the Ford Motor Company at Geelong, Victoria to salvage their engines and armor. Initial allocations to Australian Forces: 10 each to: 1st Australian Army Tank Battalion (July, 1942) 2nd Australian Army Tank Battalion (July, 1942) 8 each to: 2/8th Australian Armoured Regiment (April 1942) 2/10th Australian Armoured Regiment (April 1942) 1 Australian Armoured Corps Training Regiment (June 1942) Army Tank Training Battalion (August 1942) 13 Motorised Regiment (June 1942) 104 Motorised Regiment (June 1942) 18 Motorised regiment (June 1942) A July 24, 1942 inventory listed 141 units: 12 Australian Armoured Regiment (previously 13 Motorised Regiment) - 8 13 Australian Armoured Regiment (previously 104 Motorised Regiment - 8 14 Australian Armoured Regiment (previously 18 Motorised Regiment) - 8 3rd Australian Army Tank Brigade (comprising 1, 2 & 3 Aust Army Tank Bn) - 20 Australian AFV School - 10 Royal Military College, Duntroon - 3 1st Australian Armd Corps Training Regiment - 8 2nd Australian Armd Corps Training Regiment - 8 3rd Australian Armd Corps Training Regiment - 8 4th Australian Armd Corps Training Regiment - 8 Ordnance Depots – Victoria - 4 Ordnance Depots – New South Wales - 48 A list from December, 1942 gives 138 units but no breakdown of disposition. The remainder of the Dutch order was taken over by the US and some went to US units in North America as the T-14 (CTLS-4TAC - left hand drive variant) and T-16 (CTLS-4TAY - right hand drive variant). Primarily used for training but a few were sent to Alaska for local defense. One unit was used to test the ability of tanks to operate on Alaskan Tunda at Cold Bay - it immediately sank and was never recovered. Approximately 82 of these were sent to China. 8 CTMS-ITBI went to Cuba in 1942 and at least 5 were still in service in 1959 and were used against Castro. 76 Units were delivered to Dutch forces in Suriname and the Antilles (26 CTLS-4TA, 28 CTMS-1TBI, 20 MTLS-1GI4). Some of these were apparently used by U.S. garrison units in the Antilles. Twelve CTMS-ITBI went to Equador and six to Guatemala in 1942. Mexico received four CTMS-ITBI and also operated the earlier CTVL (built in 1936). The Dutch also received 49 ex-South African Marmon-Herrington armored cars in 1941. These were worn-out veterans of the North African desert campaign and were in very-poor shape. Only 27 had been made operational by the Japanese Invasion. Fourteen of these (and 7 of the Marmon-Herrington Tanks) went to the Mobiele Eenheid (Mobile Column).
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