Gerard Bruggink

Gerardus Meinardus Bruggink (4 August 1917 – 5 December 2005) was a Dutch pilot of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. A recipient of the Military Order of William, he was one of only four Dutch pilots to dogfight the Japanese in the Battle of Java.

Born in Tubbergen, Overijssel, Bruggink followed a Catholic seminary. He met his wife, Corien, while serving in the Dutch East Indies and they were married in January 1942. A replica B-339C Brewster Buffalo (B-3107) was built in July 2008 and delivered to the Netherlands Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg, the Netherlands, carrying the markings of the plane flown by Bruggink.

Military William Order flight
Bruggink, along with Lt. August Deibel and Officer Cadet Jan Scheffer, volunteered to join Capt. Jacob van Helsdingen on his mission using the last three working Buffalo aircraft on Andir airfield. The four pilots took off on March 7, 1942 and proceeded to Lembang to provide air support for ground troops fighting the Japanese in the city.

Helsdingen's squadron travelled 200 metres when they encountered a Japanese aircraft, which Deibel attacked before it escaped. Some time later, three Japanese A6M Zeros appeared. Deibel fired at two of them which turned away, but was hit in the oil tank by the third Zero and had to break off from combat. His wingman, Jan Scheffer escorted him back to Andir airfield under a tropical rainstorm, where Deibel crashed landed his aircraft without suffering any injuries. Helsdingen and Bruggink remained above Lembang, but were now dogfighting six Zeroes. Helsdingen was soon shot down, but Bruggink managed to escape into the clouds before returning to Andir airfield. Dutch forces in Lembang surrendered the next day. All four Dutch pilots were awarded the Military William Order on July 14, 1948.

Later life
After the Dutch East Indies surrendered, Bruggink became a prisoner of war and was forced to work at the infamous Burma Railway, while his wife was interned in a camp in Java. They were reunited in December 1945, after the war ended.

Bruggink left the air force in 1955 and immigrated with his family that same year to the United States, where he worked as a flight instructor for civil aviation in Texas. In 1959, Bruggink started working for various research organizations, including the National Transportation Safety Board, inspecting aircraft incidents and air safety before retiring in 1982. He died in his home in Skipperville, Alabama, on 5 December 2005, after a long illness. He was 88 years old.