BIBLIOTHEEK PUBLICO I)I ARUBA

OR AN JESTAD. ARUBA ^'Id. I

Ultimo fecha mencioiia ta e dia cu e buki mester worau de-
bolbf. Mas tempo bo tene e buki mas but bo tin cu paga.
Dit boek moet terugbezorgd worden op de bet laatst hier
onder gestempelde datum. Bij latere terugbezorging moet
boete worden betaald.
t
 1944

U It I B B EH n
D E C H D E
NRSjK'fi.i
The Story of the Operations of Royal Dutch-Airlines in
the West Indies since December 19 34
Any part of this booh may be reproduced
or quoted without previous permission, pro¬
vided proper credit is given as to its source.

' 4• V ■f /
2 S SER 1951
A I ^ his is THE story of a bridgehead, which was established at the end of 1934 in the West Indies. In 1940
it was completed far enough to support the Western end of the bridge through the air which KLM
planned to build over the mid-Atlantic, in this way linking by aeroplane our little country at the North Sea
shore with its territories in the Western hemisphere. But the European war, started in 1 939 and unleashed
to its full fury in 1940, prevented us from placing the arch. So the bridgehead had to stand by itself much
longer than anticipated; we tried and succeeded in developing our system of airlines in the Caribbean,
originally intended as feeders for the transatlantic service, into an independent and finally self-supporting
unit.

This is not a story of heroes, of superhuman efforts, nor of astronomical figures, of huge quantities of
intricate machinery, of giant organizations of manpower and material. It is just a simple account of a
handful of people with half a dozen planes, by no means all experts, but reliable workers, devoted to their
jobs, notwithstanding the annoying and sometimes troublesome moments they had to endure; the little
hardships caused by the not-too-tropical but after a few years somewhat wearisome climate, the physical
strain of being on duty in the cockpit or behind a desk for long hours, working day and night on planes and
engines when the sweat blinded their eyes and made the tools slip through their fingers, the minor irrita¬
tions often resulting from living for several years in a small community on a small island.
We sincerely believe that all these unpleasant things were more than compensated by the knowledge
that they had a share in the development of the world s airways, and later, when the war caused the
destruction of almost everything KLM had built during the last twenty years, the part they played in the
struggle for the survival of their Royal Dutch Airlines.
Several of these men will find their names mentioned in this book, but the others should not think that
omission of theirs is a lack of appreciation. May this story be a tribute to all the people who joined hands
and brains to build the bridgehead.
 Early plans
* EARS AGO J. J. I liomassen van der Hoop linked by air, for
The work of those pioneers inspired several other Dutchmen to devote their
the first time in history, Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, and Batavia,
talents to the peaceful expansion of civil aviation over the world. Our review of
the capital of the Netherlands East Indies, 9000 miles apart. His plane was a
the history of the Netherlands aviation in the West Indies should be incomplete
single-engine hokker F-7 transport, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine of 350
if we failed to mention here the unrelentless efforts of KLM’s young pilot Jan
HP., and was barely able to maintain a cruising speed of 80 miles an hour. The
van Onlangs, who, as far back as 1928, started to study seriously the possibility
next milestone on the difficult road to a regular service between the two terri¬
of a flight from Amsterdam to Curacao, in the Netherlands West Indies; and
tories was the speedy flight made in 1927, under command of KLM's senior
who succeeded in arousing the whole-hearted interest of the Dutch people in
pilot, G. J. Geysendorffer.
this undertaking. It should be remembered that such a llight would include a

,
Lockheed. TROEPIAAL over Willemstad Harbor Curacao, N.W.l.
 tion of about 100,000, are Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire, located in the southern
part of the Caribbean, at only 60 miles distance from the South American main¬
land. The three other islands, St. NIaarten (half of which belongs to France),
Saba and St. Eustatius are even smaller than the first group. They are located in
the far northeastern corner of the Caribbean, about 5j0 miles from the main
group, d heir total population numbers only a few thousand and their commercial
significance is very little.
Though all six islands are in the tropic region, the climate is moderate and
in general, healthy. The rainfall on Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao is extremely
low which makes agriculture on these islands very difficult. Part of the water
needed for industrial purposes is imported by tanker, whereas in the dry periods
the municipal water service has to resort to distilling sea water to supplement
the meagre supply from the hundreds of small wells.
The Dutch occupied Curacao in 1634, after which the few remaining
Spaniards and Indians left for the mainland. 1 he attraction of Curacao was,
and still is, its excellent harbors and sheltered roadsteads which, in the olden
days, made it the focus of trade of the Caribbean. Use of cheap slave labor
resulted in some agricultural production, which however dropped sharply after
the abolishment of slavery in 1865. From then on, also due to the shift of ship¬
ping interests to other harbors, the territory of Curacao led a far from prosperous
existence and the interest of the people of the Netherlands in the West Indies
part of the Kingdom was pitifully low.
This situation changed entirely after 1916, when the Royal Dutch Shell
Company started to build an oil relinery on the island. 1 he crude oil produced
in Venezuela and brought to Curacao from the Lake of Maracaibo in lighters
and small tankers, was refined in Curacao and then shipped by large ocean
tankers to a multitude of destinations all over the world. By now the Shell Oil
crossing of the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the South American con¬
plant in Curacao has grown to be one of the largest oil refineries on earth and,
tinent, which are 2000 miles apart at the narrowest point. This was far in excess
needless to say, is playing a most important role in the war effort of the Allied
of the maximum range of transport-planes in those days. Unfortunately this
daring young pilot was killed in an airplane crash in Bangkok in December 1931, Nations.
Prosperity made its entry into Aruba twelve years later when the Standard
at a time when his preparations for the planned flight to the West Indies were
Oil Company chose this island for the home of its largest refinery. Aruba, until
all but completed.
then the poorest of the three, was about to have a period of unknown wealth;
It was shortly before that time that the Netherlands territories in America
its population, mainly through the import of labor from various parts of the
attracted the attention not only of Dutch aviation interests, but of foreign opera¬
Caribbean, doubled in less than fifteen years.
tors as well.
As a consequence of the oil business, Curacao and Aruba became ports of
call for several important steamship lines. Travelers started to note the cheerful,

The Netherlands territories in America breezy climate of Willemstad, its clean streets, its brightly painted houses and
its well provided stores. As a result the tourist trade developed into a flourishing
The Netherlands’ America consists of two parts which are in a straight line
business until the war came. For some time it had looked as if Bonaire would
a little over 1000 miles apart, and which differ greatly geographically and eco¬
have its refinery too, but unfortunately for the inhabitants this plan was dropped
nomically. One part is formed by six small islands called Curacao, after the
after some American oil interests had merged. Many families moved to Aruba
main island of the group. I he three larger islands, which have a total popula¬
and Curacao and went to work in the oilplants on those islands. Bonaire’s most a new and prosperous period. 1 he bauxite output, as can readily be understood,
important export item remained aloe, a sap used in medicine and dyes. will now have reached its peak production; it must be foreseen that after the war
A condition that aided considerably in developing the trade of the Nether¬ there will be a sharp drop. In the meantime the financial position of Surinam
lands’ islands in the Caribbean was the low import duties in comparison to has greatly improved.
those in neighboring countries. This encouraged foreign travelers and tourists
to make their purchases in Curacao, which they sometimes did to an extrava¬ Foreign airlines in the Caribbean
gance. The favorable economical development of Curacao, as the result of the
Surinam or Dutch Guyana, on the mainland of South America, differs from establishment of the oil industry, of course drew attention to the airlines
Curacao in many respects. It has a fully tropical climate with high precipitation. operating in the neighborhood.
The greater part of the land is hardly penetrable jungle, through which the wide In 1919 German-Austrian interests founded in Colombia the SCADTA,
rivers, with innumerable cascades and torrential rapids, provide inadequate which, due mainly to the characteristic geographical situation in that country,
accessibility. Only the coastal region, 30 to 40 miles deep inland, can be con¬ became one of the first entirely self-supporting airlines.
sidered as fertile enough for the cultivation of tropical products, which, for the The capital of Colombia, Bogota, is situated in the mountains in the center
greater part by mishap and setbacks, never succeeded in helping the Surinam of the country, 430 miles distant from its main Caribbean port, Barranquilla.
people to earn more than a bare existence. The production of gold and some I lie trip from Barranquilla to Bogota by flat-bottomed steamer on the Magda¬
other minerals, though tried again and again, was hardly worth mentioning lena River and the last part by railway, used to take sixteen days. Flying in
until, in later years, it was found that Surinam had rich deposits of bauxite-ore small hops along the river SCADTA’s floatplanes could make it in one full
from which aluminum is made. From then on this territory too gradually entered day. Later, when airfields were established, landplanes reduced the trip to seven

Annabaai and Waaigat, Curacao Aruba Oil Refinery

 With regard to Curacao, things developed in a different way. Pan Amer¬
ican’s flying boats crossed the Caribbean from Miami to Barranquilla via
Kingston (Jamaica), and the company endeavored to create an East-West link
between Colombia and its trunk line from Miami via Trinidad and Paramaribo
and further down south. This, however, they were not able to accomplish with¬
out difficulties. The Government of Venezuela, under the leadership of General
Juan Vincente Gomez, apparently had objections to permitting foreign air lines
to fly all along the north coast. The PAA line from Barranquilla went to
Maracaibo, from there to Curacao and finally from Curacao to Puerto Cabello,
a small harbor in Venezuela, a little more than 100 miles from Curacao. This
was the dead-end. At any rate, this service provided Curacao with a connection
with the international air system of PAA. In the beginning PAA’s 6-passenger
S-38 amphibians landed in the Schottegat Harbor, but after the Government of
Curacao completed the construction of a 2300-foot landing strip near the planta¬
tion Hato on the north coast of the island, PAA’s planes started to use this
field. Contrary to Curacao’s expectations, PAA moved out a short time later,
when they succeeded in entering into a contract with the Venezuelan Govern¬
ment, allowing them to extend their service to Trinidad. Instead of landing in
Curacao, PAA used a small field in Venezuela, Cumarebo, as their intermediate
stop between Maracaibo and La Guaira, the port qf the capital Caracas.
Surinam River Rapids About 1929 another foreign air service showed interest in operating an air
line to Curacao. This was the Compagnie Generale Aeropostale, a French com¬
pany which had established an air-sea-air connection over the South Atlantic
in 1928. I hey formulated ambitious plans for expansion up the east coast of
hours. Nowadays the Douglas DC-3s of AVIANCA, a subsidiary of Pan South America to the French West Indies and eastward to Curacao. At the
American Airways, which took over the operations of SCADTA in 1940, make same time, with French pilots and French equipment, this company started a
this trip in two and a half hours. subsidiary in Venezuela, in the beginning confining itself to domestic traffic.

In 1926 SCADTA looked around for extensions to other countries, and In 1933 the Aeropostale abandoned Venezuela as a residt of financial diffi¬
among others they planned to run an airline from Barranquilla to Curacao. For culties in the parent company and the Venezuelan Government took over the
the purpose of establishing their seaplane base in the Schottegat, the inner fine, including most of the crews and all planes. Later this set-up was reorgan¬
harbor of Curacao, they purchased two small islands, on one of which they ized into the Linea Aeropostal Venezolana.
erected a tiny station building. However, this project was never realized, and So, in 1929 it seemed probable that there woidd shortly be three foreign
the only SCADJ A planes that ever came down in Curacao were those on trial lines flying to Curacao and at least two to Paramaribo.
(lights.

In 1927 the airline which gradually became the world s largest international
operator came into existence. Pan American Airways started a service with
Report to the Government
Iandplanes from Florida to Havana. In 1928 PAA was awarded a postal con¬
tract to carry the mail between Miami and Paramaribo, in Surinam; in 1930 I o advise the Governments of Curacao and Surinam on legal, technical and
this line was extended as far as Buenos Aires. Paramaribo has always been a commercial matters concerning international aviation, the Netherlands Govern¬
stopping place for Pan American Airways, the first twelve years for its flying ment in that year sent out to the West Indies two experts in their fields, Mr.
boats on the river, and since 1941 on the Zandery field. U. F. M. Dellaert, manager of Schiphol, the municipal airport of Amsterdam,

{8Y
and Mr. D. de Vries, general traffic manager of KLM. These two men made a
trip of over two months in the West Indies and conferred with a great many
government and company officials. The results of their journey were related in a
most enlightening report, covering all angles of the many problems involved.
The contents of that report, even several years later, proved to be of great value
in connection with the establishment of KLM’s operations in the West Indies.
In particular their thorough investigation of suitable sites for the construction
of future airports on Netherlands , as well as foreign territory, was extremely
helpful in speeding up the program that later was decided upon. Apart from
the general problems Messrs. Dellaert and de Vries had to consider, they had
been requested also to give their views on the possibility of establishing airlines
under the Netherlands’ flag in the Caribbean. They worked out several plans
on a limited scale, but due to a considerable extent to the expected competition
from the three foreign lines, the result was not very encouraging from a financial
standpoint.
In that period KLM s attention was largely focused on the development of
the Amsterdam-Batavia line and it can readily be understood that, due to the
rather unfavorable conclusion of the report dealing with the possibility of creat¬
ing KLM services in the West Indies, further steps were postponed for the time
being.

Crew of the SNIP, /. to r.: Van der Molen, Capt. Hondong, Van Balkom, Stolk

Two audacious projects

However, the interest was not dead. At the end of 1933 two daring plans
I he transatlantic flight of the Snip
were formulated by Mr. Albert Plesman, Managing Director of KLM since the I he flight of the SNIP (Snipe), a three-engined bokker plane, from Amster¬
foundation of the company in 1919. One plan was for the participation of dam to Curacao in December 1934, also was a marked success. On December
KLM in the London-M^elbourne race with the company s first Douglas DC-2 22, 1934 at 2:30 P.M. local time, the wheels of the SNIP touched the runway
plane; and the second, the execution of a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam to of Hato airport at Curacao, and we consider that moment the birtb of KLM’s
the Netherlands West Indies, in connection with the commemoration of the West Indies Division. Preparation for this trip had been started months in ad¬
tri centenary authority of the Netherlands over Curacao. For the coordination vance. I o arouse the interest of the public in this venture and also in view of
of the various departments dealing with the technical problems, and for the covering part of the costs involved, it was decided to offer the opportunity to
handling of administrative affairs connected with these flights, a special depart¬ send Christmas letters to the West Indies with this flight. Special seals and
ment at the KLM head-office was created, of which Mr. L. F. Bouman, before stamps would make the envelopes used on this occasion a precious collector s
that KLM s Airport Manager in Rotterdam, was put in charge. item.
KLM s participation in the Mac Robertson Race created quite a sensation Authorization to fly over the various countries concerned and permission to
throughout the world. Captain Parmentier landed his DC-2, with its crew of land at a number of specified airports, as well as emergency fields, had to be
four plus three passengers, only a very short time after Scott arrived in his secured. Radio facilities had to be organized as part of the route had never
specially built De Havi Hand Comet Racer and thus won the first prize in the before been covered by any planes at all. Utmost care had to be given to the
handicap race. Mr. B. Prins, the flight engineer on this trip, later became chief navigational and meteorological details. An extensive study of Atlantic weather
engineer of KLM in Curacao. conditions had been made; the exact route had been determined and the date

I
io V
Because of the interest shown in this flight in Venezuela and for the purpose
for the departure been fixed so as to secure the most favorable weather for the
of promoting relations with that country, it was decided later to include an inter¬
plane s ocean crossing.
mediate landing in La Cuaira in the last hop.
This important detail was in charge of the first officer-navigator, J. J. van
As everybody knows, the navigator in an airplane is not so much interested
Balkom. Besides Van Balkom the following crew was chosen: Captain J. J.
in the speed and direction of the wind on the ground or at sea level, but for the
Hondong, who had been flying with KLM since 1925 and a veteran of several
correct calculation of his trip he needs as much information as possible con¬
trips on the Amsterdam-Batavia line, was to be in command; S. van der Molen
cerning the winds at various higher altitudes. On the route to be followed very
was the second navigator and wireless operator and L. D. Stolk was flight
little data of this character was available and therefore KLM requested assist¬
engineer. They were both most capable technicians with several years experi-
ance of the Netherlands Government Weather Bureau as well as of the Royal
ence in the air. Netherlands Steamship Company. Among many other important routes the
The following schedule was planned: ships of this company were regularly plying between Amsterdam and 1 ara-
First day: Amsterdam—Casablanca (1606 miles)
maribo. They did not exactly follow the route of the SNIP, but the cooperation
Second “ Casablanca—Porto Praia (Cape Verde Islands)-(1645 miles)
of the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company went so far as to have one ol its
Third “ Rest in Porto Praia and preparation for Atlantic crossing
steamers, the “Stuyvesant,” direct its course in such a way that the day before
Next night: Porto Praia—Paramaribo (2286 miles)
the departure of the SNIP from Porto Praia and the night of the actual crossing,
Fourth day: Rest in Paramaribo the ship would be about halfway between Porto Praia and Paramaribo. Spe-
Sixth ' Paramaribo—Curacao (1065 miles) cial instruments and all the necessary equipment to provide information of t e
Therefore, a total distance of 6600 miles was to be covered. winds at high altitudes were on board and two members of the crew had been
thoroughly trained to handle this intricate apparatus. Moreover, the arrange¬
ment with the “Stuyvesant” was an extra safety measure in case anything
might go wrong en route. Another most valuable assistance was received Irom

Starting point of the SNIP’S flight; Schiphol airport, Amsterdam the Royal Netherlands Navy. One of its submarines, Hr.Ms. K-18, which was
on a scientific mission in the Atlantic, was ordered to take a specially designated
station during the SNIP’s crossing, so as to be able to provide weather data

and help in case of an emergency.

The greatest possible collaboration was also received from the Portuguese
Government Weather Service, as well as from the Government operated avia¬
tion radio branches in France and Portugal and last but not least, from the
Curacao and Surinam Government radio services. .
For this trip the SNIP was equipped with two independent I hilips radio
sets, one for the normal low frequencies in use in international aviation in
Europe and one special high frequency set for the communication over long

distances. , r
The longest hop to be made on this flight, 5657 kilometers or 2286mdes, ol
course was much longer than the normal maximum range of the SNIP. I here-
fore four extra fuel tanks were installed in the cabin, bringing the total gaso¬
line capacity of the plane up to 1550 gallons and extending its range to 5200
miles. The plane had been equipped with stronger engines, 550 H.P. Wasp
motors- the maximum total weight at the moment of departure from I orto Praia
had been calculated to be 22,000 pounds, instead of 17,000 for normal operations.
Much publicity had been given to the opportunity to send special airmail to
Surinam, Venezuela and Curacao. The response of the Dutch people was sur-
UNITED
STATES

DAKAR
«1 12 h

TECHNICAL DATA CONCERNING AIRCRAFT

OPERATED BY KLM IN THE WEST INDIES DURING 1 934- 1 944

(Manufacturers Figures)

1 2 3 4 5* 6*

Year. 1934 1937 1958 1940 1943 1944

Manufacturer. Fokker Fokker Lockheed Douglas Lockheed Lockheed

Type. F-18 F-8 14 (Superelectra) DC-5 18 (Lodestar) 12

Number of Passenger Seats. 12-15 Photo plane 9-10 18-22 12-14 6

Wing Span. 80 ft. 10 in. 75 ft. 5 in. 65 ft. 6 in. 78 ft. 65 ft. 6 in. 49 ft. 6 in.

Length. 60 ft. 8 in. 55 ft. 1 in. 44 ft. 2V2 in. 62 ft. 2 in. 49 ft. 10 in. 36 ft. 4 in.

Height. 15 ft. 7 in. 13 ft. 10 in. 11 ft. 5 in. 19 ft. 10 in. 11 ft. 5V2 in. 9 ft. 11 in.

Wing Area. 904 sq. ft. 853 sq. ft. 551 sq. ft. 824 sq. ft. 551 sq. ft. 352 sq. ft.

Weight Empty (lbs.). 9,587** 8,370 10,750 13,674 11,790 5,960

Weight Loaded (lbs.). 16,640** 13,224 17,500 20,000 18,500 8,650

Maximum Speed (miles). 152 135 225 230 270 214

Cruising Speed (miles). 126 110 200 195 240 200

Cruising Range (miles). 930** 600 2,000 1,600 1,890 1,000

Fuel Capacity (gals.). 525** 380 520 550 644 200

Engines. 3-550 HP. 2-550 HP. 2-760 HP. 2—900 HP. 2—1000 H.P. 2-450 H.P.
P & W—TD-1 P&W-Wasp TD-1 Cyclone F.62 Cyclone G. 102 Cyclone G.205A P & W—Wasp Jr.

^Property of Netherlands Government.

