August Deibel

1st Lieutenant August Gerard Deibel (11 September 1915 – 12 June 1951) was a Dutch pilot of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. He was part of 2-VLG-V, which was stationed in Singapore before its withdrawal to Java. His unit emblem was a rhinoceros head painted on both sides of the front fuselage on his Brewster Buffalo aircraft. His rank and surname, 'Lt Deibel' was printed beside the nose art.

Deibel is credited with three kills, two of which were Ki-27 Nates on 12 January, during a Japanese air raid over Singapore, and was twice wounded in action on 12 January and 19 February 1942. Deibel was killed on 12 June 1951, piloting a Gloster Meteor aircraft when it crashed near Uithuizen in the Netherlands.

Dutch East Indies When a formation of 35 Japanese aircraft attacked Semplak on 19 February, eight Buffaloes (including Deibel) engaged them. Deibel managed to fire twice at an A6M Zero, but was wounded by a 20 mm shell ten minutes later, forcing him to land. 11 Japanese planes were shot down, with the Dutch losing four Buffaloes and two pilots. The raid destroyed three RAF Lockheed Hudsons and two KNILM Sikorskys. One of Deibel's landing gears, damaged during the fight, broke off from his aircraft, causing it to crash in a ground loop. He survived without sustaining any injuries. Van Helsdingen and Bruggink remained above Lembang, but were now dogfighting six Zeroes. Van 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 14 July 1948.

Military decorations