"Ida at Kemajoran" Topic

"In the mid-1970s a letter from former Far East Bomber Command (RAF) Flt Lt A D Douglas was published in Air Enthusiast Quarterly Number Three (undated). The letter was in response to an article on Indonesian aviation which had appeared in Issue Two and included photographs and his contemporaneously recorded notes describing three Tachikawa Ki-55 'Ida'/'Tjukio' aircraft in Indonesian markings which on 23 April 1946 had arrived at Kemajoran airfield, Jakarta (Java) where he was serving as Flying Control Officer. These aircraft brought the first Chief of Staff of AURI (Angkatan Udara Republik Indonesia – Air Force of the Indonesian Republic) Komodor Udara Suryardi Suryadarma and a Mayor Jenderal Sudibyo from Maguwo, a landing ground on the eastern outskirts of Yogyakarta, Java, for a meeting with officials of RAPWI (Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees) which was already involved in mercy flights across Java using a mixture of Allied and Japanese aircraft. AURI had been established only two weeks previously from the Air Service Volunteer Corps, part of the Indonesian People's Security Force (Badan Keamanan Rakyat) formed the previous year. The notes are too interesting to remain buried in an almost fifty year old journal and are reproduced here with acknowledgement and in gratitude that officers like Flt Lt Douglas took the time to record such details for posterity.

"Three aircraft of Indonesia Republic Air Force landed at Kemajoran Airfield, Batavia at 1235 hrs on 23 April 1946. Colouring was blue grey mottled with dark blue green, plain blue-grey under-surfaces…"
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