**NormaI operations.
 prising and beyond expectation; 26,521 letters and parcels were collected at check-up of the engines and the radio. About 1200 gallons of gasoline had to
midnight of the 15th of December, one of the strangest items being a bottle of be poured from small tins into the fuel tanks, but the Shell Company agents
real good Dutch beer sent by a famous brewery in Rotterdam to its agent in were as active as everywhere. In the afternoon of the 19th the SNIP’s three
Curacao and bearing no less than fifteen dollars worth of stamps. Wasp motors pulled the over loaded plane without difficulty from Porto Praia’s
Everything was prepared at Amsterdam’s airport for the departure just at airfield and the Atlantic crossing had begun. Radio contact with the “Stuy-
midni ght on December 15, 1954. 1 he weather was miserable; wet snow drifted vesant and not long afterward with Paramaribo was established.
from low hanging clouds; the fan-shaped beams of the strong flood lights at the On December 20th, at 6:00 A.M. in Paramaribo hundreds of people were
other side of the held hardly penetrated tbe haze and precipitation. Still, a taken aboard a special train. Two hours later they arrived at the Zandery air¬
sizable crowd of authorities, friends and visitors were gathered on the slippery field, which had been hastily prepared on a vast savannah at about 30 miles
platform to wish the SNIP a lucky trip. The weather forecasts were not good from town. The narrow track railway, on which the old ramshackle cars could
either; practically all northwestern Europe gave reports of low clouds and not go faster than fifteen miles an hour, was the only connection with Para¬
limited visibility. Yet, Hondong decided to go. Hands were shaken; the roar of maribo. Fortunately it was early in the morning and still cool, and everybody
the engines, being tested for the last time, drowned the last shouts of ‘good luck seemed to enjoy the ride.
and happy landing.” The SNIP turned around and disappeared in the darkness, At 8:00 A.M., just at the moment when the train came to a halt near the
only its tail-light visible for some time; then a moment’s silence, then the drone field, the SNIP was visible in the blue sky to the east. All anxiety was over, but
of its motors again, its roar over the edge of the field. 7 he plane disappeared into there had been some! Halfway over the ocean Van der Molen’s radio set sud¬
the darkness and another pioneering flight had begun. denly stopped transmitting; neither the radio station in Paramaribo nor the
Bad weather continued, strong head winds were encountered. Hondong Stuyvesant could hear it any more. Though there was a faint indication that
concluded he could not make Casablanca that day; he preferred to await more it was only the radio transmitter which had gone wrong, it still caused concern
favorable weather and to refuel. At 8:15 A.M. he landed in Marseilles and later among the many people crowded in one of Paramaribo’s streets near the radio
the same day he proceeded to Alicante in Spain. The following day, at noon, office during most of the night. A few hours later Van der Molen had his set
the SNIP arrived at Casablanca and was greeted with a hearty reception by the working again, though he still doesn’t know exactly how; the main thing is the
small Dutch colony. communication was reestablished. There had been a moment of anxiety for the
The flight on the 17th from Casablanca to Porto Praia, on the arid, lonely crew too, when, about mid-way over the ocean they had to switch to another set
island of Santiago, was comparatively easy. The 18th was used for a careful of fuel tanks. Through a cause not yet known all the motors suddenly stopped

he SNIP approaching Zandery airfield, Surinam The SNIP landed on Surinam soil, December 20,1934 Governor Kielstra compliments Capt. Hondong and his crew
{uy
and four men held their breath. Fortunately it lasted for only a few seconds and Orinoco Delta in the eastern part of Venezuela. Seven hours later it crossed the
the engines picked up rapidly. cloud-topped mountain ranges near the Venezuelan coast and a few minutes
Van Balkom’s navigation had been extremely accurate. Aided by the data later the plane rolled down the red dusty slope of the La Guaira airfield at
received from the “Stuyvesant,” he had calculated that when flying between the foot of the Andes Mountains.
2250 and 5000 feet the wind would be in the most favorable direction and fairly This time it carried two passengers besides the crew, the daughter of the
strong. Though the SNIP was not ideally equipped for shooting stars, he Governor of Surinam, Miss Kielstra, and KLM s West Indies Manager, Mr.
managed to work out his celestial observations precisely. The result was that Bouman. The latter were rather uncomfortably seated between the huge extra
they hit the South American coast less than four miles from the intended point, fuel tanks which practically filled the otherwise roomy cabin.
an unbelievably slight deviation on an uninterrupted stretch of 2286 miles. High Venezuelan military and civil authorities, the Netherlands Ambassa¬
The enthusiasm of the reception at Zandery airfield as well as in town was dor and his staff, all members of the Netherlands colony, the entire crew of a
unlimited. There were official greetings, speeches, parades, from the highest Netherlands mail steamer which happened to be in port, and many others were
officials to the school children. One of the most charming events was the presen¬ there to welcome the SNIP. The mail for Venezuela was unloaded, then fol¬
tation of a precious cane to each member of the crew and to KLM’s West Indies lowed some hasty speeches, cheers and handshakes, and off they went for the
Manager. These canes were skilfully carved from Surinam ironwood; they had last hop of 180 miles to their final destination. In about an hour and a half the
a point of buffalo horn and a Surinam gold knob with inscription. The six little island of Curacao was sighted, a little earlier than expected. When the wheels
girls who made the presentation of the canes were dressed in the colorful native of the SNIP touched the coral rock of Hato’s runway several hundred people
costumes of the six groups of population in Surinam they represented. Most were still running from their parked cars in the direction of the air station, not
remarkable was the fact that these girls, Netherlands, Negro, Chinese, Javanese, wanting to miss the official greeting. Thousands were already there. The crew
British Indian and pure South American Indian, all recited well chosen verses was cordially welcomed by His Excellency, Governor Van Slobbe, by members
in faultless Dutch. It really was a heart-warming moment that symbolized the of the Committee organized for the celebration of this event and by many
unity of the Surinam races under the Netherlands’ flag in a simple but demon¬ authorities. Together they went to the platform, profusely decorated with the
strative way. national colors, red, white, blue and orange; then Governor Van Slobbe read
On the 22nd of December, early in the morning, the SNIP rose again over the proclamation stating that Her Majesty, Queen Wilhelmina, had awarded to
the white sandy soil of the Zandery field. Its course was northwest over the vast the four members of the crew the Knights Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau,

Celebration of the SNIP’s arrival in front of Governor1 s Palace,

Indian Chief and family on Zandery field, pay tribute to the SNIP Paramaribo Six little girls present canes to the SNIP’S crci
 4151-
in recognition of their courage and ability in establishing the air link between
Experimental set-up
the Netherlands’ territories in Europe and in the West Indies. There were more
speeches, more flowers, more parades and more parties and receptions. The birth So, KLM had a plane in Curacao and, of course, plans had already been
made for it months before. Since Pan American Airways no longer called at
of KLM’s youngest scion was surrounded by memorable festivities that lasted
several days. Curacao and neither SCADTA nor the French Aeropostale had realized their
projects to extend their services to the Netherlands West Indies, the islands had
On the next day a short trip was made to Aruba. A landing field was planned been depleted of any air connection. Seeing the many excellent steamer con¬
and a start had been made with clearing the ground. However, on its first visit nections of Curacao, KLM’s Management was not fully convinced that we
the SNIP had to make use of a strip of solid beach near Savoneta, a few miles would be able to attract enough passengers and freight to run local air services
from the Lago Oil Refinery. The population of Aruba showed its acclaim to no between the islands and the mainland without a comparatively high loss. How¬
lesser degree than the people of Surinam and Curacao. ever, the final object was to establish a regular service between Amsterdam and
the Netherlands territories in America as soon as suitable planes for this purpose
That same day the SNIP flew back to Curacao and without delay its con¬ would become available; this idea still stood and it sounded reasonable to try
version into a dignified passenger transport was taken in hand, under command to gradually build up a local feeder net around Curacao that would serve as the
of engineer Stolk. He was fortunate to find in Curacao a faithful assistant, Western bridgehead for the future span over the Atlantic.
Mr. C. Plesman, a nephew of KLM s Managing Director, who had come over So orders had been given to KLM’s first West Indies Manager to proceed
by boat. Kees Plesman, by the way, served for many years with the KLM in the cautiously. Undoubtedly there would be interest in a local service from Cur¬
West Indies. He is one of those quiet, capable and unobtrusive mechanics you acao to Aruba. The next step that could be accomplished without too much
miss very much when they go away, as Plesman had to do in 1940, when the financial risk, was to create a connection with the PAA service running along
Netherlands Indies Army requested KLM to release him for an important war the Venezuelan coast to Cumarebo, only a half-hour’s flying time from Curacao.
job in the United States. Of course more help was needed and KLM still is By hopping over on the days their amphibian made a landing at Cumarebo,
grateful to the vocational school of the St. Thomas College at Curacao which, Curacao and Aruba would be provided with a direct link to PAA’s international
particularly during the first few years of operation, provided us with several system at a minimum cost. Besides an agreement with PAA for this purpose,
excellent native workers. Julio Coffie was the first one engaged and he is still in KLM also needed a concession from the Venezuelan Government to operate a
KLM’ s service at Hato. service to and from a Venezuelan port of entry.

Guaira, Capt. Hondong, Miss Kielstra, Mr. Bouman; Hondong complimented by Venezuelan Military Commander. Between them
December 22,1934 H.E. the Netherlands Minister to Venezuela The SNIP lands on Hato airport, Curacao, December 22,1934
{\ey
At that time a contract had already been made with the Curacao Trading
KLM seeks concession from Venezuela
Company of Amsterdam. They were appointed agents for KLM in La Guaira,

Before the SNIP took off for its trans-Atlantic flight the recently appointed for the entire Republic of Colombia, as well as for Surinam, whereas the Royal

Manager for the KLM West Indies, Mr. Bouman, had left for Curacao and, Netherlands Steamship Company was appointed in the same capacity in

after setting up the nucleus of a technical and commercial organization in Cura¬ Barbados and Trinidad, in Maracaibo and Puerto Cabello, as well as in Wil¬

cao, went over to Venezuela to make the necessary contacts. KLM was very lemstad (Curacao) and Oranjestad (Aruba), in the latter two places as pas¬

fortunate in finding there Mr. C. H. Bakker, agent of the Royal Netherlands senger-agents only.
Steamship Company, who expressed his willingness to charge himself with the In the meantime the SNIP had found a simple and, for the time being, ade¬

representation of KLM in that country. Bakker had been living in Venezuela quate shelter in a temporary structure which was large enough to house the

for a considerable time and he enjoyed the friendship of many high authorities wing, nose and engines. J his hangar was 130 feet wide and 60 feet deep, so

as well as other influential people. It soon appeared that entering into a contract that the technical staff could work on the plane, protected from the burning

with the Venezuelan Government for the operation of air service involved many sun or the rain, give the engines a thorough overhaul and, after the extra fuel

more intricate dealings, discussions and negotiations than KLM had antici¬ tanks had been removed, refit the cabin with its twelve comfortable chairs. 1 he

pated. When the first conferences on the subject were held, civil aviation in uncertainty about the financial possibilities of the air service around Curacao

Venezuela was under the auspices of the Departmento de Fomento ( develop¬ was also the reason that the Curacao Government, the owner of the field, did

ment), to which also belonged mining, communications, oil industry, etc. not feel inclined to spend large sums for the construction of permanent build¬

Contrary to the view of most governments in Europe, the Venezuelan Govern¬ ings. So, for the first few months we had to be content with the wooden nose

ment considered the concession for a foreign air line not a question that had to hangar, at the rear of which was a ticket counter, a customs and immigration

be dealt with along the official or diplomatic channels, but purely as a com¬ office, a stockroom and a little bar, all ingeniously hidden between the uprights

mercial affair which that Government was going to handle directly with the com¬ of the structure. During later years the interior of the building was changed

pany concerned. Diplomatic assistance or intervention was deemed undesirable. considerably; it got a concrete flooring, and soon the waiting space for the

It was only through Bakker s unswerving efforts that we finally succeeded. J he passengers had to be enlarged. Though after ten years the Hato passenger ter¬

old President of the Republic, General Juan Vincente Gomez, was ill most of minal may seem rather primitive, and though it is not providing all desired

the time and without his personal approval little could be achieved in that facilities, it still fulfills modest requirements, and is a cool and agreeable spot

period of autocratic government in Venezuela. It was not until the end of 1936 which attracts many visitors under its high roof. In this way it has substantially

that KLM s contract with Venezuela was finally granted. More about that will contributed to further the air-mindedness of the residents of Curacao—because

appear in the following pages. when the people see them flying, they want to fly.

Governor Van Slobbe

presents crew with
Royal decoration

First landing on
the beach on Aruba,
December 23, 1954
 7
Curacao takes to the air Part of Messrs. Maduro s office was put at the disposal of KLM’s staff, which
enjoyed that hospitality until 1938. In that year the head office personnel had
After two weeks of hard work for the small technical staff the SNIP looked
been increased so much that it was necessary to move to larger quarters.
spic and span again. Most of the people of Curacao had never been in the air
and, following the example of the KLM in Holland where short joy flights As mentioned before, the negotiations with the Venezuelan Government

offered at a low price induced many people to get acquainted with the modern took much more time than expected. Moreover it was thought better to wait with

means of transportation, day after day the SNIP took the air for short trips. So the inauguration of an international service until the whole schedule no longer

we gave the inhabitants of the island the opportunity to view from aloft that depended on one single plane, reliable as it might be. But it was decided to start

quaintly shaped little spot of white coral rock which seemed to float in the clear with a simple service to Aruba, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, two round-trips

blue of the deep Caribbean waters; to locate their own houses between the each day, so that the Curacao people immediately could see the advantage of

colorful squares and narrow streets; to spot the ocean steamers, looking no the air service, to go to Aruba in the morning and return the same afternoon.

bigger than nut shells and making hardly any visible progress, and the large oil The same excursion by boat took three days. We advertised in the newspapers,
refinery with its thin black stacks and its hundreds of oil tanks, looking like printed posters and timetables, tickets, baggage slips, bills-of-Iading and mani¬

scattered aspirin tablets on a brown and green pillow. In a few days the SNIP fests, freight reports, reservation forms, exchange orders, and the many other

took a thousand enthusiastic passengers into the cool air and in this way created paper things that cluster around every transport organization.
a lot of prospective customers. But before inaugurating the service KLM wanted to take the opportunity of

In the meantime the commercial preparations for a regular service to Aruba becoming a little better known in Venezuela, to the authorities in that country

were taken in hand. Bouman and his assistant, Jan Koot, closely cooperated and also to the rather large Dutch colonies residing in Maracaibo and the

with Messrs. S. E. L. Maduro, the well known shipping and banking firm at neighborhood where the crude oil comes from. So a flying trip to Venezuela’s

Curacao, with whom KLM made an agreement to sell tickets and care for the most important cities, Maracaibo, Maracay and Caracas, was planned.

handling of passengers, mail and express. For the same purpose John Eman’s Besides the crew and Bouman the SNIP carried as a passenger Mr.
Aruba Trading Company was appointed KLM’s agent in Aruba. KLM wishes Horacio Leyba, the Venezuelan Consul in Curacao. On January 13, 1935 the
to pay full tribute to both these firms; they spared no time in getting the young SNIP took the air and after a two hours’ flight Hondong landed his ship on the
branch on its feet and they substantially contributed to KLM’s early success. wide grassy airfield of Maracaibo, where the Dutch residents were assembled.
«{i8 y
They were received later by the Governor of the State Zulia, General M. Perez authorities were invited. On that occasion it became known that the President
Soto, and in the Club of tbe Shell Company a big party was given that lasted of the Republic had conferred upon Hondong and his men the Order of Simon
until the early morning hours. Next day the SNIP was off to Maracay, the resi¬ Bolivar, in appreciation of their contribution to the development of aviation.
dential town of General Gomez, picturesquely situated near the Valencia Lake, The awarding of these decorations occurred during a simple ceremony in the
with its Indian monuments at the foot of the mighty Andes range. The party Netherlands Embassy. The joyful stay in Caracas was topped off by a delight¬
unexpectedly found the luxurious Hotel Jardin a very pleasant place for dinner ful party offered by the Netherlands colony in the well-known Suiza Club.
and dancing, and Mr. Bakker had taken care that they would spend the evening On the 17th the SNIP was back in Curacao. Excursions and parties were
in most agreeable company, among whom were the chiefs of the military and over^-the real business could start now.
civil aviation in Venezuela, including a Frenchman, Mr. Guerin, a veteran pilot
himself, who at that time managed the Aeropostal Venezolana. Mr. and Mrs.
Guerin showed that they liked to share with others their excellent stock of dry
French champagne; and every member of the crew will remember that kind
gentleman, Senor Don Juan Paris and even better his charming daughters, who
did so much to make this short visit to Venezuela an unforgettable event.
Next day the SNIP again roared over the Andes toward La Guaira, a
picturesque but hot and dusty place on the north coast. The capital of Vene¬
zuela, Caracas, has no airport. To reach the city from La Guaira you always
have to take an hour’s thrilling ride over the winding concrete road from La
Guaira to Caracas. This city lies in a lush green valley at a height of 3000 feet,
but the motor road reaches an altitude of nearly 4000 feet. 1 his road is a beauti¬
ful example of skillful engineering; you only lose the appreciation of the ride if
you do it a dozen times in a short period. At any rate, the crew enjoyed it. That
same night His Excellency, the Netherlands Ambassador, arranged a reception
for the crew to which all foreign ambassadors, charges d’affairs, military and civil

The SNIP on La Guaira airfield, January 15,1955 Many friends to welcome Hondong at La Guaira, January 15, 1955 Ticket and customs counter in first hangar at Hato, Apr\
 dl9f

cerning the West Indies operations was printed in Engl ish, Netherlands and
Spanish languages; later, to encourage the people of Curacao to visit Aruba
and vice versa, week-end round-trips were issued, which included tickets for
KLM s first regular service is opened lodging and meals in the respective hotels.
From a purely operational standpoint the year 1935 was not very exciting.
In the morning of January 19th the SNIP stood ready for its first flight in
It was a period of preparation, of building up an organization in view of plans
regular service to Aruba. Governor Van Slobbe and a few authorities had ac¬
for the future.
cepted KLM’s invitation to be the first passengers from Curacao to Aruba.
For the afternoon trip many passengers had been boohed; some of them had
flown in various parts of the world, and had been in KLM planes in Europe
Plans for expansion
and Asia. They were the veterans, who considered the 80-mile trip to Aruba As mentioned before, KLM s first endeavor was to create connections with
hardly worth mentioning. But the majority of the passengers were “freshmen," Venezuela. The Cumarebo plan was dropped, as it was soon learned that a direct
who never had set foot in a plane. Some said goodbye to their tearful families service, Curacao-Aruba-Maracaibo, would provide better facilities for the
in a way that made you think they were leaving on an Arctic expedition. KLM’s traveling public and promised better financial results.
passengers were a true image of the crowd you found in Curacao streets and As the next step we planned a regular service to La Guaira; at that time,
stores, in its restaurants and hotels. There were Dutchmen of all colors, white, however, traffic between Curacao and La Guaira was much less than between
brown and black; Americans and Englishmen, Venezuelans, Colombians, Curacao and Maracaibo. It was nevertheless thought that tourist traffic to Cara¬
Germans, Swedes, Syrians, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and many others. We cas could be developed for people from Curacao and Aruba who wanted to
started with distributing publicity material received from Holland, and in this spend a few days in that cool mountain region of Venezuela. The complicated
way drew attention to the fact that KLM was not a small local enterprise, but immigration regulations and the high standard of living in Venezuela were a
a large company with lines practically all over the world. A special folder con- handicap in this respect.

On the road between

La Guaira and Caracas

The Netherlands Minister in Caracas, H.E. d’Artillac Brill, deco¬ In front of the Netherlands Legation in Caracas, after ceremony; 1st row:
rates crew of SNIP with Order of Simon Bolivar, January 15, Stolk, Hondong, Van Balkom, Van der Molen; 2nd row: Consul Leyba, H. E.
1955 d’Artillac Brill, Mrs. d’Artillac Brill, Bouman
 One of KLM’s other projects was to extend the service westward to Barran-
quilla, the main port of the Republic of Colombia, situated 250 miles west of
Maracaibo, as early as possible. This, however, could be done only after two
conditions had been fulfilled. First, more equipment and personnel were needed
to add that many miles to our schedule; and second, the airfield near Bar-
ranquilla should be completed. Barranquilla at the time had only a water
base from which they operated with seaplanes up the river and with amphibians
to land airports farther in the interior. There had been a tiny landing field near
Soledad which SCADTA was planning to convert into a modern airport; but
no action had yet been taken.
In 1955 Barranquilla was a very important air junction. Southward
SCADTA operated frequent schedules connecting many important cities in
Colombia, and Pan American ran a twice-weekly service from Barranquilla via
Kingston to Miami. Moreover, they connected Barranquilla westward with
Panama and other cities in Central America.
By creating a connection from Curacao to Barranquilla on the right day, it
would be possible to reach the U. S. A. from Curacao in one and a half days.
In 1955 there was a worthwhile flow of local passenger traffic by boat between
Curacao and Barranquilla, so that the prospects for an air connection seemed
Governor Van Slobbe first passenger on scheduled service to Aruba, January 19, 1955 favorable. However, due to some circumstances which KLM found it difficult
to trace, after 1955 the local traffic between Curacao and Colombia dropped
considerably and never recovered fully to its previous level. The Curacao-
Barranquilla air service as a result remained rather far behind expectations
Start for the first scheduled trip to Aruba, January 19, 1955
in the early years of operations in the Caribbean.

To the east the same difficulties were met with regard to ground facilities.
KLM wanted to expand in that direction, first to the British Island of Trin idad,
about 550 miles from Curacao. The capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain, is a busy
shipping and aviation center, but, as with Barranquilla, there was only a water
base of Pan American Airways. Trinidad was an overnight stop ol the PAA
Clipper from Miami going down south along the coast as far as Buenos Aires
and to the north to Miami. It is understandable that a connection with PAA at
that point would create many new possibilities. Shortly after the SNIP s arrival
in Curacao KLM contacted the authorities in Trinidad in connection with this
matter, and most valuable assistance was rendered by Mr. J. F. Salazar,
called “Chico” by everybody who knew him longer than two hours. 1 his
friendly gentleman had been local agent of the Royal Netherlands Steamship
Company for many years and through his excellent relations on the island and
his personal enthusiasm for the promotion of KLM s interests, contributed
greatly to the success of our business in Trinidad. It was discovered that sixteen
miles from Port of Spain, on a sandy savannah near a village called Piarco, the
French Aeropostale several years before had started the building of a runway
and had laid out a drainage system, which however proved to be entirely insuffi¬
cient to cope with the torrential rainfall one encounters in Trinidad in the wet
season.

It wasn t until four years later that KLIM was able to inaugurate a regular
service to Trinidad, and even then they often had difficulties with the condi¬
tion of the field.

It should be pointed out here that KLMi s position in the West Indies was in
many respects different from other companies working in that region. At that
time the enterprise was only a side-line of limited scope. It was purely an experi¬
ment and therefore the KLM Management could not afford to spend large sums
of money for the construction of airfields, buildings and other non-transferrable
facilities, especially for those on non-Dutch territory. It should be remembered
that in Europe, to a great extent in the LJ. S. A. and in Asia, we were accustomed
lo the circumstance that the construction of airports, administration buildings,
weather and radio facilities are paid for and maintained by the respective gov¬
ernments or municipalities, the airlines paying only a certain fixed rate for
their use. Such a system involves no outlay of capital on the part of the airlines
and induces them to open experimental routes. In the West Indies and South
America conditions appeared to be quite different. It cost KLM much of its
oratory talent and time to convince the authorities that it is only proper and in
the end to the benefit of the countries themselves, that the commercial airports
and their accessories are nationally owned; these facilities should not be in Hooiberg, (hay stack), Aruba's highest mountain
private hands, let alone be owned by foreigners.
Another point in the Caribbean in which KLM was much interested was
the Island of Barbados. Barbados, 200 miles northeast of Trinidad, was the first
point of call for several transatlantic shipping lines and up to this time had had
no air service, notwithstanding a population of nearly 400,000 and its trade
importance. T he main reason for that was that Barbados does not possess a
roadstead sufficiently sheltered to allow flying boats to land and take off without
risk. Many months during the year there is a strong swell near the coast. PAA
at that time operated in the neighborhood with flying boats only and therefore,
even if they might have been interested in opening a line, they had no place to
land. As mentioned before KLM intended to operate its schedules with Iand-
planes, so that the establishment of a I rinidad-Barbados connection depended
on the availability of a serviceable airport on the island. The selection of a
suitable site was not an easy task. As far back as 1935 KLM’s representatives
had many talks on the subject with the authorities and various land-owners and

Complete staff in June 1935, before Van Balkom's return to Holland. Seated,
l to r.: Mrs. Van Duuren (sec'y), Root (ass’t Mgr.), Capt. Van Balkom,

4U
Bouman (West Indies Mgr.), Van der Molen (radio-op.), Capt. Verhoeven,
Miss Salas (stenog.); standing, l. to r.: Van Haaren (radio-op.). Dill (pilot),
Hartog (engr.), Stolk (chief engr.), Plesman (engr.), Fernandez (passenger
agent), Alexander (bus driver), Coffie (cleaner)
i 22 y
made many exploratory trips over the island. The character of the soil and the Captain Hondong went back to Holland in March 1935. He had had a bad
geological formation of the island appeared to present various unexpected attack of malaria; moreover it never had been contemplated to keep a veteran
difficulties. pilot of his experience permanently in the West Indies where, for the time being,
there were only short routes to fly in almost constantly excellent weather con¬
It needs no explanation as to why an eye was cast on Paramaribo. 1 hough
ditions. Hondong s return over the Atlantic by boat was almost more hazardous
Curacao and Paramaribo in normal times had only few economic ties it was
than his westward trip on the SNIP. The ship in which he was traveling was
felt that the air connection between the two Netherlands countries in America
hit by a terrific gale and a mammoth wave washing over the vessel almost turned
was a thing that had to be accomplished. In any case this service had to be
it over. The doors of the smoking-room on the upper deck crashed in, most of the
firmly established before our principal object, the mid-Atlantic service between
furniture was smashed and swept overboard. Hondong and the very few of his
Amsterdam and Curacao, via Paramaribo, could be realized. The airport prob¬
fellow passengers who still could hang onto their cigars, attached themselves
lem in Surinam had not yet been definitely solved. The Zandery field was very
to some banisters and thus were prevented from being tossed overboard in the
far from town, but it was almost an airport created by God. Seldom could be
same manner as the smoking-room chairs and other furniture.
found anywhere a site of such ample size, with such favorable soil conditions
and such unobstructed surroundings, and that consequently required so little Liaison with the Home office
work to convert it into a first-class airport.
After Bouman’s departure for the West Indies to become the first Manager
On the map on which KLM’s projected lines were drawn there already ap¬ in Curacao, the Special Operations Department in the home office in The Hague
peared a dotted line from Curacao pointing sharp north to Haiti. There was a had been taken over by Mr. H. Duymaer van Twist. T his department served as
rather small airfield near the capital, Port au Prince. It was in use by PAA. On the liaison office between the Curacao operations center and the Management
the map a very thin line projected to the northwest more than a thousand miles in Holland from 1934 until the occupation of the country by the Germans.
farther to Miami. However, that looked very far away in the spring of 1935, Duymaer s perfect understanding of the situation and tactful handling of all
when there was only one plane, another of the same type on the way to Curacao affairs concerning the West Indies contributed largely to creating a state of
by boat and, altogether, an organization of sixteen people, baggage boys and sincere mutual confidence and pleasant cooperation between the home office
bus drivers included. and the Curacao Management.

