Sgt. G.K.P Kiel
The true stories of Dutch Pilots
Over Ypenburg Airfield.
Eight
D-21 fighters of the 1st Fighter Group were airborne just before the bombing
of the airport started.
They
flew in three flights, two flights of three aircraft and one of two aircraft.
Wing
commander was 1st Lt.-pilot P.J.B. Ruijs de Perez.
Soon
after take-off the pilots turned towards the enemy bombers in order to
attack those. The wings swarmed out but before they took positions, the
escorting Me-110's threw themselves on them like hawks.
The
Dutch wings fell apart and the pilots had to start dogfight by themselves
against their numerous attackers.
Seen
from the ground it was a breathtaking scene. Making use of the great climbing
velocity and maneuvrability of the D-21 our pilots spun as angry hornets
around the faster, but less maneuvrable, Messerschmitts.
The
roaring engine sounds were repeatedly drowned by the rattling of machineguns
and the muffled bongs of the 20 mm cannons.
The
number of opponents however was too much and the fighting capacity too
superior, so the Dutch planes were soon forced to leave the area one after
another.
The
wing commander Reg.nr.222 attacked the German bombers, but couldn't go
through because of jamming guns. (Failure of loading equipment). So he
couldn't fire a single shot!
He
gave command to his number 2, res.sergeant-pilot G.K.P. Kiel (Reg.nr.
216), but stayed after him to cover.
After
a while however he lost sight on the 216 and flew Westward to look for
a landing area.
Flying
over the Westland he was attacked and shot in his upper arm, what forced
him to an emergency landing. He succeeded in landing his aircraft about
04.35 h. just beyond the village of Monster in a meadow, but his plane
was totally damaged.
Sergeant
Kiel, who was commanding the wing now, had also attacked German bombers.
After he lost contact with the 222, he downed a Junkers Ju.52 near The
Hague.
Lack
of ammunition and a nearly empty fuel tank forced him to land on the Air
Park Ruigenhoek at about 05.15 h.
Here
he could refill, but there was no compressed air available, needed for
his MG bullet supply.
He
took off to get it somewhere else; over Airbase Valkenburg he was attacked
by 5 Me's.
The
fight here was really one-sided, as sergeant Kiel was not able to offer
opposition.
Something
struck his head and badly wounded he became unconscious. His aircraft spiralled
down and hit the ground alongside the tram track Wassenaar - Leiden, near
Den Deijl. The plane turned head-over and was totally wrecked.(photo)
As he came to, he heard voices......German voices! So he stayed quiet, pretending to be dead.
After 4 hours (!) the German "Fallschirmjäger" had moved their positions and Kiel could crawl out of his cockpit and go for help.
This was one of the "miracles" that took place on the 10th of May, 1940.
