Jacob van Helsdingen
Jacob Pieter van Helsdingen (7 March 1907 – 7 March 1942) was a pilot of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. Van Helsdingen and August Deibel were the most successful Dutch pilots on the Brewster F2A fighter. He was twice awarded the Military William Order for bravery in battle. World War II Singapore Van Helsdingen's squadron arrived in Singapore on 9 December 1941 with 9-12 Brewster Buffalo fighters and was stationed at Kallang Airfield. They first went into action on 12 January 1942 during a Japanese air raid over Singapore. At 10:00 hours, a formation of Japanese bombers appeared, escorted by five Ki-27 Nate fighters. They were intercepted by three Dutch Buffalos, who succeeded in chasing them away, damaging one of the bombers. When they returned in the afternoon, Van Helsdingen and two other pilots were scrambled to intercept them, encountering nine Ki-27s. Four of them were shot down, one by Van Helsdingen, with the Dutch losing one Buffalo. When the Japanese raided Singapore again on 15 January, Van Helsdingen and two other pilots took off. They ran into an overwhelming number of A6M Zeros, scoring no kills and losing one Buffalo and its pilot. His squadron returned