Difficult transport of the OEHOE from dock to Hato, June 12, 1935 The two main parts of the OEHOE on Hato. Construction of second hangar just started
 From Holland the KLM Management sent some younger men to replace
fares in the Caribbean. Even at a 20% lower price than that of a steamship
the crew of the SNIP, because those veterans were more urgently required for the
ticket, KLM would charge a higher rate per mile in the West Indies than they
long Amsterdam-Batavia line. Successively there arrived a pilot, Th. Verhoeven,
were accustomed to collecting in Europe. Of course expenses were higher too,
who, after Van Balkom departed in June 1935, became senior pilot. Verhoeven,
but still there was a rather wide margin. However, it never had been the policy
a conscientious and capable aviator, had an active share in the pioneering work
of KLM to induce a fare-war with other bona fide transportation companies
and in the organization of KLM’s first lines in the West Indies.
and soon, under guidance of the Government, an agreement covering the fares
J. Dill, also a pilot, arrived a little later but did not stay long, departing in
was established. One complication arose because the shipping companies based
the early part of the next year. In his place in December an American pilot,
their fares only partially on actual miles travelled; they took into account a
A. J. Viccellio, was engaged; in 1934 he was the pilot-engineer-dispatcher and
multitude of other conditions as well. For instance, the steamship fare between
maintenance man of a small Loening amphibian with which a garage owner in
J rinidad and Barbados was only 70% of the fare between Curacao and Aruba,
Aruba, not very successfully from a financial standpoint, tried to operate a
whereas the distance was three times larger; this was equivalent to about one-
regular air service from Aruba to Curacao. Viccellio stayed with KLM until
fourth of the rate per mile. There were several other examples, but finally an
September 1940; at that time he felt that he could better serve his own country
agreement that covered practically all possible routes in the Caribbean was
by accepting a job in the U. S. A. He was a very cautious and able pilot and we
reached to the satisfaction of all parties, including our customers.
were sorry to see him go.
In May engineer Stolk was replaced by Jan den Hartog, who remained in
charge of the maintenance department until 1939. Under Hartog’s leadership
the technical department expanded considerably; his pride, that no flight ever
More hangar space needed
had to be cancelled for technical reasons, was fully justified.
The successor to radio operator Van der Molen was Mr. R. van Haaren, a A condition that needed improvement was the housing of the planes. That is

very skilled radio man as well as an able electrical engineer, who, up to this day, to say, as soon as KLM decided to send over a second plane of the same type,

is in charge of the since tremendously grown radio department. We were very an increase of hangar space became urgent. The Government of Curacao

glad that after h is first vacation in 1939 Van Haaren returned to Curacao; allowed a substantial sum of money for the construction of a suitable hangar of

he has become one of KLM s West Indies most popular veterans. We wish to sufficient dimensions to house three planes of the size of the SNIP.

mention also an apprentice-mechanic, H. Bak, who was engaged in those early The original hangar, that only partly sheltered the SNIP, was gradually

days, and who gradually worked his way up to a fully qualified flight-engineer. taken over for use as a passenger station, though the arrangements were made in

When after only a short period it appeared that the air service between such a way that one plane could always be stored in it in case of necessity.

Curacao and Aruba was going to be a success, various steps in connection with On the Curacao Islands there is a condition which requires much extra pre¬

the expansion of KLM s organization in Curacao became necessary. The caution on the part of KLM s technical department. The main substance of the

remarkable fact, which after all was no surprise to the people with confidence soil is a volcanic rock called diabase. Mixed with water or vapor diabase has

in aviation s future, was that, though after the inauguration of this line the an acid reaction. The engineers soon found that this tended to cause corrosion

number of passengers by boat decreased slightly, the total number of people of the metal of the planes. It is a well known fact that automobiles have but

traveling between the two islands increased sharply. This is clearly demon¬ a short life in Curacao because of this malicious condition. Many two-year-old

strated by the following figures: in 1934, before KLM came to Curacao, the cars could be seen driving around with fenders like sieves.

number of boat passengers between Curacao and Aruba was 2625. In 1935 Curacao’s Government engineers feared that this influence might also affect

the number traveling by boat decreased to 1611, but 2659 took the plane, a total the metal hangar structure and it thus was decided to make the main beams of

between the islands of 4270, or 63% increase. the new hangar of laminated wood, which at the time was very popular in
Holland. The main span of the new hangar was 165 feet and its door-opening
measured 130 x 22 feet. In the rear there were some simple workshops, dressing
Fare policy
rooms and showers for the personnel and a stockroom. An asphalt concrete
A fact that contributed to the popularity of the air service was the matter of platform was built in front of both buildings and so gradually, toward the end
fares. The steamship companies always had maintained comparatively high of 1935, Hato began to look like a real airport.
 Due to the steady direction of the trade winds the field in the beginning ning with the same letter of the alphabet as the last one of its international

required only one landing strip, about 2500 feet long and 200 feet wide. For the registration mark. When the OEHOE arrived in Curacao the first time there

Fokkers witb their short take-off runs and low landing speed this was considered were some people who seemed to be a little hesitant about flying in it. Tbe

sufficient. OEHOE, or ‘‘Owl, you know, is not a symbol of wisdom but an omen of
bad-luck witb some of tbe old Caribbean Indian tribes and, when tbe OEHOE
In the beginning the personnel was transported between city and airport
ignominiously stood on its nose, though nobody was hurt, tbe same people said:
in a very old and noisy passenger car, but gradually as it became necessary to
There you are; 1 thought something would happen witb that plane. That is
provide transportation for the passengers, a second-band Chevrolet bus was
why tbe OEHOE s name was changed to ORIOL, and after that tbis bird
purchased, which served us for several years.
became as popular as tbe faithful SNIP.
The bad condition of the dirt road between the town and the airport short¬
Aruba s new airfield bad been completed during tbe first half of 1955. It
ened the life of all motor equipment considerably; in the rainy season it hap¬
also consisted of a single strip, rather short, only 2000 feet long and about 600
pened more than once that our field tractor had to come to the rescue and drag
feet wide. It would have been a difficult and expensive undertaking to build a
the bus out of a slippery mud-hole.
longer runway in Aruba. Much later, in 1945, under tbe pressure of tbe war,
As mentioned above the favorable prospects for development in the West
tbis was accomplished. Since in 1955 tbe Government could not provide tbe
Indies were soon realized by the KLM Management in Tbe Hague, and a
money for a station building, KLM decided to undertake that itself and after a
second F-18, PJ-AIO, or OEHOE (pronounced “Ub uh”), named after a
few months a nice little building was completed. It was planned in such a way
species of owl, was dismantled, carefully greased, wrapped in burlap and sent to
that it later could be extended in tbe event tbe traffic flow demanded more space.
Curacao by freight. The OEHOE arrived in Curacao on July 10th, 1955 and
Tbis condition arose very shortly afterwards and within a year tbe floor space of
with tbe skillful assistance of Shell Oil Company s stevedoring department was
tbe building was enlarged to almost twice its original size. Tbe cool bar in that
put on trolleys, one for tbe fuselage and one for tbe wing. The transportation of
building also proved to be a point of interest and attracted tbe many people who
these parts over the then narrow dirt road to Hato, via some sharp curves, was
sped along tbe field in their cars between Oranjestad, tbe capital of the Island,
quite an achievement, but finally they arrived safely. After two weeks of hard
and St. Nicbolaas, tbe oil town at its eastern end.
work by chief engineer Hartog and his small but zealous technical staff, the
OEHOE was ready to fly. Pilot Verhoeven took her up for a test flight and
KLM s people in Curacao were quite proud of their two F-18s; they felt much Venezuela contract still pending
safer with a spare plane. LJnfortunately tbis didn t last very long. Early in
August, just after starting bis engines to leave Aruba, tbe junior pilot, wholly The schedule remained fundamentally tbe same all through tbe year. Be¬

inexplicably, did something wrong, witb tbe result that tbe proud OEHOE, cause of tbe increased demand for space two more services were added, so that

witb quite some speed, threw its tail high into tbe air, and plowed its nose into there were now six scheduled flights a week between Curacao and Aruba. Later

tbe rocky soil of tbe Aruba runway. Tbe wings and the engines fortunately were tbis was reduced to five but a service on Saturdays was included to promote

intact, but tbe nose and tbe front motor were severely cracked up. The damage, week-end trips, a novel feature for tbe people of those islands. Tbe planned

after careful examination, appeared to be such that engineer Hartog considered extension to Venezuela, however, was still impossible. J be progress witb our

repairs in Aruba or Curacao impossible and we had to ship the fuselage all coveted contract was very slow, notwithstanding long and amiable conferences

the way back to KLM s main repair base in Amsterdam. The wings were kept in witb tbe authorities. At tbe end of 1955 Bakker and our able lawyer in Vene¬

Aruba under an ingeniously constructed shelter. Unfortunately this incident zuela, Dr. Enrique Hermoso Dominquez, expected an early agreement, but
then came tbe sudden death of President Gomez, followed by a relatively
compelled us to suspend the Curacao-Aruba service completely for ten days;
calm revolution. Anyway, most members of tbe Gomez Government bad to
the SNIP had just been taken in the workshop for a complete overhaul; tbis
resign, new officials stepped in. That meant that we practically bad to start
job bad to be rushed in order to avoid a long delay in tbe resumption of tbe
negotiations all over again. Tbe whole matter was complicated by tbe fact that
schedule. It was November 1955 before t he repaired fuselage was back in Aruba,
at first civil aviation affairs were managed by tbe Departemento de bomento;
and a week later the plane took the air again. It has never failed us since that
a few months later they were transferred to tbe newly created Departemento
time. There was, however, one difference; the ship had been renamed ORIOL,
de Communicaciones; consequently we bad to deal witli new Ministers and
clinging to KLM’s tradition of giving all its planes the name of a bird, begin¬
 I

*{25f

other officials. I his department changed its Ministers three times in five sified articles; there were regular shipments of newspapers, movie films, and
months^-not a condition conducive to expeditious settling of matters. Though during a few months even fresh fish!
these people were all helpful and willing to speed up our affairs, there were so
On December 31st the entire personnel numbered sixteen people; nine had
many changes in their own organization that we at times became desperate.
come over from Holland, the others had been engaged locally.
However, Bakker’s spirit tided us over even the crucial moment, when every¬
thing seemed settled, and the control of commercial aviation was shifted from
Communicaciones to Guerra or War department. At that time the Minister of
War was Col. Isaias Medina, now President of the Republic. KLM always will
be thankful for the cooperation received from the Departemento de Guerra,
not only from Col. Medina himself, but from his subordinate officials as well.

Photographic work
Following the example of the photographic department in Holland, KLM
tried to obtain orders for air photographs. A series of air views was delivered to
the Curacao Government, as well as to several private companies, mostly for
publicity purposes. 1 he lack of specialized personnel and equipment, however,
prevented us from accepting orders for aerial survey work on a large scale.

Traffic results in 1935

In the first year of operations, 1935, KLM carried between Curacao and
Aruba 2,659 revenue passengers; for the greater part of the year we operated
with only one plane, which Hew a total of 40,690 miles and made 471 trips be¬
tween the two islands. The number of passenger miles in that year was 216,000;
the freight and excess baggage carried amounted to 18,761 pounds, and we also
carried a total of 675 pounds of airmail. I he freight consisted of the most diver-

Hangar No.
2 is gradual¬
ly proceed¬
ing, August
1935

KLM station
building at
Aruba air¬
port,Septem¬
ber 1935

i
 Special flights to Coro
Late in 1935 inquiries were received from the KLM agent in Coro, a little
harbor town not far from Cumarebo. Apparently the inhabitants of Coro, be¬
cause they had practically no means of communication other than by coastal
schooners, were interested in flying over to Curacao to shop in the well-stocked
Willemstad stores. The formalities to obtain permission for a limited number
of special flights, in conformity with Venezuelan air laws, were very simple
as compared with those for a permanent concession. Soon thereafter the SNIP
and the ORIOL made several trips to Coro, entirely filled with local residents
who, on the return trip, were loaded with their newly acquired purchases. The
willingness of the Venezuelan Government to grant permission for these flights,
even when they became frequent, led us to apply for permits for special trips
twice a week from Curacao to Maracaibo. Of course a specific application had
to be made for every flight, about a month in advance, but this finally became
The SNIP flying over Willemstad, Curacao
such a routine procedure that, as of July 1st, 1936, KLM felt justified in boldly
announcing a regular twice-weekly service between Curacao and Maracaibo.

Regular service to Maracaibo

Thus KLM’s first international service in the West Indies came into being.
The schedule from then on showed three purely local round-trips between
Curacao and Aruba and two services, Curacao-Aruba-Maracaibo and back
each week. The activities in Maracaibo in connection with passenger ticket
sales and dispatch were undertaken by the agency of the Royal Netherlands
Steamship Company, which had at its disposal the necessary office facilities
and sufficient personnel, fully acquainted with the rather intricate customs
and immigration formalities in Venezuela. Most of the time this office, since
KLM has maintained a service to Maracaibo, has been under the supervision
of Mr. D. van der Kaay, who deserves great credit for the manner in which he
always handled KLM s business in Maracaibo. Besides that we appointed in
Maracaibo our own station manager, Mr. Herbert howler, who served the com¬
pany for many years and whose pleasing personality made him most popular
with our passengers. He had the advantage of having been born in Venezuela,
of having had part of his education in the United States and part in the Nether¬
lands, so that he spoke those three languages fluently.

The principal town of Aruba, Oranjestad

 In April 1936 an agents’ instruction book for tbe West Indies was published,
containing a general resume of everything agents in that territory should know
about the organization of KLM, the dispatch and handling of the planes, tickets,
reservations, etc., etc. The compilation of all such details, especially when it has
to be done for the first time, requires a lot of patience and devotion on the part
of its authors.
It was about the same time, to our great rejoicing, that we were notified that
the proposed contract with Venezuela had been approved by that Government
and that it had only to go before the Congress for ratification, a matter considered
to be a mere formality. This “formality ’ however, took several months and it
was not until December 19, 1936, after some controversial questions had
been ironed out, that the contract was finally declared in force. A new edition
of the Venezuelan Air Law, published in the second half of the year, obliged us
to make last minute revisions in the agreement, just at a moment when it was
thought the contract was in its final form.

Relations with Haiti

In the same year of 1936 KLM scored another diplomatic success, though
the practical results became apparent only several years later. It has already been
mentioned that KLM was considering a service from Curacao, straight north The second hangar is completed. In front the two Fokker planes SNIP and ORIOL,
across the Caribbean to Haiti. Recalling the rather long-delayed progress in June 1936
Venezuela it was deemed advisable to start negotiations with the Haitian Gov¬
ernment as early as possible, so that KLM would be in possession of the desired
concession as soon as sufficient equipment and personnel became available.
This was expected to be the case at the end of 1937.
In Curacao we had made the acquaintance of Mr. Ernesto Martyn, head of
one of Curacao’s most successful private business concerns. Mr. Martyn was
Consul-General of Haiti in Curacao; he had excellent connections in that coun¬
try. With the existing contract between PA A and the Haitian Government as a
guide and the assistance of a well known lawyer in that place, Bouman, on a
visit to Port au Prince, drafted a contract for KLM. Martyn introduced Bou¬
man personally to the President, to all members of the Cabinet and many other
officials who had to do with civil aviation. These discussions resulted in the
filing of an official application the following day and, believe it or not, only a
few weeks later, on August 7, 1936, the contract was approved by Parliament.
This agreement, however, contained a clause, understandable from the view¬
point of the Haitian Government, that they would be entitled to revoke the

KLM staff in Curacao in March 1936: 1st row: Traffic Mgr. Beaujon, pilot
Viccellio, Capt. Verhoeven, Bouman, Root, chief-engr. Hartog, Miss Salas;
2nd row: Coffie, Alexander, flight-engr. H. Plesman, Van Haaren, C. Plesmam
clerk A. Polvliet, waiter De Windt, baggage boy Castro
permission granted for the service in case KLM did not actually start its airline it was decided that Bouman should go back to the home office of KLM in The

within two years. Not being able to inaugurate the service in 1958 the conces¬ Hague to discuss future developments with the Management. A decision had

sion was renewed for another period of two years. When this term expired to be made in connection with the purchase of new equipment for the West

Holland had become a belligerent, and the Haitian Government did not deem it Indies, with due regard to the fact that still several of the places which KLM

desirable to extend the agreement at that time. Nevertheless KLM s friendly wished to include in its schedule had no airfields, only seaplane facilities.

relations with Haiti were very useful, for at any time when new equipment was The next extension which KLM planned, to the British West Indies, had to be

ferried over from the United States, we would always be assured of a permit to taken up with the Air Ministry in London. And in the future loomed the prob¬

make an intermediate landing at the airport of Port au Prince. ability of the establishment of the Atlantic air service from Amsterdam, via
Lisbon and the Cape Verde Islands, to Paramaribo and Curacao.
In March 1956 another technician came from Holland, Mr. H. C. Plesman,
brother of Kees Plesman who was already in Curacao when the SNIP arrived. Bouman left Curacao in August 1956; during his absence the management

As a flight engineer Henk Plesman made hundreds of flights over the Caribbean, of the West Indies section was taken over by Mr. H. Steensma, one of the

and with his colleagues he often worked for many hours at night, after returning Netherlands’ first naval pilots and an aircraft engineer from the earliest days of

from his trips, to have the equipment ready for the next morning. He is one of military aviation in Holland.

those conscientious and reliable fellows on whom so much depends for the
regular operation of an air service. He is still in Curacao and for the benefit of Bonaire gets an airfield
the West Indies section it is hoped he will remain there for a long time. In the course of 1956 the projected airfield on the third island of the group,
In April Mr. H. Garschagen arrived, who was appointed Station Manager Bonaire, was completed. At that time we could not visualize that only a few
in Aruba. Later he temporarily succeeded Fowler in Maracaibo. Eventually he years later, mainly due to the war conditions, there would be a regular service
became assistant-representative in Port of Spain. several times a week to an island where, in 1956, only half a dozen white families
In that same period the negotiations with the Governments of 1 rinidad and and a few thousand natives lived their simple lives. However, the presence of
Barbados were resumed. For the final decision these matters had to be referred the airport in Bonaire proved most useful several times in 1956. Shortly after
to the British Government through the regular diplomatic channels. The decision its completion the SNIP carried a very sick man from the small local hospi¬

came in 1957. tal to Curacao for an emergency operation; later, on three or four other occasions,
a life was saved because of this rapid transportation, which made it possible to
Cooperating wi th PAA get a patient from his bed in Bonaire to an operating table in Curacao in barely
As soon as the service was extended to Venezuela the connection with Pan an hour.
American Airlines, especially in view of a fast air through-service to and from
the United States, became important. Of course there were many matters, such
Traffic results in 1936
as the use of exchange orders, manifests, the through dispatch of airmail, mutual
In 1956 a total of 5491 passengers was carried, of which 2857 travelled be¬
publicity, and so forth which had to be settled with that company; for this pur¬
tween Curacao and Aruba and 564 between Curacao and Maracaibo, during
pose Bouman had already, early in 1955, been at PAAs head office in New
the six months that the latter service was in operation. On special flights to and
York to discuss such matters. Another subject demanding consideration was
from Coro travelled no less than 250 passengers; to and from Bonaire 112. 1 he
the use of the airfield Maiquetia in La Guaira which, contrary to the field
number of passenger miles increased to 525,000; freight and excess baggage
Grano de Oro in Maracaibo which was owned by the Venezuelan Government,
went up considerably to 45,661 pounds, and the quantity of airmail was more
was the property of and operated by PAA. brankly speaking, the fee PAA asked
than twice that of 1955, being 1617 pounds.
from KLM for the landings on the La Guaira field seemed very high, used as
we were to different standards; but there was no other solution than to agree. In the first part of 1956 large consignments of fresh fish were again being
shipped by air from Aruba to Curacao, but in the second half of the year several
Discussions in Europe schooners plying between those two islands were specially equipped for the

After the negotiations with Venezuela had virtually been concluded and the transportation of perishable goods and from then on the dealers coidd no longer

future of the originally planned air connections from Curacao seemed assured, afford to pay the comparatively high air freight.
 -{291-

When it was discovered that the objection quite a few persons had to travel¬
duties in connection with aviation. In the first place, Commander W. Gauw,
ing by plane was the limited amount of baggage they could take with them,
Harbor Master of Curacao, a former Netherlands naval air pilot, who was
the free allowance was increased from 33 to 66 pounds. This measure proved an
charged with the control of civil aviation in Curacao, should be mentioned. We
inducement to many people to take the plane who otherwise would have chosen
believe the greatest tribute we can pay to him is to say that his “control” in the
to go by boat.
strict sense of the word was hardly perceptible. It was in fact a most helpful and
At the instigation of KLM, who consented to the lowering of the payment amiable attitude, combined with well-meant counsel. Whenever possible he
for transportation of airmail between the islands, the Government decided to smoothed the way for KLM in many difficult situations. Commander Gauw left
fix a considerably lower and more simplified postal rate; this visibly stimulated his position in Curacao in 1943, after nine years’ close association with the
the use of the airmail between the islands. West Indies section.

As yet there was only a slight increase in our aerial photography activities. We also want to mention the Directors of Public Works and their able and
Quite a number of oblique pictures were taken for publicity purposes and a hard-working deputies in Curacao and the other islands, who were responsible
large order was completed for the Eagle Oil Company of Aruba. for the construction of the airfields in Netherlands territory in the Caribbean
and the many improvements during the course of the years, the various buildings,
At the end of 1936 there were 22 people in KLM’s service in Curacao, of
hangars, roads and aprons. More than once in an emergency the construction of
which eight had been transferred from Holland. Only eight years later it would
certain projects was completed in a very short time, unbelievable to those who
be ten times as many.
are familiar with working conditions in the tropics.
It would be a grave omission should we forget to mention in our story the
KLM also owes very much to the Directors of the Government Radio Ser¬
indispensable assistance, friendly cooperation and sincere interest KLM re¬
vices in Curacao as well as in Surinam. Curacao gradually became a junction of
ceived in its early days of pioneering in the West Indies from the authorities in
various frequent airlines and it demanded great skill and devotion of the Direc¬
Curacao; to begin with the Governors during that period, first His Excellency
tor and his staff of engineers and operators to keep pace with the fast develop¬
J. van Slobbe and later His Excellency G. J. Wouters. It is hardly possible to
ment of aviation radio communication. When KLM came to Curacao the
mention all the Government Officials with whom we had to deal. Without any
conditions in this respect were primitive; from a detail which could then be
exception they were always willing to help and advise us. We feel obliged to
handled between other duties, it has become a highly specialized organization
make a few exceptions in the case of those officials especially charged with some
on which the safety and regularity of the air services entirely depend.

Original airfield on Bonaire, end of 1936 Kralendyk, Bonaire The SNIP on Bonaire for a charter flight
{3oy
During those days in Curacao there was no physician on the island who was
qualified and had the necessary special equipment at his disposal to carry out
the medical examinations required for flying personnel. An arrangement was
therefore made whereby our pilots could undergo these examinations at the
United States Army Air Base at Cristobal, in the Canal Zone. We greatly ap¬
preciated the cooperation received from all the authorities concerned with this La Guaira service started
set-up. Steensma was in charge when the final contract with Venezuela went into
effect. This enabled him to inaugurate the new La Guaira line on January 19,
There is another thing for which KLM has to thank the Curacao Govern¬
1957, exactly two years after the opening of KLM’s first service in the West
ment and especially the Colonial Council, the majority of whom are elected by
Indies. This service was operated twice weekly; at the same time the Maracaibo
the people of Curacao. Contrary to some foreign companies who operate under
service was increased to three trips per week, whereas the local Curacao-Aruba-
similar conditions, KLM has no fixed airmail contracts that will give a guarantee
Curacao service was flown five times a week, as previously. Charter flights
of a certain minimum revenue. Pioneering in airlines has always been an expen¬
were continued to Coro and Bonaire. On all lines there was a steady increase of
sive business. The Government of Curacao recognized the importance of creat¬
traffic.
ing an adequate transportation system by air. Besides taking care of the con¬
During that year there were not many changes in the staff and everything
struction of airports and quite a number of other facilities, they also appeared
moved along smoothly in expectation of the decision concerning the plans for
to appreciate the financial difficulties that KLM was encountering, particularly
the future, which were being drawn up at the home office in The Hague.
during the depression years. As the result of a request made by KLM, the Gov¬
ernment granted a subsidy of 50,000 Guilders (about $26,000) over 1956, to New planes for Curacao are ordered
absorb part of the operating loss. This subsidy was increased to 56,000 Guilders
In the spring of 1957 the Board of KLM decided to order a batch of the
in 1957 and was continued up to and including the year 1941. Since that year
then new Lockheed Superelectra twin-engine 10-passenger planes, with a
the KLM West Indies fortunately has been self-supporting.
cruising speed of 200 miles. Originally two, of a total of six to be ordered for
Later, the Surinam Government showed its interest in KLM’s developments KLM, were destined for Curacao. Later, however, when it became certain that
by granting a guaranteed minimum airmail revenue, as of the opening of the extension of the lines to Barranquilla, Trinidad and Barbados and later Para¬
direct airline between Curacao and Paramaribo in 1959. maribo would be possible, this number was increased to three. The markings

A jazz-band flies from Maracaibo to Curacao Improved passenger facilities in the station hall The enlarged station building at Aruba airport
I
m assigned to tliese planes were PJ-AIK, PJ-AIP and PJ-AIT and it was decided savannah where, as already mentioned, the French Aeropostale a few years
d3i y

| £ive them names of West Indies birds respectively: KOLIBRIE (Humming before had started but shortly afterwards abandoned the construction of a field,
Bird), PARKIET (Parakeet) and TROEPIAAL (Trupial). In the spring of offered ample possibilities for extensions. It was naturally flat and its main
1938, when these first three planes were delivered, the KLM Management length was in the direction of the prevailing winds. In view of the heavy rains
decided to send another Lockheed to Curacao, the PJ-AIM, which was chris- to be expected the drainage system would have to be improved and extended
> tenedMEEUW (Seagull). considerably. The field was covered with high, rather strong grass, which could
In the meantime various discussions took place at the British Air Ministry, withstand the wheel pressure of medium planes, provided the soil was suffi¬
in connection with the proposed service to Trinidad and Barbados. Several ciently drained. The disadvantage was the long distance from Port of Spain and
I conferences had previously been held with the Governors of those islands, the narrow road, especially the last 15 miles of the total of 24, so that a ride from
( and keen interest was shown in KLM’s plans. town took at least an hour. There were no buildings as yet on the field, no elec¬
tricity; not even a telephone line.
| Agreement with the British The Trinidad Government had already worked a long time on a far¬
j In principle an agreement was reached in February 1937; the official con- sighted plan in connection with the development of shipping facilities. Com¬
^ cession was granted on June 6th. It had been decided that the Government of bined with this plan was the construction of a modern land and sea airport, the
Barbados would construct an airport as part of its unemployment program; fur¬ field itself for the greater part created by filling up marshes with sand excavated
ther that Trinidad would develop its land airport plan and that, after com- from the new harbor. This Mucurapo plan was undoubtedly a daring project;
I pletion of these projects, KLM would be permitted to run a regular air service it would provide many facilities and be very close to the city. Its only disad¬
between Curacao and J rinidad, from Trinidad to Paramaribo and also from vantages were the limited areas available for future extensions, the long time
Trinidad to Barbados. The latter concession, however, was subject to the con- that would elapse before the soil had sufficiently settled to allow the construc¬
I dition that local traffic between the two British territories could only be carried tion of concrete runways, and its very high cost. We believe that those reasons,
hy KLM as long as no British company undertook to do this. and also the unquiet international situation which prompted the Government
to have at least one airfield completed as soon as possible, compelled the authori¬
Trinidad s airport problems ties to drop the Mucurapo project.
As regards Trinidad, for some time there had been a difference of opinion in After this decision had been taken in the beginning of 1938 the improve¬
interested circles concerning the locality of the new airport. The old Piarco ments on Piarco were taken in hand.

SNIP and ORIOL at Hato, July 1937 Flaming Flamingos on Bonaire Fresh flowers from Caracas
 1 he Chevrolet bus finally began to suffer from the bad road and old age.
It was decided to order a large new bus for transportation of the passengers, as
well as a smaller bus for personnel.

In September a new hard-paved road between town and the airport was
opened making it possible to reach Hato in 15 minutes from the center of the
city in comfort.

On Aruba the coastal radio station was originally used for communication
with the planes, but after some time it became insufficient for this purpose. A
new radio station was built near the airport. Two radio masts were erected on
lhe north side of the field and a small radio transmitter and gasoline generator
were installed in a little structure next to the station building.

At Maracaibo the Venezuelan Government constructed an excellent hangar

and not long after they started the building of a modern terminal as well as
hard-surfaced runways on the field. At the same time PAA began the improve¬
ment and extension of their field in La Guaira, which was not entirely reliable
under adverse weather conditions. Thus, at all the places where KLM regularly
landed the air fields gradually were so improved that they were usable in all
kinds of weather.

In the month of June KLM reached an agreement with PAA and the Royal
The ORIOL takes a full load for La Guaira
Netherlands Shipping Company whereby pleasure trips, partly by boat and

Additions and improvements partly by plane, were offered from Curacao to Costa Rica. Many people availed
themselves of these pleasant and inexpensive trips and thus had the opportunity
During the time Steensma was in charge in Curacao the engineering depart¬
of visiting this beautiful Central American country with its high mountains, cool
ment underwent several extensions, for which his experience in this branch was
climate and the lush vegetation, so entirely different from Curacao and Aruba.
of the greatest value.
In the summer of 1937 KLM was confronted with a disappointing decision.
In June 1937 Bouman returned to Curacao and took over the management
1 lie application to the United States Government to permit extension of the
from Steensma, who then went back to Holland. On his return trip he paid a
air service from Curacao via Haiti to Miami was rejected for the time being.’
visit to the Cape Verde Islands, with a view to the future use of these Atlantic
I liis refusal was rather unexpected, since as early as 1929 a U. S. company,
outposts for KLM’s contemplated Amsterdam-Paramaribo line.
the Pan American Airways, was allowed to land at Paramaribo, in Nether¬
Late in 1937 the passenger facilities in the original hangar on the Hato field
lands territory; moreover PAA had permission to land in Curacao and had
were considerably enlarged; gradually the airport became a favorite place for
already used that field temporarily, withdrawing only on its own initiative.
people who came for a cold drink in a cool and breezy spot and enjoyed watch¬
It wasn t until 1943, as a result of the shortage of transportation caused by the
ing the planes come and go.
war and after a general invitation from the United States Government, that
A great relief to the airport staff was the fence that was erected around the KLM was finally permitted to fly to Miami and so was allowed to set foot on
entire field. In Curacao there is a surplus of wild donkeys and goats and, heed¬ U. S. soil.
less of the roar of the plane engines those irresponsible animals seemed to be
very fond of wandering around and staying stubbornly in the center of the run¬ Colombian developments
way just when the planes intended to take off or to glide in for a landing. On the other hand, just before the end of 1936 KLM had succeeded in ob¬
Before the fence was erected the ground crews time and again had to man trucks taining permission from the Colombian Government to operate a line from
and jump into private cars to chase the beasts out of the danger zone. Th is Curacao to Barranquilla. J he old Soledad place had been converted into a
trouble was over now. very good airport.

*{ 32 b
 In view of future plans KLM wanted to make itself known to the authori¬
ties and aviation circles in Barranquilla and therefore, in August 1937 a
special flight was made to Barranquilla, the crew this time being Captain
Verhoeven, engineer Plesman and radio operator Van Haaren. Bouman joined
the party. At Soledad airport there was a hearty reception by Colombian au¬
thorities and airline officials; present also was almost the entire Netherlands col¬
ony. The crew admired the well-paved runways, the excellently planned station
building, the modern control tower, and the roomy hangar and workshops.
Again, it was like two years earlier in Venezuela—a most cordial welcome with
friendly speeches. They became acquainted with the magnificent Prado Hotel
which, they had to confess, contrasted sharply with what they were accustomed
to in Curacao. The visit lasted only a few hours, but it laid a sound foundation
for future relations with the Republic of Colombia.

During its negotiations in Colombia KLM was very ably assisted by Mr.
Pietersz, a Curacao born Dutchman, head of the Curacao Trading Company in
Colombia. He and his deputy, Mr. Van der Veen Zeppenfeldt, have done a lot
to establish KLM in that country. We would like to add here that the Curacao
Trading Company, headquarters of which were at Amsterdam until the out¬
break of the war and now at Curacao, has done everything possible to foster
KLM s interests in all places in the West Indies where this company has its The SNIP on the newly completed airfield in Barranquilla, August 1937
branches. The Management of Curacao Trading Company apparently has the
talent to pick for their local managers the most intelligent and hard-working
businessmen, upon whose cooperation KLM could always depend. Since 1937
In the last quarter of 1937 it became known that the delivery of the first
in La Guaira the Curacao Trading Company has been charged with the han¬
Lockheed could be expected by the end of February 1958. One of the first ex¬
dling of KLM’s PI anes and has fulfilled this task to our entire satisfaction. In
tensions on the program, as mentioned before, was Barranquilla.
Paramaribo it was also the Curacao Trading Company who became KLM s
agents and had a big share in its development in that territory. Their Manager,
KLM would have liked to include Trinidad and Barbados as well, but the
Mr. C. P. de Graaf, from the very beginning was an enthusiastic promoter
improvement of Piarco, though well on its way, took time. The progress on the
of commercial aviation and of KLM in particular. Much later, when KLM
spot selected for the Barbados airport, Seawell, was rather slow, which was
opened a service to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, it
mainly due to the fact that it was part of the Government s unemployment
again was the Curacao Trading Company who looked after its interests.
program; in order to make it as beneficial as possible to a great number of people,
Another valued concession, which will be of the greatest importance to the plan called for the grading and all other work to be done exclusively by
KLM’s future development, was also authorized in 1937. That was the per¬ hand and mule cart. It can be understood that it takes quite some time to level
mission of the Portuguese Government to establish a service from Holland via four 5,000 feet long and 280 feet wide runways. Countless depressions and holes
Lisbon and the Cape Verde Islands to Paramaribo. In January of that year Mr. caused by crevices in the rock, often 60 to 100 feet in diameter and up to 10 feet
Reyers of KLM’s foreign department, together with Mr. Bouman, had paid a deep, had to be filled with small pieces of rock which had to be brought from
visit to Lisbon and discussed KLM’s projects with the Portuguese authorities; other parts of the field, in some instances half a mile away. Fortunately, by
later Mr. Steensma visited Portugal too. For this purpose further negotiations applying more modern methods, the pace was accelerated later.
followed, and it was not long before official permission was granted. So, with
ihe exception of the Miami disappointment, the year 1937 brought to KLM I wo young but experienced pilots were assigned for duty in the West Indies.
several potentialities needed for the realization of its objectives in the West. I he first was Carl Rupplin, who arrived in October 1937, and a little later

*( 33 b
 Pieter Andre de la Porte, who came in December of that year. Rupplin was and 600 Britishers. More than 100 were Polish, French or German. The airnet
sent over in a burry because of the illness of Captain Verboeven. The latter’s now measured 437 miles as against 254 miles in 1936 and 81 miles in 1935. The
designated term was not entirely over, but be bad unfortunately contracted a bad number of miles flown as well as the figure for the passenger miles sold both
infection in bis leg and the doctors ordered him to rest for more than a month, more than doubled to 142,970 and 826,000; freight and excess baggage increased
after which they advised him to leave the tropics as soon as possible. We were to 89,366 pounds. The greatest rise proportionately was in the airmail carried,
sorry to see Verboeven go. For several weeks pilot Viccellio bad to fly the com¬ as a result of improved connections with the U. S. It was more than four times
plete schedule alone and be executed the job admirably. Another skilled engi¬ the quantity in 1936 and amounted to 6,846 pounds. A great variety of mer¬
neer also arrived from Holland, Mr. P. J. Slimmers, followed shortly afterwards chandise was hauled between the various stations. Between Curacao and Aruba
by I. van l Riet. Earlier in the year another radio operator, Mr. Spanjaard, had newspapers played a big part. From the cool mountain regions of Venezuela
joined the flying staff. These three men are still in Curacao; they belong to the fresh cut flowers were sent to Curacao in increasing quantities.
real old-timers of the West Indies section. On the last day of 1937 a third plane arrived in Curacao by boat. This twin-
In September 1937 the first professional accountant in Curacao had arrived engine Fokker F-8 transport, which, equipped for twelve passengers, had rend¬
from Holland, Mr. L. C. Zonruiter, who since has been in charge of the financial ered faithful service for many years on the Amsterdam-London line, had been
and personnel departments. In these capacities Zonruiter has constantly been converted into a photographic laboratory. KLM, due to its long experience with
the ' ri ght-Ii and of the General Manager; his skill and devotion have contrib¬ aerial survey work, had secured an important order on behalf of the oil develop¬
uted much to the efficiency of the West Indies division. Zonruiter, after thorough ments in Trinidad.
preparation at the home office in Holland, set up an entirely new administration
system, which has proven to be of the greatest value.

Traffic results in 1937

During 1937 there was a substantial increase in traffic. The total number of
passengers rose from 3,491 in 1936 to 5,893 in 1937. It is interesting to note that
KLM s customers were of 34 different nationalities. The greatest number was
Dutch, with 2500; next Venezuelans with 1 500; after that Americans with 750.

Reception for the SNIP in Barranquilla, August 1937; front row, second from left, Mr.
Van der Veen Zeppenfeldt, ass’t mgr. of Curacao Trading Co.; Mr. Hart, Netherlands'
Grading the airport in Barbados Consul; Verboeven, Bouman, Van Haaren, Plesman Maracaibo's modern station building
1 he Lockheeds are coming
KLM s Management in 1 he Hague had assigned Captain Geysendorffer,
whom we already mentioned on page five, to carry out the test flights of the
new Superelectras in California. He also was to be in charge of the ferry flights
of the first two Lockheeds to Curacao. After his arrival he was to instruct the
other pilots in the handling of these fast planes, with their retracting landing
gears, Fowler flaps, automatic pilots, variable pitch propellers and many other
gadgets, a hundred times more complicated than our faithful, but so much
slower Pokkers. With Captain Geysendorffer came engineer Mr. B. Prins, who
had been a member of Captain Parmentier’s crew in the Melbourne race and
who spent considerable time at the Lockheed factory to get thoroughly ac¬
quainted with the intricate mechanism of our new acquisitions. Prins, by
the way, became Curacao’s chief engineer in February 1938; his predecessor
Hartog left KLM s service in October. Prins remained in this responsible posi¬
tion until 1940, when he joined the Netherlands Indies Military Air Force as an
inspector. He now serves overseas with the rank of First Lieutenant. KLM
West Indies is most appreciative of Prins’ share in the planning and exten¬
sion of its technical department. His never failing humor and ability to handle
the many difficult situations with his largely increased staff, was always of great
benefit to the spirit and morale of the entire department.

Mr. Van der Kolk, the radio operator, had had ample time to familiarize
himself at the factory with the Bendix radio and the electrical system of the
Lockheeds. Originally a military pilot, he served several years as a radio opera¬
tor-navigator in Curacao. However, after some time he was allowed to continue
his training as a transport pilot. He passed his examinations successfully and
for the last three years Van der Kolk has been regularly acting as a line pilot in
the West Indies.

Accompanied by an engineer of the factory Geysendorffer set out from

Hollywood and arrived at Hato with the first Lockheed, PJ-AIP, PARKIET on
February 20th, after a seven and a half hour flight for the last lap from Miami
to Curacao.

Geysendorffer and his crew then returned to the United States and came
back a few days later with the second Lockheed, the PJ-AIT, TROEPIAAL.
From then on a period of extensive training followed for the other KLM pilots
as well as for the mechanics, in order to get fully acquainted with the new
equipment.

Along the rocky north coast of Curacao

{^ey
At that time we were very glad that plans had been made for the extensions to send the PARKIET to the factory for repairs. It was dismantled on the
of schedules in so cautious a manner because, as experience had taught us, Aruba airfield and hoisted aboard a tanker going to California.
sometimes in a hard way, quite a few little but annoying troubles often develop We have already mentioned the corrosive effect of the air in Curacao, which
with a new type of plane as soon as it has been put into regular service. could not do much harm to the wooden wings of our Fokkers. However, this
influence soon became visible on the aluminum skin of the Lockeeds. Therefore
Regular service to Coro inaugurated the factory strongly advised us to sacrifice the glamorous look of the glossy
First on the program in 1938 was a regular service to Coro, in Venezuela, aluminum and give them a double coating of anti-corrosive paint, inside and out,
instead of the frequent charter flights of the previous years. This line was opened the sooner the better.” It was decided that not only the PARKIET should be
on March 14th, 1938 with a once-weekly trip. treated in this way during its repair, but the other three planes as well.
In April, after sufficient experience had been gained with the Lockheeds,
they were first assigned to the shorter runs, Curacao to Aruba and Coro. But Engine overhaul problems
before putting them into regular service KLM wanted to formally introduce An insider in aviation might ask, ‘ How did you manage to overhaul your
them to the public at Hato. So a reception was arranged; government authorities engines? As a matter of fact we didn’t. After careful analysis of the prob¬
and many other prominent people were invited to step in and enjoy a flight in a lem, KLM had come to the conclusion that as long as the total number of dy¬
fully modern plane. Some obviously preferred the high airy, though noisy cabin ing hours per month in Curacao remained below a certain figure, it would be
of the old Fokker. It was only after they had to travel distances of five hundred preferable technically and more economical to send the engines due for complete
or more miles that most of the passengers apparently began to appreciate the overhaul (500 to 600 hours in the air) by fast steamer to the central repair shops
advantages of the gain in speed. of KLM in Amsterdam. At Schiphol KLM boasted one of the largest and best
A month later the PARKIET met with a mishap; something went wrong equipped engine overhaul shops in all Europe, manned by Holland s most skilled
with the brakes during the landing at Aruba. Pilot de la Porte handled the and experienced technicians. Thus, on the debit side of the account was entered
plane as best he could, but a locked brake made the ship swerve around, one the engines that were on their way to Curacao or going back to Holland, plus
of the legs of the undercarriage gave way, the propeller hit the ground. Al¬ the cost of transportation; while on the credit side the entry showed the ideal
together so much damage was done that, to our deep regret, it was necessary conditions for overhaul in Amsterdam, thus shorter time for completion of the

Capt. Geysendorffer stepping from PARKIET at Hato, February 19, J

1938; 1. to r.: Lockheed engineer; flight-engr. Prins, radio-op. Van After arrival of first Lockheed; l. to r.: Charles MaduroA
The first Lockheed on Hato airport, February 20, 1938 der Kolk, Geysendorffer, Bouman Geysendorffer (
 ivy
work and lower cost; moreover it offered a better opportunity to have improved
in Colombia, at the northern end of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range.
ports installed when desirable. We had calculated, however, that, provided we
This was a city of growing importance which up to this time had very little com¬
were able to carry out the original program for the extension of the lines, by
munication facilities. Moreover, in Cucuta the KLM plane could connect with a
about mid 1940 the number of flying hours would have increased to such an
SCADTA line to Bogota and in this way the capital of Colombia would be
extent that it would be of advantage to do the complete overhaul in KLM’s own
only a day s travel from Curacao. However, KLM’s application was turned
workshops in Curacao. The same conditions applied to propellers and some of
down by the Venezuelan Government, on the ground that they considered it
the flight instruments. The expansion of the technical department was based on
undesirable to allow any foreign aircraft crossing a territory concerning which
this calculation and preparations were taken in hand in conformity with this
there had been a border dispute for many years. So the service, which had
plan.
optimistically been marked with a dotted line on our colorful route maps, never
became a reality and disappeared from the later editions.
Barranquilla included in the schedules
In June and July the last two Lockheeds, KOLIBRIE and MEEUW, were
On May 16th the regular service to Barranquilla, via Maracaibo, was
flown from Miami to Curacao in a non-stop flight by Rupplin and Viccellio.
inaugurated. To our disappointment the prospects for this line were not as bright
Viccellio brought the repaired PARKIET back in August and in September
as they had been a few years ago. In the first place the local traffic between the
de la Porte finally flew the TROEPIAAL back to Curacao, after this plane also
Netherlands West Indies and Colombia had lately dropped considerably. One
bad received its coat of anti-corrosive paint at the Lockheed factory.
of the other reasons for which KLM had always been anxious to fly to Barran¬
quilla was to create a fast through-traffic connection to Miami. But shortly before
KLM went to Barranquilla the Pan American Airways opened a service across In one day to New York
the Caribbean from Maracaibo via Haiti to Miami. As a result the main junc¬
With the new timetable of September 5, 1938 a most useful through-con¬
tion for the flights to and from the United States was no longer through Barran¬
nection was introduced. The departure of the Maracaibo plane, usually in the
quilla but had shifted to Maracaibo, which had already been included in
afternoon, was shifted to early morning on Monday. It left Hato at 6:00 A.M.,
KLM s system since July 1936. Thus we confined ourselves to only one flight
arrived at Maracaibo at 7:30, early enough to enable passengers and mail to be
weekly to Barranquilla.
transferred to the PAA Clipper which left Maracaibo at 8:30 from the water-
At that time KLM was anxious to attempt another project, one of the very
base. The Clipper arrived at Miami the same afternoon at 3:00. Proceeding
few that never did materialize. The plan was to fly from Maracaibo some 200
from Miami northward with Eastern Airlines you would land at La Guardia
miles southwestwards to a city called Cucuta, just over the Venezuelan border Field in New York at 3:00 A.M., only 23 hours after leaving Curacao.

Boys in uniform May ,

1938: l. to r.: Capt. Gey-
sendorffer, pilot Andre de
,
la Porte engr. Hartog ,
engr. Prins, pilot Rupplin ,
radio-op. Van der Kolk the ,
late flight-mechanic De
Bruyn, pilot Viccellio sta- ,
,
tion-mgr. Polvliet radio¬
op. Van Haaren engr. ,
,
Slimmers engr. Van’t Riet

Our fleet on Hato May ,

,
1938: SNIP PARKIET ,
TROEPIAAL and ORIOL
 ■{ 38 }•

New expanded schedules

In December 1938 a revised schedule came into force. Most routes showed
an increased demand for space. 1 he Maracaibo service was finally stepped-up
into a daily schedule. Once a week the Maracaibo plane proceeded to Barran¬
quilla. The local Curacao-Aruba service was increased to twice daily; La
Guaira continued three times weekly. A new arrangement was put into effect
that appealed very much to passengers traveling from La Guaira via Cura¬
cao to Maracaibo. The travel ticket of those passengers included a voucher wh ich
entitled them to have a decent meal in the airport restaurant in Curacao during
the 40-minutes waiting time between the arrival of the plane from La Guaira
and its departure for Aruba and Maracaibo. This proved to be a handy solu¬
tion for the rather difficult problem of serving meals on board the Lockheeds,
which have no pantry and only a very limited space for storage of drinks and
food. It was soon learned that the passengers enjoyed very much the privilege of
having their luncheon at a well-set table with a clean white cloth.

With the same timetable for the first time a regular service to Bonaire, was
introduced one round-trip each week. This was our shortest line. 50 miles only.
The results were very satisfactory and beyond the most optimistic expectations.

Publicity
In the summer of 1938 we started with the publishing of a regular monthly
pamphlet which was called the News Reel for the Caribbean. The fact that
the number of copies had to be increased with practically each new issue proved
that this publication attracted the interest of many people. At the beginning of
the war in 1940 it was thought better to stop this publication.

About the same time a nicely illustrated folder was issued, of which several
thousands were distributed at the New York World s Fair. The attention of the
traveling public was focused particularly on Curacao itself, and of course on its
easy accessibility by various air lines.

Our representative in Caracas devised a brilliant publicity feature. KLM’s

internationally admired 'Flying Dutchman poster was painted in a tremend¬
Lockheed TROEPIAAL in front of air station at Barranquilla airport
ously enlarged version and in most impressive colors on the safety screen of
Caracas largest movie theatre. Judging from comments we believe it was one
of the most efficient advertisements KLM ever displayed in the West Indies.

In the meantime the improvement of Piarco airfield in J rinidad, and the

construction of the Seawell airport in Barbados proceeded steadily. While the
work on Piarco was in progress the old landing strip remained in use. The
drainage system was dug up, renewed and enlarged. As the direction of the
original runway did not coincide exactly with the prevailing winds, the construe
tion of a second runway was taken in hand, so that that lield would have the
form of an “X.** At KLM’s request the 1 rinidad Government built a temporary
l

,
KLM’s new buses May 1938
station in proportion to the budget available, a nice little building containing
rooms for the immigration and customs officers, a dispatcher s office, wash and
storerooms and a pleasant terrace in front for the waiting passengers. It was all
erected in a very short time and, with some well arranged gardening around,
it was a handsome and attractive spot.

Important photographic work

In February 1938 the twin-engined Fokker DUIF flew from Curacao to
J rinidad to start its aerial mapping operations under personal supervision of
Mr. J. M. Corsten, head of KLM’s photographic department, assisted by his
longtime co-worker Mr. Van Winden. Viccellio was the pilot and to the crew
belonged also a photographer-radio-operator Mr. C. van Oyen. Unfavorable
weather conditions prevented the final completion in that season. Therefore,
the DUIF returned to Curacao in July and was used then for an important order
of aerial survey work on behalf of the Curacao Government.

Visits to Surinam, Barbados and T rinidad

For various purposes, in the first place in view of the plans for a permanent
airport in Surinam and in connection with a few projects for photographic sur¬
vey in that country, KLM wanted to pay a visit to Paramaribo with one of the
Lockheeds. So, in August 1938, with the brand new MEEUW, which sho rtly
before had arrived from the U. S., Pilot Rupplin and his crew, Bouman, Corsten
Published by special permission of the Government of the Republic of Colombia, 1940
and a few guests flew direct to Paramaribo in barely seven hours. At the request
At 15,000 feet, between Aruba and Barranquilla
of His Excellency, Governor J. Kielstra, some very interesting flights were made
over the interior of the territory, over country of which large regions had never
been visited by white men and where in many parts there had never been human
habitation at all.

Corsten returned to Holland in October to complete in his laboratory the

photographic material he took back from the West Indies.

In the beginning of October 1938 it was reported that the airfield at Bar¬
bados had been so far completed that a trial flight would be justified. Though
at Piarco the work was still in progress, this airport too was in serviceable con¬
dition, particularly in dry weather.

The flight from Curacao to Trinidad was uneventful, as that trip had already
been made a few times with the survey plane. But at Piarco field we wished
to publicize KLM; a number of government officials and some influential busi¬
ness people had been invited for the occasion. After all, since KLM was the first
company to operate land planes to J rinidad, this occasion could undoubtedly
be considered a milestone in the development of J rinidad s aviation.

For Barbados the landing of the Lockheed KOLIBRIE, with Pilot de la

Porte in command, was even of greater historical significance. It was the first

An exploration flight to Surinam, August 28, 1938; arrival on Zandery field;

1. to r.: Dr. De Niet, Att'y Gen'l in Paramaribo; Mr. J. Nederhorst, Mrs.
Bouman, Bouman, Rupplin, Capt. Van der Mey, the Governor's Aide; photo¬
chief Corsten, Van der Kolk
 {4\ h
plane ever to land at Barbados, and the greater part of the population had never ories of that visit.
seen an airplane from a short distance. On that day the schools closed, prac¬
It was deemed necessary to have some one on this island familiar with flying
tically everyone had or at least took a day off, many high government officials
operations, to deal with communications, weather reports, etc. For this purpose
and everybody else worth knowing was present at Seawell airport. The first
a young sports flier, Mr. Charles Baeza, was engaged and he remained with us
airmail ever to reach Barbados was accepted by the Postmaster with appropriate
ceremony. until KLM unfortunately had to suspend its operations to Barbados in 1940.

It is not possible to name all the people who assisted with our plans and We want to recall too the excellent cooperation received from the British
gave their support to the airport project in Barbados. However, we cannot fail I elegraph and Cable Company. In that experimental stage of this line KLM
to mention first Sir Mark Young, Governor of the Island, who, from the very preferred not to spend or invest much capital in either permanent or semi-per¬
beginning of the discussions, had shown a keen interest in KLM’s plans. In manent installations and that company appeared ready to take care of the
charge of the airport project was the late Major S. Peck, Director of Public radio communication for the planes. Their equipment at the time was far from
Works, who, in our opinion, achieved miracles, taking into account the very modern and hardly adequate for the purpose, but what was lacking materially
limited budget with which he had to work. was largely compensated for by the devotion of the small B. T. C. radio staff.

Already in 19o5 KLM had approached the well-known house of S. P. Mus- Though we had the impression that both on Trinidad and Barbados the
son Son & Go., Ltd. to become its agents for Barbados. We never have regretted runways would be sufficiently solid below the turf, in the rainy season some dis¬
their acceptance. The heads of this important firm, Messrs. Dudley and Norman appointments in this respect were experienced. I his was the main reason KLM
Leacock, not only assisted us on all occasions, but it was mainly their personal could not start the planned operations sooner after the test (light. The regular
influence that had brought to the people of Barbados the conviction that their service, including Trinidad and Barbados, did not become effective until Feb¬
participation in the aviation system of the West Indies was an economic neces¬ ruary 6, 1939.
sity. KLM also owes much to Mr. Percy Taylor, formerly head of the shipping
In the meantime Hato airport, at Curacao, underwent several alterations
department of Messrs. Musson & Son, whose congenial cooperation has been
and improvements, for which the Government had allowed a sum of $35,000.
extremely useful. Mr. Taylor a short time ago entered the service of British West
A second runway, pointing east-northeast^-west-southwest, was constructed
Indies Airways.
and the original east-west runway was provided with a new firm foundation.
Barbados is a very pleasant island, with a mild subtropical climate; the
After that both runways received a beautiful smooth surfacing of asphalt con¬
KLM people who, especially on this occasion, had the opportunity to stay a
crete. Though, according to modern standards, they were still rather short, after
little longer on this delightful spot in the Atlantic, still have very happy mem-
the completion of this work Hato could be considered a good field.

,
Lockheeds on the line June 1938
{42Y

placeable loss to our company.

KLM moves into a new head-office
Garschagen, who had previously been station master in Aruba, was assigned
The activities of the West Indies Management increased in proportion to
to organize the new branch in Trinidad, which station, next to Curacao, would
the extended operations. Up to September 1938, for almost four years the KLM
in the near future become KLM’s most important junction in the West Indies.
head office staff had enjoyed the hospitality of Messrs. Maduro in their own
office. After that time, however, the headquarters were moved to a new and mod¬ In view of the expected expansion in the beginning of 1939, more flight crews

ern office building at 3, de Ruyterkade, directly around the corner from the offices and ground mechanics were sent over from Holland in the course ol 1938; among

of Messrs. Maduro. As so often happens in such circumstances when moving them were pilots N. Bos and H. Hakkenberg van Gaasbeek, flight engineers

into new quarters, they appear very roomy, almost extravagant, and one has the Van der Ham and Veenendaal, and engine expert A. Schuttevaer. Most of these

impression that it will be a century before they will be outgrown. But, already by men are still in the West Indies and in their respective jobs they have greatly

1940 we felt ourselves cramped. Fortunately, when the design for the office was contributed to the efficiency of operations.

made, KLM had acquired an option for additional floor space in the same build¬ On December 31, 1938 there were in all five pilots, ten flight engineers and

ing. four radio operators. The total number of employees in the West Indies had risen
to 60, of which 25 originated from KLM Holland.
In October 1938 Koot returned to Holland for his vacation; he was replaced
by Mr. Hoffman van Hove, who held the position of assistant manager until
May 1940. We were able to engage another young man at the time as traffic Results in 1938
manager, Mr. F. R. H. Beaujon, who, with Messrs. Maduro, had been in charge The increase of the frequency of the older lines and the addition of the new
of activities concerning dispatch and reservations for KLM since 1935. He was ones resulted in much higher traffic figures in 1938. The route mileage in¬
not only a hard and intelligent worker, but also an excellent adviser to us in the creased from 437 to 794 miles; the number of miles flown more than doubled
most diversified matters. We have seldom met a person so well acquainted with from 142,970 to 288,560; the number of passengers went up from 5,893 to 9,822;
all the complicated immigration and customs formalities in the Caribbean. the number of passenger miles rose from 826,000 to 1,324,000. The quantity of
Beaujon would undoubtedly have had a brilliant future with the company, but freight and excess baggage, as well as the airmail, more than doubled to respec¬
fate decided differently. In March 1939 he was ordered on a business trip through tively 183,530 and 15,059 pounds. Among the many kinds of merchandise
Colombia, to explore the possibilities and promote interest in KLM in that carried there was a new item: baby chicks. These one-day old creatures were
progressive Republic. On this trip he died, when the plane in which he was flown by PAA from Miami to Maracaibo by the thousands; in Maracaibo we
traveling crashed in the interior of the country. His passing away was an irre- picked them up for delivery in Curacao and Aruba.

Upon the arrival on Barbados, 1. to r.: Bouman, Garschagen, Major Peck, October 19, 1938, Van der Ham carries
Director Public Works; Van der Kolk, Van der Ham, and de la Porte the Captain, October 19,1938 first airmail ever to arrive in Barbados

'VME.1£14T:
■
 open the service in the driest part of the dry season, we figured we could manage
without a building during the initial stages. Just a few days before one of the
Lockheeds was going to make the first flight an alarming message was received
from the agents in Barbados: the customs and immigration authorities de¬
manded proper accommodation; if this was not provided they would not allow
The beginning of the year 1939 saw KLM ready to undertake the greatest
the service to open. Bouman flew over to Barbados and that same night con¬
expansion of its services in the West Indies so far.
ferred with the Government authorities and with a couple of contractors. A plan
In April the flying qualities of the Lockheeds were markedly improved by
for a temporary structure was drawn and KLM agreed to pay cash for it. Even
the installation of fixed wing-slots. Assisted by two technicians from the Lock¬
a canopy to enable the passengers to embark under cover, and an enclosure for
heed factory, the work was completed on each plane in its turn by the technical
visitors, were included in the pi an. They went to work early the next morning;
department. It was an intricate operation, which however was very ably per-
trucks hauled men, material and tools to the airport. That same evening the
1 formed in a comparatively short time.
framework stood up; the following morning the corrugated iron roof covering
was fixed, a few hours later the walls were erected and a customs-bench, ticket
i Preparations on Barbados counter and closets, were installed. As regards plumbing, this was a very
The nearer the inauguration of the Barbados-Trinidad service came the more simple matter; there was no water supply and no outlet as yet. To telephone
i optimistic KLM grew about the outcome. The number of steamer connections be- one had to walk to a farm house at the other side of the field. But the Govern¬
, tween the islands was rather limited and, as there were always a large number ment’s requirements were met for the time being. The paint was still wet at
of through-going passengers on board those vessels, very little accommodation eight o’clock that evening, but it was felt appropriate to give a housewarming
could be offered for local passage. Moreover, everyone who had made that trip party for a few close friends on the island. It was a gay party that lasted until
could give testimony of the unruly waves, stepped up by the strong trade winds, everything, including the paint, was dry.
so that for many travelers the trip by boat was not exactly a pleasure. Imagine the surprise of all the people who came out to Seawell next morning
The Barbados Government had made available the money necessary for the when the plane was due, and they unexpectedly saw the station building.
construction of a simple temporary station building, a little larger but along Frankly that name was a little elaborate for the modest shed, but how proud
the lines of our own building at Aruba. The design and the procurement of we were to see the Union Jack and the KLM house flag fluttering high over
material seemed to take longer than anticipated, but as it was the intention to the tin roof against the blue tropical sky.

,
ato airport, before construction of new runways had started early 1938 ,
New runways at Hato in construction May 1938
 With the growing importance of Piarco as a junction of KLM lines, which
would again increase with the opening of the extension of the line as far as
Paramaribo, contemplated for the fall, it became necessary to take various
measures.

In the offices of the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company, where the

Manager, Mr. Salazar, his assistant Mr. Martin Kieft and the personnel so
wholeheartedly assisted in the establishment of our organization over there,
KLM took a separate section, and in May Koot was appointed as KLM repre¬
sentative in Trinidad; Mr. Kimmerer, who had arrived from Holland in 1938
and since had been employed at various stations in the West Indies, became
his assistant. Kimmerer’s successor as Manager of the Aruba station was Mr. A.
Polvliet, who previously had been an assistant at Hato. A special ticket counter
was arranged, KLM got its own telephone line and established a motor car
service between the prominent hotels, the ticket office and the airport. Our first
driver, Williams, engaged early in 1939, is still in KLM s service in Trinidad.
He is one of those faithful employees who never uses the excuse of a flat tire for
being late.

Barbados’ beautiful beaches

Trinidad schedules
As stated before, much more local traffic was anticipated between Barbados
and Trinidad than between those islands and the other stations in the West
Indies. From traffic statistics we knew that at that time not many passengers
between Curacao and 1 rinidad coidd be expected. Therefore, the schedules,
effective as of February 6, 1939, were planned in a way to require only one
plane and one flight crew.

On Monday after the arrival of the local plane from Aruba, the Lockheed
woud leave Curacao and go direct to Trinidad; after half an hour it proceeded
to Barbados, an hour and a quarter flight, to return the same afternoon to Trini¬
dad. On Wednesday the plane made another round-trip from Trinidad to
Barbados; on Saturday morning the same, but after coming back to Trinidad
returned to Curacao via La Guaira to pick up passengers for Curacao from that
place. I he landing in La Guaira had another purpose. Pan American Airways
had no service along the north coast from Trinidad on Saturdays, so KLM
provided an opportunity for people who wanted to fly from Trinidad to La
Guaira that day. I hese Saturday and Monday services created a useful week¬
end connection between Trinidad and Barbados, which gradually became very
popular, especially with the many smartly uniformed teen-age boys and girls
from Trinidad who were going to college in Barbados.

First KLM plane hovers over Barbados airfield, October 19, 1938
 r There is a place in Port of Spain where the KLM car stopped to pick up pas¬ which established contact with Curacao on July 7th. KLM s first radio operator
sengers and crew members, when they had to stay overnight. It would be an there, carefully instructed by Van Haaren, was a British Indian, Singh. Singh
omission to fail to recall here the Bagshot Hotel near the Savannah. This was was one of the most versatile workers we ever engaged. He was a capable radio
one of the most pleasant hotels in the West Indies, airy rooms, each with a man, and one could always find him wherever he could be of any assistance
I modern, colorful bathroom, spotless linen, efficient friendly service, a well whatsoever.
i stocked bar, exposed terraces, lovely gardens all around and excellent manage¬
I o enable Slimmers, the engineer in charge, and his men to work at the
ment. It was soon chosen as the regular stopping place for crew members and
planes, sheltered from sun and rain, a nose hangar was erected on the field,
many passengers, who often preferred this quiet spot to the well-known and
in the back frame of which was ample storage space for parts and tools. This
busy Queens Park Hotel. It was regretted by many that in 1940, as a result
structure was placed close to the station building, in the intersection of the old
of the war, the hotel was converted into a sort of hospital. KLM people certainly
and new runways, and therefore it was thought it would never be in the way of
have most agreeable recollections of their stay in the Bagshot.
the departing planes. In 1940 PAA decided to move to Piarco and practically
At the time of the start of operations around Trinidad the PAA Manager in abandoned their seaplane base at Cocorite. J he Government started the con¬
charge there was Mr. Elmo Bearden, who helped us in many ways and was struction of a well designed permanent station building, large hangars and
always glad to cooperate wherever possible. Bearden left the PAA organization many other facilities. Moreover a new extended runway system was devised
a couple of years ago. In the beginning KLM endeavored to come to an agree- which obliged KLM to take down its nose hangar. However, during 1939-1940
i ment with PAA to provide us with the necessary radio service. However, with it had been very useful.
their own operations growing as well as our increasing demands, tbe capacity of
their radio organization soon became insufficient to handle the heavy traffic. Extending to Paramaribo
Moreover their station was near the seaplane base, too far away from the airfield
Gradually the preparations for the extension of the Trinidad service to
to promptly provide the pilots with urgent information and directions often
Paramaribo were proceeding. On the Zandery airfield the drainage system was
needed in J rinidad, when huge formations of clouds rolled over the mountains
improved and soft spots and holes were filled in, so that even in wet weather
1 and tropical rains began to pour down, decreasing visibility to a few hundred
the field would be sufficiently reliable. A nice little station building was con¬
yards.
structed by the Department of Public Works. The main problem that remained
It was decided, therefore, to install our own temporary radio station at Piarco, was the transportation from town to the airport. For the first 20 miles there was

September 1938, in the head-office, r. to l.: the late

F. Beaujon, accountant Lablans, head of administra¬ I Rumination of office building during celebra¬ On apron of Hato are five of KLM's seven planes.
tion Zonruiter, traffic-ass't Hoffman, ass’t-Mgr. Root tion of The Queen's Jubilee, September 1938 At far right the survey plane PJ-AED DU IF
 he handled the array of difficult problems faced in those early days. In 1940
Van Delden was transferred to I rinidad to succeed Koot, but later in the same
year he was called up for military service. He is now serving his country over
seas, after acting for some time as military aide to the Oovernor of Surinam.

Airport plans in Surinam

Mention has already been made of the fact that the Netherlands Government
fully realized the importance of the construction of a modern transatlantic air¬
port in Paramaribo. To a certain extent we found there the same controversy
with which KLM had been faced a year or two before in Trinidad. Some be¬
lieved that Zandery was much too far from town, which would involve loss of
money and loss of time traveling to and from the field, for the passengers as well
as for the crew members. They recommended the construction of a new airfield
on a former plantation called Zorg-en-Hoop only two miles from the city. Other
people claimed that never near the town would one find a natural plain with so
many possibilities for future extensions and such good soil condition. Of course,
keeping Zandery would demand the construction of an adequate motor road
from the City to the airport. However, this road would serve many other pur¬
poses. Further, they contended that only very few of the passengers eventually I
arriving from the other side of the ocean would actually want to stay in Para- |
maribo, but would be anxious to proceed as soon as possible to their final J

destinations. >

Discussions about the desirability of this or that project were still going on |
when, by drilling in several places, it was discovered that, contrary to previous
investigations, the sub-soil near Paramaribo appeared to contain a large amount
of quicksand which would make the construction of good solid runways prac¬
tically impossible. Samples of this substance were sent to the Government Soil *

a narrow and rather dusty road. With due caution this stretch to a station called Research Laboratories in Holland, and as a result the decision was made to stick '

Onverwacht could be made in a little over a half hour, provided there were not to Zandery as the site for a permanent airport. The Netherlands Government I

too many ox-carts on their way to market. From Onverwacht it was necessary to woidd provide a loan of $800,000 for the initial expense. 1 he plans included )
one-mile long runways, hangar, station building, garage, radio station, guest j
change from an automobile to an ingenious contraption called the ' draisine,
house, and a complete night-landing installation. It was contemplated to start I
a kind of trolley that could accommodate eight passengers. It was driven by a
with the actual construction o f the runways and with the new road in the spring
Ford engine and vaguely resembled a station wagon. At any rate, this means of
of 1940. At that time war broke out in Europe and what happened to Zandery
transportation was a great improvement over the slow train. The run from
is covered in one of the following pages.
Onverwacht to the Zandery field by train took more than an hour; by draisine
hardly half an hour, a trip in itself interesting, as it passed a lush tropical jungle On September 4, 1939 the regular service to Paramaribo was opened with
that suddenly cleared near the wide sunny Zandery savannah. very little ceremony. On the previous day German troops had marched into
In view of the expected importance of Paramaribo as a future transatlantic Poland, which treacherous act set Europe aflame. Anxious days followed. |
air station, in May 1939 KLM put in charge there as its representative Mr. Would Holland be spared this time as she was in 1914? Of course we Felt I
B.G . van Os van Delden, who certainly deserves praise for the manner in which worried, but this was no reason to discontinue the program.

{*<>Y
 4 47 y
The schedules started at that time may have seemed a little strange to
look around in Port of Spain, sip their planter’s punch or rum cocktail on
aviation people. For economical and technical reasons it was desirable to fly Queens Park s wide terrace, do some shopping, if so inclined, spend a gay eve¬
the whole Curacao-7 rinidad-Barbados and Paramaribo schedule with one ning in the hospitable country club and finally, early or late, go to bed in a cool
crew. On Monday morning the plane Hew from Curacao to Trinidad, but in¬
room in a modern hotel like the Queens Park or the Bagshot, to be picked up the
stead of going on to Paramaribo it made the regular round-trip to Barbados; next morning by KLM s car, waiting at their hotel door.
the following morning, 7 uesday, it went to Paramaribo, where it arrived about
Another advantage for KLM with this schedule was that for the incoming
noon. 1 he distance from I rinidad to Paramaribo is roughly 550 miles, about
and outgoing plane in Paramaribo we had to order only one round-trip of the
three hours flying time from Trinidad. The ship would stay about an hour in
draisine, which arrangement saved quite some money. One of the attrac¬
Paramaribo, to disembark passengers and cargo, refuel, board the people and
tions with the arrival in Paramaribo at noon was always the enormous platter
goods for Trinidad and Curacao and fly back to Trinidad. On Wednesday
with fresh rolls and sandwiches, coffee, and ice cold Coco-Cola that was kept
morning the plane made a round-trip to Barbados and in the afternoon went
ready under the supervision of a voluminous Negro maid.
back to Curacao. On 7 hursday morning it again left Curacao for Trinidad,
followed by a round-trip to Barbados. On Friday it did not fly, but there was
something in view for that day. On Saturday the plane again made a round-trip Connecting with steamers
to Barbados and returned to Curacao via La Guaira. Therefore, the schedule re¬
In the first half of 19o9 the opportunity of close cooperation with two newly
sulted in four round-trips Trinidad-Barbados, two round-trips Curacao-Trini-
opened steamship services presented itself. These were the Grace Line from
dad and one round-trip Trinidad-Paramaribo each week, the latter with through
New 7 ork to Curacao and the American Republics Line from New York via
connections to and from Curacao and Aruba.
Barbados to South America and back from South America to the U. S. via
Of course the comment will be that people who traveled from Curacao to I rinidad. It is obvious that, as the American Republics Line could offer no
Paramaribo or reverse, arrived about noon in Trinidad and had to wait a full passage from New 7 ork to I rinidad but only to Barbados and on the way back
afternoon and a night before they could proceed to their destination. What we only from Trinidad to New York and not from Barbados, KLM had a fine
noticed was that 99% of the passengers liked this arrangement very much. Most
opportunity to supplement the steamer service. To connect with the southbound
ol them had for some time been more or less isolated in Curacao or Paramaribo;
steamers at Barbados and with the northbound ships at 7 rinidad, an extra
nothing gave them more pleasure than to have a quiet morning or afternoon to
round-trip 7 rinidad-Barbados was added, until this automatically was included

Little station in Barbados, erected overnight,

February 1939 In front of station building on Barbados airport Native interest in the wonders of flying Governor's palace in Trinidad
 wide doors and large baggage space, were particularly useful for transporting
after the opening of the Paramaribo service. T ogether with the American Re¬
these bulky pieces. Stripped of the cabin chairs they could easily take up to two
publics Line KLM published an attractive folder, drawing attention to the new
connecting service. Until the war caused the suspension of the steamer service, tons of baggage.

KLM enjoyed the most cordial cooperation with the American Republics Line. During 1939 several improvements were carried out on Hato airport. In

Both parties experienced the advantage of largely increased traffic by this supple¬ March a most useful project was finally completed—the electric power connec¬

mentary schedule. tion from town to the airport. We can hardly understand now how we managed
to run the business at the airport for so many years without any power supply
Another important agreement that resulted in mutual benefit to both com¬
from the outside. During the first year, when the technical crews had to work
panies was the connection KLM provided with the fast service between Cura¬
after sunset, they used to rig up some powerful kerosene lamps. Later some better
cao and New York of the Grace Line. The luxurious steamers of that company
light was provided by connecting electric Hood lights with a small gasoline
brought to Curacao quite a number of travelers, whose ultimate destination was
generator on the field. Up to 1939 there were no electric machine tools, but from
Aruba or Maracaibo. An arrangement was made so that, with the cooperation
then on we could instal lathes, drilling machines, air compressors and all kinds
of customs and immigration authorities, the passengers from the Grace Line
of special equipment so badly needed for the maintenance of the planes. The
ships for the other destinations were picked up at the dock by the KLM bus and
whole project was a costly affair, of which KLM had to pay a substantial share.
immediately transported to the airport; often in less than an hour after the arrival
In the fall of 1939 another project that had been eagerly awaited was fin-
of the boat they were already in the air. Generally those people had enormous
ished^the construction of three nice houses just beneath the cliff overlooking the
loads of baggage, huge trunks, cases and crates, sometimes weighing a couple
Hato airfield. The location of these well planned quarters saved much time for
of hundred pounds each. The old Fokkers, with their high square cabins, their

Mr. J. F. Salazar, KLM agent in Port of Spain, and Bouman, have a toast on the newly-
opened service. In background a Lockheed of the regular service, and a wing tip of SNIP,
which did survey work at the time
t {49}
I
members of the staff who had to be at the airport on short notice in the event of
Plans for a I ine to Ciudad-Bolivar
an emergency and very often at inconvenient hours. Tfie buildings were assigned
Not so long ago KLM’s attention had been drawn to a well-known town in
to one of the engineers, one of the pilots and to the station manager.
Venezuela, situated one hundred and fifty miles inland on the south bank ol the
I Since 1935 several improvements on a smaller scale were carried out on the Orinoco River. Originally this town was called Angostura, a name that still
road from town to the airport. Finally, in 1938-1939 a full sized concrete road lives on in a brand of famous bitters formerly manufactured in that place. The
was completed, much to the delight of the passengers, visitors to the airport plant for making the bitters was transferred to Trinidad. A few years later the
and to the KLM employees. It contributed many years to the life of our busses town was renamed Ciudad Bolivar, in honor of the Liberator of Venezuela. For
and private cars. a long time this city had been of little significance, but owing to the establish¬
\
ment of mining operations in that region its economic importance was growing
I o the motor-car park was added another small bus, so that at the end of
rapidly. J he town was already provided with a regular domestic air service by
1939 three busses were running between the town and the airport; the old bus
the enterprising Linea Aeropostal Venezolana, but it had no direct air connec¬
whi ch was used in 1935 for that purpose had been converted into a freight truck
tion abroad. It was thought that a service to Trinidad might be of advantage,
for the technical department.
I and this time there was very little trouble in obtaining the approval of the
In May 1939 we were happy to welcome an important visitor from Holland, Venezuelan Government for this plan. However, the permit from the British
Dr. J. Damme, Director General of Posts and Telegraphs, one of the foremost Government (remember that Great Britain was then already at war) took much
promoters of commercial aviation in the Netherlands. He always had been a longer to obtain. Some trial flights were made. Ciudad Bolivar had a good air¬
strong advocate for the transport of mail through the air; the rapid growth of field as well as one of the finest administration buildings of all the countries
KLM’s Amsterdam-Batavia air service was largely the result of Dr. Damme’s around the Caribbean. Actually the scheduled service opened on January 5,
foresight and continued interest. In 1939 he attended an international postal 1940. Of course the Trinidad staff had a lot of work in connection with the
| congress in Buenos Aires and, via Paramaribo, where KLM offered him further preparations for this service. Koot spent several weeks in Ciudad Bolivar; he
| transportation, he dew to Curacao. After various enlightening discussions with particularly disliked traveling up the mosquito infested, hot Orinoco Delta
authorities and officials in those territories and with the KLM representatives, on a river boat, which, on an open deck below the passenger quarters, carried
he returned to Holland via the United States. a hundred or two mooing cows.

The train ride from Zandery But it was shortened a great deal
Nose hangar on Piarco field to town took over two hours after the ((draisineu was invented PA.A. Clipper on the Surinam River
 )
ordered for KLM had the 22 passenger arrangement; by way of experiment the
fourth plane was of the 18-passenger type.
Because of the outbreak of the war in Europe in 1959 many international
airlines on that continent were curtailed, whereas in the West Indies these
planes could be expected to be useful in the future; so the KLM Management
decided to direct the first two DC-5s to the West Indies. This decision had
many consequences. We would need more hangar space, a lot more workshop
equipment, tools and spare parts, because the DC-5s had stronger engines than
the Lockheeds; they were fitted with constant speed, full feathering propellers
and many other apparatus, for the maintenance of which we were as yet not
adequately equipped.

Hato to be a complete overhaul base

We mentioned before our calculations concerning the time when it would be
advantageous to have the engine overhauling done at the Curacao base in¬
stead of sending the engines all the way to Holland for that purpose. As a result
of the war this could no longer be done anyway and so, for some time, the engines
were sent to California for general overhaul. This, however, was not entirely
satisfactory and hence elaborate and detailed plans were made by the engineer¬
ing department of KLM in Holland for a complete engine and propeller shop
and plane repair base. These plans were carefully investigated locally and dis¬
cussed with the Public Works Department in Curacao. As a matter of fact it
was agreed that the Government of Curacao would eventually bear the expense
for the hangar itself, whereas KLM would pay for the workshops and all other
construction that could not be considered a public utility. Finally the contract
for the whole project was placed with the N. V. Plettery Nederhorst in Curacao,
who also had a large share in the design. Our company has the greatest praise

Flaps down, gliding in over Piarco

September 4, 1939. Governor Wouters listens to a speech

Douglas DC-5s for Curacao of the invisible West Indies Manager on the occasion of the
opening of the Paramaribo line Macqueripe Beach Club in Trinidm
In the meantime a very important decision had been taken by the KLM
Management in Holland. Almost a year before KLM had ordered four Douglas
DC-5 aircraft, a new type twin-engine, high wing plane. Tli is plane had
several features, among them a nose wheel, which made it particularly suitable
for use on landing fields of limited size. They were available with two different
cabin arrangements; one could take 22 passengers; in the other type the forward
compartment was divided and part of it was fitted as a baggage hold instead,
so it took only 18 passengers. I he passenger cabin was roomy and excellently
ventilated. The fuselage was very low to the ground, which facilitated the
embarking and disembarking of the passengers and made loading and unload¬
ing of the spacious baggage compartments easy. I liree of the batch of four
 -i3i y
for the pleasant and efficient cooperation received from these contractors, which
was so essential because of tlie interlocking of the public and private works. The
actual construction started in the spring of 1940.

It is obvious that, because of growing operations in 1939, several more people

had to be engaged. Another pilot arrived from Holland, Mr. H. Groeneveld,
who is still serving in Curacao; also two radio operators, Mr. W. N. Broek-
huyzen and Mr. W. C. Bosson. T he latter is now in military service overseas.
1 he technical staff was reinforced by flight engineer Veenendaal. In view of the
establishment of the overhaul base in Curacao a few more experts were sent
from Holland, of whom we want to mention foreman-mechanic Klynen, who
was put in charge of the plane overhaid department, and an expert sheet-metal
worker Levering. To take charge of the growing technical administration depart¬
ment Mr. Brouwer came from Holland. He had been with KLM’s technical
service since its very early years. It is impossible to mention here the many local
workmen who entered our service and who were skillfully trained under the
supervision of Mr. Prins.

Besides several others, the traffic department in the head-office was reinforced
by Mr. H. Peereboom, who a few years later became assistant traffic manager.

In view of the growing importance of Hato as an airfield in October we

engaged Mr. Eric Holmberg, who previously had been with TACA airlines.
As Airport Manager Holmberg had much to do with the regularity and the punc¬
tuality of the services. That there were so few delays in departure and so few
complications, even when several planes arrived and landed at almost the same
moment, and scores of passengers and hundreds of pounds of baggage had to be
handled in a very short space of time, was certainly in a great part due to Holm-
berg’s efficient management. In 1943 he was called up for military duties, but
KLM hopes to see him return to its service.

I rom Holland arrived Mr. H. Clemens, who was appointed assistant station
manager at Hato. After Holmberg left, Clemens succeeded him as Station
Manager.

As mentioned before, in order to comply with the Air Regulations every

six months our pilots had to go to Cristobal for medical examinations, because
of the fact that in Curacao there was no specially trained physician and no
laboratory to carry out the elaborate tests that were required for transport
pilots. At the end of 1939 this want was provided for. A Government physi¬
cian, Dr. Van der Sar, was assigned for some months to the Medical Service of
the Netherlands Army Air Force, and upon returning to Curacao he brought
with him the complete equipment needed for these rigorous examinations. This
was a valuable improvement, which saved a lot of inconvenience and money.

Kotta Missie, Sunday dress of Surinam Creole women

«{52)>
the accounting department, while Welschen was trained as a wireless operator
New photographic orders and has been in that capacity since.
We have already mentioned that at the end of 195/ a twin-engined I 8
It was thought advisable to sell the old DUIF; after giving it a thorough
plane, PJ-AID, the DUIF, had been sent to the West Indies for photographic
overhaul and after some negotiations, with Bakker's assistance, it was sold to the
operations and that it returned to Curacao when the work in I rinidad could
Venezuelan Government, which intended to undertake photographic work on
not be finished as a result of adverse weather conditions. 1 lie photographic
its own behalf. The DUIF was flown over to the main base at Maracay in
staff was of the opinion that a plane of the F-18 type with its three engines and
March, tested there and accepted. We were all very sorry to learn that this plane,
consequently much faster climb would be of advantage. Since there was ample
which since 1928 had served KLM so faithfully on its European lines, came to
equipment for all scheduled services it was decided to transfer the photographic
an untimely end. Only three weeks later, as a result of running out of gasoline,
installation from the DUIb to the SNIP. After this had been done the SNIf
it crashed in the eastern part of Venezuela, fortunately without injury to the
left for Trinidad on January 16th and returned to Curacao in April, having com¬
people on board.
pleted the order. Later in the year this plane was used for similar work in Sur¬
inam on behalf of the mining companies in that territory. It left for Paramaribo Some trouble was experienced in the fall of 1959 when the rainy season
in the beginning of September and returned to Curacao the end of October. started in Barbados and Trinidad. Because of the unexpected softness of the

The most important order in this class of work was an aerial mapping project fields it became necessary to cancel several trips. In November the situation grew

undertaken at the request of the Venezuelan Oovernment; for this purpose worse and it was then decided to suspend the Barbados service for a month.

the ORIOL, chosen for the job, left Curacao on November 50th for Tachira. Of course this was a great disappointment but it clearly proved that those air¬

This order was not completed until far into 1940. ports would need many improvements before they could be considered wholly
reliable for year round service. Fortunately this unsatisfactory condition was
In view of the scale of these operations two specialists in this branch, Mr.
acknowledged by the Trinidad Government, and in October they decided to
P. H. Steen and Mr. H. Welschen, were sent out from Holland. The war pre¬
convert Piarco into a first class airport. For this purpose a sum of $200,000 was
vented their return home after completion of the survey work in 1940 and the
former was transferred to the head office in town and became an assistant in appropriated.

Crew that carried out the large aerial mapping

Famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein leaves KLM agent in Maracaibo and Mrs. Van der Kaaj
Director of Netherlands Posts and Tel- project in Venezuela: Capt. Bos, photographer
Hato for Venezuela after a series of concerts right) enjoy luncheon at Hato before leaving for A
egraphs Dr. Damme, arrives by KLM, Steen, the late radio-op. Van Oyen, and flight-
in Curacao, December 1939 caibo
May 27,1939 engr. De Wolf, November 1939

LUcht
 Traffic results in 1939 Our fifth anniversary
As might 1)6 expected as a result of KLM s vastly extended airnet, wfiicfi in¬
Though Europe had been in a state of war since September 3, 1939, it was
creased from 794 to 2,674 miles, the traffic figures for 1939 showed a notable
still in that stage which some called the "phony war," and we Dutch were still
growth over those in 1938.1 he number of passengers rose to 14,578; the planes
hoping that our country in Europe might be spared. December 22, 1939 would
flew 562,400 miles; the number of passenger miles amounted to 2,308,000; the
mark the fifth anniversary of the landing of the SNIP on Hato and, notwith¬
amount of freight increased to 258,183 pounds and the airmail to 23,370.
standing the unfortunate world conditions, it was felt that some kind of celebra¬
Notwithstanding this substantial increase we were not entirely satisfied. tion was warranted. The Committee which had been formed in 1934 for the
Some lines showed a good occupancy, but some others, especially the new long welcoming of the SNIP still existed, except that some time before it had lost its
routes, attracted fewer passengers than had been expected. progressive Chairman, our very good friend Mr. S. M. L. Maduro. Its treasury
The local Trinidad-Barbados service was a success. Tfiis was still further still contained money which they decided to use for the erection of a monument
boosted by a well planned publicity campaign and by the inauguration of spe¬ in memory of the SNIP’s spectacular flight. Mr. Keegstra, an engineer of
cial vacation and week-end round-trips. For a limited period, when there was a the Shell Oil Company, designed a most attractive memorial on which vanes
slump in the reservations, a 50% reduction was allowed in fare to the wives of pointed in the direction of the different stations to which KLM was flying, and
the men traveling between those islands. marked with the air distances from Curacao in kilometers. The head of this cen¬
tral pole was embellished by a bronze disc, commemorating the flight of the
By offering a reduced rate we tried to stimulate vacation trips for people
SNIP and its crew members, the whole surmounted by the winged emblem of
from Curacao and Paramaribo. They were encouraged to visit the other Nether¬
KLM. The task of building this monument was completed in an incredibly short
lands territory, so different in character. Between Barranquilla and Curacao the
traffic was also far from good. The commercial relations between those places
seemed to have dropped to a low level. Even after lowering the tariffs sub¬
stantially the load factor on this line remained unsatisfactory. In December 1939
At 7,000 feet over the islands in the Caribbean
SCADTA changed its schedules in such a way that a one-day connection
coidd be provided from Curacao via Barranquilla to Bogota, but this failed to
cause a noteworthy increase in traffic on the Barranquilla line. However, that
did not mean KLM wanted to abandon its interests in Colombia entirely; it felt
confident that the future would show an improvement in the revenue on that
line, and this it actually did some time later.

In this year of considerable expansion it was obvious that expenses would

run rather high; the setting-up of new stations, organizing new lines and the
increase of personnel in all branches involved a lot of money. On December 31,
1939 the West Indies section employed 95 people, 60% more than the previous
year.

The operational loss was, therefore, comparatively high and was far from
being compensated by the relatively small subsidy from the Curacao Govern¬
ment and the mail guarantee from the Surinam Government. Only 75% of
the total expenses for the year were covered by revenue. Of those expenses a
large part was chargeable to depreciation of the greatly increased equipment.
Nevertheless the KLM Management in Holland was fully confident that the
coming years would bring better financial returns. We are glad to say that their
hopes were realized much earlier than anyone dreamed at that time.
^ 54 y
time. 1 he Public Works Department under Mr. Groote did a splendid job in a Under the direction of Van Haaren an evening party had been arranged for
few days, laying, in front of the hangar entrance, a smoothly paved circular area, all the employees and their families in the gaily-decorated station-hall. 1 here
of which the monument formed the center. 1 he last steam roller had barely been were movies, music, dancing, speeches and contests, and presents for the men
withdrawn when His Excellency Governor Wouters and other Government offi¬ who had been with the Company in Curacao from KLM s beginning in 1954.
cials, prominent business men, many interested friends and the entire personnel It was not until the sky in the east began to lighten that the party ended.
of KLM with their families arrived. They were seated in a wide circle around the
monument. Of the original crew of the SNIP only Stolk was able to attend. He
was in private business in Aruba at the time but of course had been invited to
come over and join in the celebration.

Several pleasant and laudatory speeches were made. Governor Wouters

paid high tribute to Bouman and his men, who in five years had made Curacao
into an important airlines center. The Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Mr.
Kies, had many words of praise and appreciation for all who had collaborated
in the plan to offer this memorial to the Government of Curacao and the KLM.
Bouman expressed his deep gratitude for the valuable cooperation consistently
received from all sides, and thereafter lauded the members of his staff, who had
shown so much devotion to their work under ofttimes difficult circumstances.
When Stolk finally mounted the platform there seemed no end to the cheering.

The monument with its vanes, pointing in direction of it*

Celebration of 5th Anniversary on December 22,1939. Mr. Henry Kies air-routes. In background two of the three recently comf
KLM flight crews—December 1939 requests Governor to unveil the monument houses for airfield personnel
 •{55

Personnel of KLM West Indies section in Curacao for the celebration of the 5th Anniversary, December 1939. Not
on the photo are the Trinidad ground staff, who had not yet arrived, and the photo-crew in Venezuela. Left to right:

1st row: A. Polvliet, station Salas, ass’t bookkeeper; E. O. operator; N. H. de Bruyn, flight-
manager Aruba; Miss M. Pietersz, Holmberg, station manager Hato; engr.; E. J. Veenendaal, flight-
stenographer; Miss E. Salas, ass’t
2nd row: Ch. A. Baeza, station engr.; W. C. Bosson, radio-opera¬
bookkeeper; Miss M. S. E. van
manager Barbados; M. Faneyter, tor; W. N. Broekhuyzen, radio-op
Nierop, secretary; R. H. C. van
chauffeur; E. E. Penha, chauf¬ erator; E. Korevaer, flight-engr.;
Haaren, chief radio dep’t; Andre
feur; E. E. de Jongh, ass’t traffic B. J. Slimmers, foreman-mechan¬
de la Porte, pilot; K. Rupplin, ic; R. D. Anasagasto, passenger-
dep’t; J. L. Sprock, ass’t bookkeep¬
chief pilot; B. Prins, chief techni¬
ing dep’t; W E. J. Lablans, ass’t agent; M. Levering, metal-work¬
cal dep’t; L. F. Bouman, Gen’l bookkeeping dep’t; L. C. Zonruit- er; R. C. Brouwer, chief adm. tech¬
Mgr. West Indies section; H. M. J. er, chief adm. dep’t; H. E. Peere- nical dep’t; J. W. Klijnen, foreman
Hoffman van Hove, ass’t gen’l boom, ass’t traffic mgr.; A. J. maintenance dep’t; P. J. L. Aen-
mgr.; H. M. C. Hakkenberg van Schuttevaer, flight-engr.; A. J. J. genendt, flight-engr.; I. van’t Riet,
Gaasbeek, pilot; A. J. Viccellio, Bak, flight-engr.; H. Van der Ham, flight-engr.; J. Cijntje, cleaner;
pilot; H. Groeneveld, pilot; Miss flight-engr.; J. H. C. Plesman, G. Alexander, chauffeur; P. Mar¬
A. Bouman, stenographer; Miss J. flight-engr.; J. J. Spanjaard, radio¬ tha, cleaner; H. Beekman, guards¬
van Meeteren, secretary; Miss S. operator; T. C. van der Kolk, radio¬ man;

The TROEPIAAL flying along the Curacao south coast

3rd row: S. Brigita, porter; W. C. Schoonen, apprentice

G. Mensink, electrician; H. mechanic; H. J. Mense, ap¬
Martin, cleaner; E. Henri- prentice mechanic; A. Schou-
quez, stockroom ass’t; G. ten, stockroom ass’t; M. Faul-
Veira, ass’t bookkeeper; P H. born, passenger agent; L. H.
Opschoor, foreman stock- van Kanten, ass’t traffic dep’t;
room; V. Cijntje, cleaner; H. J. Sprock, junior clerk; E.
W. Tam, apprentice mechan¬ Kipp, cleaner: E. Martina,
ic; M. G. Colino, cleaner; A. apprentice mechanic; S. Cici-
Calmero, cleaner; F. Ley, ap¬ lia, cleaner; M. Rodriquez,
prentice mechanic; W. E. carpenter; F. van Kol, car¬
Wauben, junior clerk; A. penter; J. Coffie, upholsterer;
Koolman, painter; G. F. M. Brigita, porter.
Mense, apprentice mechanic;
i56)r I
Pan American also called at Barcelona on its north coast service from
Panama, via Barranquilla, Maracaibo, La Guaira, Barcelona to 1 rinidad.
Much to our disappointment the approval of the planned schedule was with¬
drawn at the last moment; PAA was allowed to carry on, as their permit was
based on an old contract.
New ports of call in Venezuela So one of the two points of call on this trip had to be dropped. It was decided
to adhere to Barcelona, as it might hold possibilities of developing into a valu¬
The year 1940 started with the opening of a new line, about which we
have already given some details. The I rinidad-Ciudad Bolivar service fitted in able asset later.

nicely with the Trinidad schedules. Friday had been left open for that round-
trip. In view of the interesting development of the entire eastern portion of
More space for the technical department
The construction of the third hangar on Hato airport, with its well planned
Venezuela and its increasing oil and mineral production, the large number of
passengers between La Guaira and the north coast harbor of that region, Barce¬ annexes, started early in 1940. The size of the hangar proper was about the same
as the second one, completed in 1938, but, with its rear section consisting of
lona, KLM also kept an eye on that spot. Though a connection between La
workshops and storerooms on the first floor, offices, drafting room and personnel
Guaira and Barcelona would mean internal traffic, it seemed that the \ ene-
canteen on the second floor and its motor and propeller overhaul shop on the
zuelan authorities were inclined to grant KLM permission to land in La Guaira
east side, it occupied almost 50% more ground space. Several machine tools,
as well as in Barcelona on the way from Curacao to Trinidad. KLM was the
test benches and other kinds of equipment were ordered in the United States.
more interested in this possibility since the load factor between Curacao and
At that time Mr. W. Uriot, one of KLM’s veteran engine specialists, arrived
Trinidad was still below expectation and it was hoped the available seats would
be filled with local passengers.
Douglas DC-5, WAKAGO in the air
from Holland. He was assigned temporarily to the West Indies section for the Originally the DC-5s were expected in March, but, owing to the usual minor
purpose of instructing the technical staff in the maintenance of the new Cyclone problems accompanying the release of a new type of plane, it was the end of
engines and the constant-speed propellers with which the DC-5s were to be May before KLM took them over. Pilot Viccellio was assigned to the Douglas
equipped. After Prins’ departure Uriot succeeded him as chief-engineer; the factory to inspect these machines, familiarize himself with all details and eventu¬
war prevented him from going bach to Holland. ally fly them over to Curacao. Besides our technical representative in Hollywood,
Mr. Besancon, the KLM Management had stationed with Douglas Mr. Hooge-
Workshops in construction, February 1940 veen, who later came to Curacao with the DC-5s to instruct the technical staff.
(Both Besancon and Hoogeveen are now serving their country in the Nether¬
lands Indies Army Air Force.)

It had been planned to change the schedule a month after the expected ar¬
rival of the DC-5s; the frequency of some of the services could be lowered
because there would be an average of double the passenger capacity in each
plane as compared with that of the Lockheeds. However, matters became a little
complicated when in April we had to proceed with the new schedule and the
DC-5s were still in California.

In five days from Curacao to Amsterdam

The one-day connection from Curacao via Maracaibo and Miami to New
York gained importance after PAA opened its transatlantic service from the
U. S. A. to Europe. It will be recalled that a flight left Curacao on Monday
morning at six, and connected with the PAA Clipper at Maracaibo, which left
for Miami at 8:50. The plane arrived there at 5:00 o’clock the same day. By
boarding the Eastern Airlines DC-3 to New York at 9:50 P.M., La Guardia

In April new hangar is nearing completion; between first two hangars

new Shell pumping station; at far left houses for airport staff
 THE NEW WORKSHOPS IN OPERATION

-Downstairs: workshops; upstairs: offices and canteen. B, C and D—Engine overhaul shop. E—Propeller

storage. F—Propeller overhaul shop. G—Magnaflux. H and 1—DC-5 Inspection. K—Sheet metal i
shop. L—Engine test stand.

mum
Airport was reached at 5:00 o’clock the following morning. The next day at 1940. T hen, gradually, the scheme could be expanded from the experimental
noon Pan American left for Lisbon, where it arrived on Thursday at 5:00 P.M. stage to a regular service, say, twice a month, carrying mail only. Probably within
Next morning at 7:00 o’clock a KLM DC-3 was standing ready at Lisbon’s a year, after the delivery of suitable equipment for which orders were being
airport Cintra to proceed to Amsterdam, a little over a nine hour trip. That was placed, the service could be stepped up to once a week and passengers would
not such a bad proposition, leaving Curacao on Monday and arriving in Amster¬ be accepted as well as cargo. And thus the feeder-net created in the Caribbean
dam on Friday. Actually a few passengers made this fast trip and many more would come into its full usage.
would have done so had not western Europe been set aflame by the blitzkrieg
KLM’s closely woven system of airlines, linking almost all European capi¬
a few weeks later.
tals and many other important centers of traffic and trade, having been gradually
built up and extended since the company’s foundation in 1919, would provide
Spring schedules the Eastern bridgehead, and thus the airtrail pioneered by the SNIP would be
In April 1940 the following services were operated: developed into a highway of the air, bringing Northwestern Europe to only two

Curacao —Aruba (local)..twice daily days and a half traveling time from the geographical hub of the whole American

—Aruba-Maracaibo .daily continent.

—Aruba-Maracaibo-Barranquilla .once weekly 1 hese preparations were only in their first stage when the Germans, on May
—La Guaira.daily 10, 1940, launched their attack on the Low Countries, which for KLM resulted
—Barcelona-Trinidad.twice weekly in the loss of the greater part of their (lying equipment, including twenty
Trinidad—Barbados.four times weekly Douglas DC-3s and DC-2s, and the complete destruction of their costly ground
—Paramaribo.once weekly installations.
—Ciudad Bolivar.once weekly The invasion of Holland had an immediate effect on KLM’s operations in
Curacao —Bonaire.twice weekly the West Indies.
—Coro .once weekly
Knowing that the Barranquilla airport was still predominantly managed by
Germans of the original SCADTA company, after consultation with the Gov¬
In April the Germans invaded Norway and our already weak hope that the
ernment authorities in Curacao it was thought advisable to suspend the line to
Netherlands might stay out of the war gradually decreased.
Barranquilla for the time being. After receiving assurance that adequate meas¬
During that month KLM received a very important commission from the
ures had been taken to avoid any interference, to say the least, the service was
1 rinidad Government to operate a number of special Rights in connection with
resumed on a temporary basis in July; the concession of the Colombian Gov¬
the war. For this purpose Pilot Andre de la Porte, with the TROEPIAAL and
ernment was definitely renewed on September 5th. Since then that line has been
a complete crew, was temporarily stationed in Trinidad.
operated without interruption. By that time the operation of SCADTA had
been taken over completely by AVIANCA, managed entirely by a combined
Preparations for transatlantic flights Colombian and American staff.
Since the beginning of 1940 various departments of KLM in Holland had
been busy with preparations for a limited number of trial flights between
Amsterdam and Paramaribo, via Lisbon and the Cape Verde Islands. The inten¬ KLM lias to suspend Trinidad service
tion was to closely follow the route explored by Hondong except for the first At the end of May some unfortunate events in Trinidad caused the tempo¬
lap. 1 wo of KLM’s DC-5s were going to be fitted with extra gasoline tanks rary suspension of all KLM services to and from that station.
and other special equipment needed for the ocean crossing. The following tenta¬ As KLM did not want to interrupt the air connection from Curacao to Suri¬
tive schedule was planned: first day, Amsterdam—Lisbon—Casablanca; second nam, especially at a time like this, it continued to fly to Paramaribo with Barce¬
day, Casablanca—Porto Praia; following night Porto Praia—Paramaribo, al lona as the only stopping place. Finally, to our great satisfaction, at the end of
together 5550 miles. At Paramaribo connection would be made by a plane from November 1940 word was received that KLM was allowed to resume the Trini¬
the Curacao-Surinam service, so that it would arrive at Curacao at noon on the dad schedule. In the meantime, however, an energetic New Zealander, Mr.
third day. It was expected that the first flight could be made about September Llowell Yerex, founder and president of TACA air lines in Guatemala and
i6oy
several other countries in Central America, had organized a new company The Ciudad Bolivar service was not reinstated either. The only increase
which he called British West Indian Airways. In this company some local introduced in KLM s spring schedule was also as a direct result of the war. On

capital was invested. He obtained a concession to operate a service between Bonaire the Curacao Government established an internment camp for enemy

1 rinidad and Barbados and, the shipping situation becoming worse and worse, aliens and other undesirable persons, and this fact brought a special category

it obviously followed that his service prospered. So a British enterprise had of passengers, policemen, military guards, prisoners, and so forth; so many in

stepped in and when KLM was permitted to resume operations we were limited fact that it was decided to put in a third and later even a fourth service to Bon¬

to transport through-going passengers, but could not carry local traffic between aire each week.
the two islands. In connection with the changing economical and financial situations during

For a short time the line was run under these conditions, but as there were 1940, our tariffs and rates had to be readjusted. On some schedules they had to

hardly any passengers at all for other destinations we concluded that, much be increased; elsewhere we could afford to decrease them. T lie outlook for traffic

to our regret, we had better leave Barbados. Mr. Yerex B.W.I.A. thereafter as a whole was much better than in 1939, especially on the Paramaribo line,

operated an efficient service between Trinidad and Barbados. A short time later which gradually gained in popularity, due mostly to the fast expansion ol the

he included the small island of T obago, northeast of 1 rinidad, in this run and mining industries in that country.
during the following years extended his line along the string of islands on the However, during the second part of the year a decline in the bookings on
east side of the Caribbean. several of the lines set in. Evidently because of the uncertain political conditions,
the residents of the Caribbean Islands and South America more and more
limited their traveling to only the most essential.

The DC-5s are put into service

Th is tendency was most unwelcome in view of the much larger number of (
seats that were available on the DC-5s. When they finally arrived in Curacao

DC-5 interior they gave remarkably little technical trouble; they were easy to fly and the pilots
were very soon familiar with them. They were handy planes from the operational
point of view and our patrons were enthusiastic about their roomy cabins and
their pleasant, comfortable interiors.
In accordance with KLM’s custom they had again been given names of West
Indies birds, being: PJ-AIW the WAKAOO (Woodgoose) and PJ-AIZ the
ZONVOGEL (Sunbird).
The only trouble experienced was the increasing difficulty in getting spare

parts, spare engines and the badly needed tools and test equipment. I hese pur¬
chases moreover involved quite a substantial outlay of money, which no longer
could be provided by the Management in Holland.

KNILM is charged with the management of KLM

Shortly after the invasion of Holland the Netherlands Government, tempo¬
rarily set up in London, because of the fact that none of the former Directors of
KLM in The Hague had been able to get away, charged the KNILM in Batavia
with the management of all KLM affairs.
KNILM, the Royal Netherlands Ind ies Airways, which since 1929 oper-
 {6\ }>

Baby chicks arrive by

ated an extensive airnet in the Malayan Archipelago, had been managing for plane via Miami and Mar¬
KLM the Lydda-Batavia line, the part of the original KLM Amsterdam- acaibo
Batavia line that could still be operated after Italy joined the fight and attached
France in the bach. From June 1940 until September 15, 1945 it was KNILM,
in Batavia, who was in the end responsible for the KLM in the West Indies.
Times were far from quiet. J here was uneasiness everywhere; the KNILM
Management, under its Managing Director Major W. C. J. Versteegh, had to
cope with many difficulties and worhed under great strain. Communication
between the West Indies and the Netherlands East Indies was not easy and
the KNILM staff often had to mahe judgments from incomplete data, all in
addition to their own greatly increased responsibilities. They assisted KLM to
the best of their ability; the West Indies section often greatly benefited by their
advice and experience in many matters with which Curacao never had had to
deal before, since they had formerly been handled by the KLM Management in
Holland. Among other things, in September 1940 the Board of KNILM ordered
a reorganization of KLM s office in New York, appointing temporarily Mr. F. C. Authorities show interest
in new Douglas planes. 1.
Aronstein as U. S. representative.
to r.: Lt. Van de Laerschot,
Capt. Van den Donker,
On August 51, 1940, just before he departed for the United States on a
Naval Commander of Cu¬
business trip, Bouman was informed by the Governor of Curacao that Her racao, Governor Wouters,
Majesty the Queen had bestowed a great honor upon him by appointing him Capt. Venema, Police-
Chief, Attorney General
an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, as a recognition of his work in
Van der Laan, Director of
creating air services under the Netherlands Flag in the West Indies. Bouman Public Works Groote
expressed his personal feeling that every man in his organization was entitled to
share in this honor.

To discuss various points concerning the operations and future plans for the
West Indies, a little later the Management requested Bouman to fly over to
the KNILM head office in Batavia. He left Curacao by plane in November
1940, traveled via New York to Los Angeles, from there by PAA Clipper to
New Zealand, from there to Sydney and finally from Sydney by KNILM to
Batavia, arriving there on December 15th. He stayed six weeks in Java, during
which time various matters concerning the West Indies were considered in
detail and several important decisions were reached. The financial position of the
West Indies section gave cause for some concern. I he operational loss in 1959,
as explained, had been substantial; two brand new DC-5s had been added,
increasing greatly the amount needed for insurance and depreciation. A sub¬
stantial amount had to be appropriated for the purchase of the special equip¬
ment necessary for the maintenance of the DC-5s. On the other hand, during
the last part of 1940 the volume of traffic in the West Indies was not very en¬
couraging. Would KLM be justified in keeping the two big ships in the West,
or would it be better to transfer them to the East Indies, where there was an ever
increasing demand for space?

Interior of the enlarged station on Aruba

 During the three months Bouman was away Steensma, who at that time was
KLM’s representative in Lisbon, was again in Curacao to take the former s
place.

Various improvements on the airports

In August 1940 the new hangar and workshops at Hato were virtually com¬
pleted, although the shops still lacked some of the machine tools and other spe¬
cial equipment. At some distance from this hangar an engine test stand was con¬
structed. Gradually the necessary tools arrived, though various special instru¬
ments required for the overhaul of the Cyclone engines and the propellers of the
DC-5s were not yet there. The entire set-up proved to be a success; full credit
for the design of the workshops goes to the engineering department in Amster¬
dam, to our own engineers in the West Indies, and to the contractors.

The Shell Oil Company built a fine new gasoline pumping station of greatly
increased capacity. This was a welcome improvement, as from the two fueling
pits and a sturdy gasoline truck the planes could be refueled in much less time.
A similar gasoline station, though of somewhat smaller size, was installed at the
Aruba airport.
A very useful addition to Hato’s station building was a covered, glass-
enclosed entrance which enabled the people to go to and from their cars without
getting wet, should it be raining, and what was even more appreciated, it largely
prevented the wind from blowing clouds of dust into the hall. The kitchen and
pantry facilities were considerably enlarged; a great attraction was the new semi¬
circular bar with its huge refrigerator in the back and its red topped chromium
legged stools in front of the counter.
In 1940 some changes were made in the agreements with Maduro in Curacao
and Eman in Aruba. In view of a more economical operation KLM entered
into a contract with Eman, which stipulated that he would take over all activi¬
ties in Aruba including the small staff previously on the payroll of KLM.
Among them was Polvliet who first fulfilled various duties in the traffic depart¬
Fokker, Lock- ment in Curacao, and later became station manager in Aruba. Though officially
h e e d and Polvliet left KLM on that occasion, we consider him one of the genuine mem¬
Douglas
bers of the KLM family in the West.
The station building in Aruba again proved to be too small, especially now
that the DC-5s brought in their large loads of passengers all at once; so another
wing was added to the building. The enlarged bar proved to be the most appre¬
ciated addition.
A badly needed installation was completed on Hato, the design of which
because of the difficult conditions, undoubtedly required ingenuity. It was an
elaborate fire fighting system, including pumping stations, emergency tanks,
pipes and hydrants.
 Top right
Before embarking, passen¬
gers enjoy lunch at Hato.

Note new bar in back¬

ground

Middle right
Both DC-5s on the apron

Bottom right
All aboard for La Guaira

Bottom left
Landing wheels go up

•{63 j»

mm
«(64 j*

the war broke out. Consequently this plan was abandoned. However, another
In Bonaire Mr. L. D. Gerharts was appointed as KLM agent. He was
useful task for the ORIOL was found, about which too much cannot be told at
formerly employed by our previous agents, Messrs. Herrera. Gerharts had al¬
present. To be brief, with its crew it was put in military service, at first under
ways been a strong advocate for the establishment of the Curacao-Bonaire
command of then Lieutenant Andre de la Porte and, after this pilot had been
airline, and its favorable development is in a large part due to his valuable colla¬
transferred for even more important military duties, under Sergeant Van der
boration. The field in Bonaire still remained unreliable in very wet weather, but
Kolk. On August 24, 1944 an official report of the Netherlands Indies Army Air
funds to provide it with permanent runways were not as yet available.
Force listed Captain Andre de la Porte “missing in action in the South Pacific.
On the Zandery field there still were no radio facilities at the airport itself;
We do not give up hope that this excellent young pilot may yet return safely.
all radio communications were handled by the radio station in Paramaribo.
In July 1940 our friend Viccellio resigned and his departure was deeply
However, at KLM’s request a radio beacon transmitter was installed, which
regretted. He had been with KLM since 1935, and he participated and assisted
proved to be very helpful in navigating the planes in the vicinity of the field
in all stages of the development of our West Indies section, but he felt, as we all
under conditions of poor visibility.
did, that troublesome times lay ahead and he could be more useful in the
On the Trinidad airport, at the end of April, about 2200 feet of the new hard¬
United States. After the temporary, and at the time indefinite closing of KLM s
surfaced runway were completed and the ground-work for the rest of the project
Trinidad station, Koot and his assistant were transferred to Curacao.
was proceeding nicely. About that time the C overnment started to build a per¬
In December 1940 the Management in Batavia decided upon several more
manent building, which, besides KLM, housed various government bureaus,
mutations of personnel in the West Indies. Pilot Rupplin, who had been chief
customs and immigration departments, and offices for the other airlines.
pilot since the departure of Verhoeven in 1938, left that month for Java and his
In February 1940 the final flight for the large aerial mapping project in
duties were taken over by Pilot Hakkenberg. Rupplin had done a fine job in
Tachira, Venezuela, took place. In March the ORIOL and its crew returned to
Curacao and we were more than sorry he had to leave. Koot and Garschagen
Curacao. Shortly thereafter a large part of the Island of Aruba was photo¬
also were transferred to the East Indies in December. Shortly afterwards Koot
graphed from the air for the Curacao Government. KLM was negotiating for a
was called up, being a reserve officer in the Netherlands Navy. He is now a
very important aerial survey project with the Government of Venezuela when
prisoner of war in Japan. Garschagen remained in Java during the Japanese
invasion and he is reported to be in a civilian internment camp on that island.
Let us hope that their ordeal is not too severe and that these boys will soon
The WAR AGO on the picturesque landing field at La Guaira
regain their freedom.
Notwithstanding these departures at the end of 1940 we employed in Cura¬
cao 105 people; a few more than the previous year.

Traffic results in 1940

From what has been told before it can be understood that the traffic results
over 1940, though the figures were substantially higher than in 1959, were in the
end lower than expected at the start of the year. After all, the Barbados-Trini-
dad run was cancelled after Mlay, as was the Ciudad Bolivar extension.

The traffic between Curacao and Aruba was still growing. Against 6,300 in
1939 KLM carried 8,000 passengers in 1940 between those two islands, com¬
pared with only 2,659 in 1935. The Curacao-La Guaira service also showed a
gratifying increase, as did Curacao-Bonaire, due to the reasons mentioned be
fore. In the five months of 1940 that we (lew between Trinidad and Barbados an
average of 200 passengers a month was carried, as against half that number in

1939.
 J hough measured in absolute numbers the traffic between Curacao and
Surinam was still at a low level, it was almost four times as high as in 1939.

On all lines together 17,593 passengers were carried, as against 14,578 in

1939. The planes were 4,118 hours in the air, against 3,408 in 1939; and they
(lew 661,250 miles as against 562,400 in 1939. I be number of passenger miles
amounted to 2,656,000; we carried 348,000 pounds of freight and excess baggage
and 26,356 pounds of airmail. The route mileage at the end of the year was 2,807.

Though the operating revenue still was substantially lower than the total
expenses, the over all financial picture was better than in 1939, notwithstanding
the relatively high lunds necessarily allowed for depreciation and insurance and
the purchase of new workshop equipment in connection with the arrival of the
Holmberg guides the TROEPIAAL to station building
two DC-5s.

First landing in Jamaica

In December 1940 an urgent order was received for the execution of the char¬
ter flights for the Curacao and Jamaica military authorities in which, besides the
militarized ORIOL, one of the Lockheeds participated. During these operations
our planes landed for the first time at the recently completed airstrip of the new
Jamaica airfield. We will have to wait until after the war before the complete
story can be told, but the flying crews did some very good work and their achieve¬
ments were highly praised by the military commanders concerned.

And so a year that brought some severe disappointments closed with en¬
couraging prospects.
0000S

Rotary members participating in international convention in Curacao, May 1941, wel¬

comed by large crowd upon arrival by air

Flight crews in front of DC-5. Left to right: Bos, Hakkenberg, Wolff Spanjaard, Van der
Kolk, Broekhuyzen, Bak, Groeneveld, Plesman, Bouman, Holmberg, De Bruyn, Van der
Ham, Bennekorn, Van Oyen. Korevaer, Van Haaren, Schuttwaer
-i 66 y

of KLM’ s passenger bookings. Analogous circumstances in other parts of the

Caribbean had similar results, and from 1941 on we saw the load factor rise
steadily.

Whereas the war in Europe and the uncertainty it caused in the Western Good-bye to tbe DC-5s
Hemisphere, especially in the last quarter of 1940, resulted in a slump in inter¬
In April the Management in Batavia decided that the two DC-5s, of which
national traffic, this influence in 1941 gradually became counteracted by the
we felt so proud, should be transferred to the East Indies. As already explained,
decreasing connections by steamers. 1 he Royal Netherlands Steamship Com¬
at that time there were many good reasons for that decision. In the East Indies
pany, for instance, withdrew its popular passenger boat EL LIBERT ADOR
they were short of equipment; in the West Indies we had more than was justi¬
Irom the La Guaira-Curacao-Aruba-Maracaibo service, because it had better
fied by the traffic expected. Moreover, as mentioned before, KLM bad a lot of
and more important use for it elsewhere. After that, the air service was the only
difficulties in obtaining the spare parts and tools needed for the overhaul of
regular means of transportation and that of course was followed by an increase
the engines of these planes. Though we were very sorry to see the DC-5s leave,
their transfer to the East Indies lightened to a great extent KLM s heavy finan¬
cial burdens and, observing the financial results of 1941, the favorable influence
of this measure could clearly be seen in the accounts.

On May 29th the ZONVOGEL started from Hato for the last time and on
June 10th it was followed by the WAKAGO. We had the same sad feeling
you have when you say good-bye to a couple of friends you have known for only
a short time but of whom you have grown very fond. It is gratifying to know
that only nine months later those two planes played an important role in the
evacuation from Java to Australia and thus saved scores of men, women and
children from the terrible fate that many of their compatriots are now suffering.

So the fleet again consisted of the four Lockheeds and the two Fokkers, of
which one still was constantly chartered by the Curacao Government. With the
five planes available for commercial operations, KLM coidd very nicely operate
its slightly compressed airnet.

On February 20th Bouman returned from his trip to the Netherlands East
Indies and again took over the management from Steensma. The latter left for
the United States and then went over to the East Indies himself. He returned
from there a few months later and is at present at his former post as KLM repre¬
sentative in Lisbon.

It was mentioned before that as far back as 1936 KLM had opened negotia¬
tions with the Haitian Government for the operation of a service to Curacao,
which culminated in a contract. In 1940, after the contemplated expansion east¬
ward seemed pretty well established, the discussions with the parties concerned,
in view of the opening of that line, were renewed; however, it was found that
PAA was not able to permit the use of the small landing field because of ex¬
tensive improvements that shortly would be taken in hand, and so we were
more or less stuck.

Hato in June 1941

 *f 67 J*

Official reception of Captain and passengers of first plane to Jamaica, August 8, 1941, in
Myrtle Bank Hotel, Kingston; 3rd from left: F. L. Brown, Deputy Colonial Sec’y• Mr
Bouman; Mr. F. H. Robertson, Tourist Trade Commissioner; Mr. Charles d’Costa, agent
for KLM

Regular service to Jamaica

During 1940 the military authorities in Jamaica had started the construction
of an adequate airport on a peninsula south of the harbor called Palisadoes.
Up to that time there had been no landing field on the island; PAA operated
its service via Jamaica with Sikorsky C lippers. After the completion of the field
it was technically possible for KLM to open a line to Jamaica and, via the dip¬
lomatic channels, a request for a permit was filed with the British Government.
On June 5, 1941 we received word that this request had been granted. This was
a highly appreciated decision, recalling the Trinidad incident of the year before.
I he preparations were quietly taken in hand and, as a result of the cooperation
ol the local authorities and the energetic support of our agents, Messrs. Lascelles
de Mercado, the once-weekly service could be inaugurated on August 19th.

There were many reasons to expect that this service would be a success. In
the first place, in Jamaica the KLM lines would connect with PAA to Miami,
thus shortening the trip from Curacao to Miami by another three hours, while
lowering the total fare (of which, by the way, KLM would then cash a larger
part). Further, the KLM service provided by far the fastest connection between
the two largest British islands in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Jamaica. Finally,
Jamaica boasted many good hotels, beautiful scenery and cool mountain air,
V iew from Shaw
things not found in Curacao, and especially appreciated since the people there
Park Hotel, Ja¬
could not repatriate for their leave in Europe. Actually scores of the oil com¬ maica, where
panies employees with their families and many others went over to Jamaica many people
via KLM to spend a refreshing vacation. from Curacao
spend vacations
J he extremely cordial reception the manager of KL1VI and the crew, with
Hakkenberg in command, received when the first plane landed on August 19,
1941, was beyond all expectation. On that first flight they took with them the
I ersonnel Managers of the oil companies so that they themselves could see the
many attractions offered by Jamaica.

Early in 1941 there arrived in Curacao a KL1NJ employee well known to the
passengers traveling on KLM’s Amsterdam-Batavia line, Mr. Fred Meuser.
f fe had been the local manager in Naples, which place became a most impor¬
tant station after the terminus of the Amsterdam-Batavia line had been shifted
to that city on account of the war. After Italy joined Germany in the war Meuser
first went to Switzerland and finally he was assigned for duties in Curacao. In
connection with the preparations for the Jamaica line he was temporarily
i6sy
stationed on that island, where he ahly solved the many problems that always matter of fact for some time had carried out most of their services between Trini¬
arise when opening a new service. Meuser stayed there until the end of Novem¬ dad and Rio de Janerio with DC-5 land planes. Only on the local ’ service,
ber, when he was called up in the Netherlands Army; after some time he left for which was still operated on a once-weekly schedule with flying boats, a stop was
duties on the other side of the Atlantic. made at Paramaribo. However, it was their definite plan to switch over to the
One ol the troubles experienced in Jamaica resulted from the fact that the exclusive use of land planes on this route as soon as the necessary facilities had
airport was after all a military base and there were no buildings available for been completed. Therefore it was not surprising that they contacted the Surinam
commercial purposes. We had to stay at a respectful distance from all military Government and proposed that it allow PAA to improve the Zandery field at
installations. The site where the authorities proposed that KLM erect its station their own expense, under certain conditions which would give the Surinaam-
building was nothing more than swamp, and we were not very eager to put up sche Vliegveld Exploitatie Maatschappy, ’ a company founded for this specific
a rather expensive structure, plus a paved road leading to it, since KLM had purpose, definite and long lasting claims on this field. When those conditions
been granted only a temporary permit to use the field. After many discussions became known many Netherlanders regretted the fact that the Government had
Meuser, with the valuable assistance of the Tourist T rade Commissioner, Mr. not found a way to finance the improvement of Zandery without granting such
F. H. Robertson, finally succeeded in making a convenient arrangement with far -reaching rights to a foreign organization. Anyway, the contract was signed
the customs and immigration authorities; customs inspection, immigration and not long afterwards the most elaborate construction equipment began to
clearance, censor and all those rather annoying but in war time unavoidable pour in over the narrow railway track to the Zandery field. I he building of the
formalities, could be accomplished in the cool and well-equipped building of runways took much more time than originally envisaged. Some standard con¬
the Jamaica Tourist Board in Kingston. Therefore the passengers were trans¬ struction methods on which the American contractors had relied, proved not to
ferred ' in bond between the airport and the city. be feasible for the somewhat peculiar soil condition on Zandery. The whole

The traffic on this latest extension gradually became so heavy that pretty project was supervised by the U. S. Government and was virtually completed

soon, in October, the number of weekly flights between Curacao and Jamaica at the end of 1941.

was increased from one to two. Another important work connected with the airport plan was the widen¬
ing and hard-surfacing of the existing road and its extension as far as the air¬

Developments in Surinam field. The period of the faithful but primitive draisine had come to an end.

The increased demand for aluminum for the aircraft industry in the United
States resulted in a substantial rise in the export of bauxite from Surinam; Modern radio stations on Curacao and Aruba
consequently labor had to be imported, trade and travel increased, and so we saw During the course of 1941 some improvements, though mostly on a smaller
the Curacao-Paramaribo line, which had been a somewhat ailing baby in its scale, again were carried out on Hato airport. In view of the fast growing im¬
first two years, grow to a healthy plump infant. Soon its load factor reached portance of the aviation radio organization on both Curacao and Aruba, the
figures that previously would have sounded fantastic. Government decided to build modern radio stations on the airfields. The two
After the local services from Trinidad to Barbados and Ciudad Bolivar had stations were almost identical; they were equipped with high and low fre¬
been suspended there was, of course, no further justification in flying Curacao- quency transmitters of 400 watts power, a set of selective receivers and a gaso¬
Paramaribo in two days; so since early in 1941 we Hew outward to Paramaribo line generator in case the main power supply might be cut off. A pair of steel
via Barcelona and Port of Spain in one day, leaving Curacao rather early and lattice masts, eighty feet high and provided with red obstruction lights, was
making the 1050 mile return trip the next day. erected near each building, from which the operator on duty had a clear view

As repo rted before, in the beginning of 1940 the Netherlands Government of the entire airfield. Both stations were completed in September 1941.

decided to grant a sizeable loan to the Surinam Government to enable it In connection with contemplated flights after dark, on some of the projecting
to convert the Zandery field into a first class airport. I he unfortunate events in tops of the cliff on the west side of the field which protruded close to the approach
May 1940, when the Netherlands were overrun by the Nazis, put a halt to the path of the planes, red obstruction lights were placed.
realization of this important project, because Surinam itself saw no possibility Gradually more tools and other technical equipment were received from the
of financing so big a plan with its own limited funds. KLM was not the only U. S. A., so that KLM' s workshops were at last becoming a full-fledged main¬
party interested in an improvement of this field; Pan American Airways as a tenance base.
 Vo}
I owarcJs the end of the year, in striking contrast to the year before when
there was more seating capacity available on practically all our services than
could be sold, we gradually began to feel the shortage of equipment and o[
personnel. 7 he planes were many more hours in the air than before, and much
oi the overhaul and maintenance work had to be done at night, which put a
great strain on the small technical staff. 1 hose men deserve a lot of credit for
their unfailing zeal and devotion.

Financial results in 1941

During 1941 we flew practically the same number of hours as in 1940, 4,000;
however, the number of seat miles offered was lower as a result of the transfer
of the two largest planes, which had twice the seat capacity of the Lockheeds.
Minister Welter welcomed upon arrival
from Maracaibo by Governor Wouters But the number of passenger miles sold increased considerably, by 26% for the
full year. We have already mentioned the growing traffic to and from Surinam.
I he traffic to Venezuela also showed a remarkable increase as the oil industry
in that country was working at top speed in connection with the war needs in
Europe. Due to the reduced expenses, brought about by some reduction in
personnel, but largely due to the elimination of the depreciation and insurance
costs for the DC os, and on the other side the increased revenue, it was very
encouraging to note that in July 1941, for the first time, KL1VI s gross income,
including the subsidy, showed a small excess over expenses. T hough the net
revenue from July to December inclusive did not entirely compensate for the
loss during the first six months, on December 51, 1941 we were in the red
for only a very small amount.

A plan that had been considered for a long time was to take the dispatch
activities in Curacao into our own hands. I hough KEM was entirely satisfied
The next day Minister Welter inspects a Guard of and grateful for the good services rendered by Messrs. Maduro during the past
Honor of Netherlands Marines at Hato airport
years as dispatch agents, it was felt that we should handle this detail ourselves
in view of the growth of the operations. One of the employees of Messrs.
Maduro, Mr. Van Mannekus, who had already been in charge of the dispatch
activities for a long time, joined the KLM family for this purpose.

In view of the growing traffic the DC-5s were missed very much; one solu¬
tion to increasing somewhat the seating capacity of at least one of the planes
was found in reshaping the cabin of the good SNIP in such a way that it would
comfortably hold lifteen people instead of twelve, as before. This idea was ably
developed and carried out by EJriot s men; it was a modification that soon paid
for itself.

Often we have to carry huge loads of baggage

 ^ 71 y
Minister Welter visits Curacao and Surinam miles. Mile production was a trifle lower than in 1940—644,470 miles in 5,954
liours. I he number of passenger miles sold however jumped 26%. lo 5,451,000;
In May 1941 His Excellency Charles Welter, at that time Minister of Over
freight and excess baggage, as well as airmail, increased in almost the same pro¬
seas I erritories of tlie Netherlands Government in London, the lirst Minister ol
portion, to reach 455,822 and 50,478 pounds. During the last seven months only
the Crown ever to visit the West Indies, came to Curacao. Mr. Welter arrived
live planes were available, four Lockheeds and the SNIP, the other Fokker still
in Maracaibo by PAA, where the entire local Netherlands Colony was present
being permanently chartered by military authorities. The personnel in the course
to greet the Minister. I ime was very limited and shortly afterwards, piloted by
of the year had decreased to 95, ten less than on December 51, 1940.
Groeneveld, the Lockheed left Grana de Oro field and landed at Hato in pitch
darkness, where Mr. Welter was welcomed by the Governor of Curacao and
many other authorities. During the next two days he was able, due to his
extensive use of KLM planes, to visit Aruba and Bonaire. He was then flown
over to Paramaribo, where he stayed for several days and finally took the plane
again for Curacao. It was pure coincidence that we had been preparing to fly
one of the DC-5s back to the United States at that time, so that His Excellency
could be offered a comfortable and easy ride to Miami. A map was prepared for
Mr. Welter showing in detail the trips he had made by KLM planes and all the
places he had visited in those few days, thus demonstrating very clearly the time
savings represented by air transportation.

Or. Ysselstyn replaces Bouman

In July 1941 Bouman received a telegram from tlie Board of Directors of
KNILM in Batavia, stating they had appointed Dr. D. A. Ysselstyn, assistant
manager of KNILM, to succeed him as Manager of the West Indies section.
On September 9th, Bouman turned the Management over to Dr. Ysselstyn.
After serving some time with the Netherlands Purchasing Commission in New
York, Bouman, in August 1942, was appointed Executive Secretary to the
Board of KLM and KNILM, which had been set up in New York after tlie
occupation of the Netherlands Indies by Japan.

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor and the European
war became a global one. From then on the shipping services in the Caribbean
were even more curtailed; German submarines had made their appearance in
those waters. KLM s West Indies traffic was considerably influenced by the
suspension of the Grace Line s rapid service between the United States and
Curacao. The time had arrived when the people of Curacao would really feel
that there was a war raging; many difficult, heretofore unforeseen problems had
to be solved; additional strain was put upon KLM s already too small staff,
while demands for air transportation grew larger and larger.

T raffic results in 1941

In 1941 KLM carried 20,513 passengers on all lines in the Caribbean, three
thousand more than in the previous year. The airnetwork extended over 2,722
i72Y

women and children. It soon became apparent that KNILM s bases in Java
would be submitted to heavier bombardments and so the Government decided
that, in view of the necessity of maintaining the air connection with Australia as
long as possible, KNILM s main base should be moved from Java to Aus¬
tralia. Part of KNILM s Management and ground staff, and practically the
The Netherlands Indies lost entire flying personnel of both KNILM and KLM were transferred to that
The war in the Pacific was not going well at all. Encountering compara¬ country. Only about half of the KNILM and KLM equipment at that time
tively minor resistance from the outnumbered Allied Forces, the Japanese swept was not severely damaged or entirely lost through enemy action. Under the most
southward with bold strokes. Netherlands submarines took a heavy toll of hazardous conditions the flight crews carried out a large number of daring trips
Japanese shipping and fought a heroic delaying action south of the Philippines. between Java and Australia, the last planes loaded with women, children and
Almost fifty percent of the Netherlands Indies Airforce was lost in its gallant essential officials whom the Government had ordered evacuated and who left
attempt to assist the British to hold Singapore. Its mostly obsolete bombers and only after the Japs had landed on the island in great force. Not a single fighter
fighters were no match for the Zeros. After the fall of Singapore the outlook for plane was available to give them the badly needed protection. Rupplin, formerly
the Netherlands East Indies was black, but still there was a hope that Java senior pilot in Curacao, was in command of one of the last planes that had
could be held, if assistance from the allies could be rushed in. However, this been destined to go, but shortly before he could take off another aerial bombard¬
island soon suffered its first bombardments from the air. Already some of ment was loosened on the KNILM base and Rupplin’s DC-5 was blasted to
KNILM s planes had been shot down when they were caught by the Japs pieces. That is the reason why, to our great sorrow, we had to report to Rupplin s
while on their dangerous missions to and from the battle zones, carrying up war many friends in Curacao that he was taken prisoner by the Japanese, sharing
materials, military personnel and medicines, taking back wounded soldiers. the horrible fate of thousands of his compatriots in the East Indies.

Soon afterwards the KNILM Management, headed by Major Versteegh,

settled in Sydney. In March, according to a decision taken by the Board of
Directors, who unfortunately coidd not be evacuated from Java before the Japa¬
nese occupied the island, a new Board was formed in New York, composed of
Netherlands citizens, most of whom had previously been associated with KLM
or KNILM in one way or another.

Originally the new Board was composed of Messrs. A. A. Pauw, J. van den
Broek, H. Jacobson and E. C. Zimmerman. Later Mr. D. A. Delprat, previously
a Director in the Indies, was also appointed to the Board; after departure from
New York of Mr. Pauw and Mr. Van den Broek two new members were elected,
Mr. Prins and Mr. J. Cremer. Bouman, at that time working for the Netherlands
Purchasing Commission, was asked to fulfill the duties of Executive Secretary
to the Board.
Major Versteegh and his small administrative staff faced a very difficult
task. Many of KNILM s technical experts were urgently needed in the Nether¬
lands Navy Air Force and consequently were enlisted. With the remaining
personnel an amazing number of vital flights were made on behalf of the
U. S. military authorities in Australia. However, after a few months, owing to
various compulsory circumstances, the decision had to be made to sell the re¬
maining equipment, totaling ten Lockheed and Douglas transports, to the
U. S. military command. The greater part of the flying personnel were called up
for war duties, which they are performing gallantly and with admirable skill.
 1
^3 -

Management transferred to New York following each other so rapidly that they could hardly be incorporated in the
printed timetables. These frequently were caused by unexpected demands for
As KNILM no longer had its own operations in Australia the Board de¬
special flights in connection with the war and, even more than in former years,
cided to transfer Management of the KNILM and KLM to New York. The rea¬
by the urgent necessity of providing fast through connections with other lines,
son for this was that their major concern was the West Indies division; further
in particular with PAA’s services to the United States.
the line operated under the charter of the British Overseas Airways Corporation
As a result of the almost total lack of any other means of transportation,
between England and Lisbon, and finally the planning for the post-war period,
some lines, which up to 1941 only showed a light traffic, were booked to capacity,
which, because of the outstanding position of America with regard to the pro¬
and waiting lists became necessary. On the other hand, on a few of the other
duction of transport aircraft, could best be conducted in the United States.
lines, notably the Maracaibo service, there was less traffic than before. In view of
Actually the transfer of the KNILM administrative staff to New York took
the necessity of keeping the schedules within the limits of the maximum allow¬
place in the beginning of 1943, but already in the summer of 1942 Major
able total of flying hours, eventually all services had to be closely adapted to the
Versteegh paid visits to the operation centers of KLM in England and the
West Indies. immediate demands, rather than paying strict attention to the otherwise desired
uniformity, future possibilities or other wishes, which in these strenuous times
To lessen somewhat the shortage of pilots in the West Indies, two KNILM
had to be considered more or less as luxuries.
pilots were transferred from Australia, Mr. P. Badings, who arrived in May
1942, followed by Mr. J. Rouffaer in June. With Rouffaer came Mr. J. A.
Augustyn of the engineering staff of KNILM. In view of the greatly increased Charter flights between Aruba and Miami
operations in the Caribbean, which required much more specialized organiza¬ One of the organizations most hampered by the lack of boat transportation
tion, the latter was appointed chief of the technical department in Curacao, was the Lago Oil Company in Aruba. The American members of their staff
with Uriot second in command. always did a lot of traveling between Curacao and the United States; moreover,
vastly increased demands for oil products obliged this company to send out
Fluctuating traffic demands many more construction and refinery workers than usual. They had approached
Fundamentally there were not so many changes in the West Indies sched KLM back in 1941 regarding the possibility of chartering planes to ferry their
ules during 1942. Minor revisions, however, had to be made several times. staff between Aruba and Miami. It can easily be understood that some time

Much increased
number of flying
hours demands in¬
tensified mainten¬
ance

KLM ticket office

in Willemstad, Cu¬
racao; Van Manne-
kus behind the
counter
•t

First flight covers issued with inauguration

of new KLM routes in West Indies

tUCHTPOST
#h»ss«

\ FROM

K • t • M-ROYAl DUTCH AIR LINES-CIA. REAL HOtANDESA OE AVIAOON

tNDIMt StCTIO* rURAgAO N.w.

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ICe-Uee 4e
Ki»get0„

Al* uNts.
°^CA0 *%ANOi
^^AC/On
elapsed before the formalities with the U. S. Government concerning the
Renewed action of enemy submarines in the Caribbean and the cancellation
permit for these charter (lights, and all preparations in connection with dis¬
of shipping services, more and more showed their effect on the demand for space
patch, (light supervision, radio facilities and so forth had been completed. The
on the air services; the constant fluctuations in the passenger traffic involved
requested permits pending, one of the two weekly services from Curacao to
many intricate problems, the solution of which often demanded nothing less
Jamaica was provisionally extended to Havana on a charter basis. From Havana than ingenuity from the understaffed traffic department.
to Miami PAA operated an air service several times daily, so that from that
Altogether there was a steady rise and, if KLM had had more or larger
point on the bottleneck, though still existing, became a little wider.
equipment and more flying personnel available, the traffic figures would easily
In 19o8 KLM had appointed as its agents in Cuba Messrs. Dussaq and have surpassed those actually shown in our report for this year.
I oral. As soon as the plan for the extension of the line to Havana ripened
they were requested to assist in obtaining the essential permits from the Cuban
KLM sets up its own ticket office
Government and prepare all further facilities necessary to the opening of the
service. They did all this in a most competent way and due to their old and In January 1942 a reorganization was introduced in our commercial set-up.

well established relations with the highest officials, the required formalities were Previously in Curacao KLM itself did not sell tickets, but left that entirely
soon completed. in the hands of its agents, Messrs. S. E. L. Maduro & Sons and the Royal Nether¬

Early in 1942 the intermediate landing in Barcelona, on the way from Cura¬ lands Steamship Company. Owing to the increasing traffic and also in view of

cao to Trinidad and Paramaribo, was dropped. That station yielded very few the fact that the West Indies section had to be entirely self-supporting since the

passengers and anyway the planes on that route were filled to capacity with occupation of Holland, it was decided that as of January 1, 1942 KLM should
travelers from Curacao to Paramaribo and return. open its own booking office in town. J his measure was by no means a sign of
dissatisfaction with the service of these agents; on the contrary, we had always
the greatest praise for their activities and interest in our behalf. It was only a
April schedules natural course, that previously had occurred several times in European cities,
In April 1942 the following schedule was put into effect: where KLM, after some time, established its own ticket offices.

Curacao'—-Aruba (local).nine times per week

Aruba-Maracaibo .four times per week
Traffic record in August
'—La Guaira.four times per week In August 1942 a remarkably high traffic figure was scored. The number of
—Bonaire .twice each week passengers on scheduled and charter (lights in that month equalled the total
—Jamaica.twice each week number of passengers carried in the entire year 1935; but these passengers in
—Barranquilla.once each week August 1942 travelled almost 800,000 miles, as against a little more than
—Trinidad-Paramaribo.once each week 216,000 by those customers in all 1935. Freight, too, was carried in rapidly
—Coro .once each week increasing amounts. In October it reached its monthly maximum for 1942, being
over 19 tons express plus 10 tons excess baggage and in addition 6,500 pounds
Because of higher expenses and general rise in living standards, the passen¬ of airmail.
ger tariffs were increased on an average of 10%, and most of the inexpensive
Up to the month of June quite a number of charter (lights as far as Havana
round-trip tickets, which a few years before were introduced experimentally to
were completed. During the course of that month the United States Govern¬
stimulate the traffic, had to be cancelled. In May it was decided to suspend the
ment granted a two-month permit to execute charter flights on behalf of the
Coro service for the time being; the traffic to that place, as a result of the war,
Lago Oil Company to Miami. An arrangement was made so that in each
had become low and every (lying hour saved contributed to KLM’s ability to
plane to Miami the Lago Oil Company would only occupy eight seats, conse¬
carry out more charter (lights in direct connection with the war effort.
quently the two remaining seats in both directions could be sold to travelers not
In March KLM had the pleasure of returning to Barbados, though it was
connected with that company. According to the United States regulations those
only for a limited number of charter flights, made for the purpose of transporting
two passengers were not allowed to go beyond Havana, Cuba. However by
scores of laborers who were engaged by the oil refineries in Curacao and Aruba.
having these seats available KLM maintained a limited, but nevertheless regu-
Iar public service from Curacao to Cuba and return. From July 1942 to August the last few years there had been a rather heavy traffic by boat between Curacao
1943, practically all tbe time, an average of two round-trips per week were flown and that country and the curtailment of the steamship lines induced us to inves¬
between Curacao and Miami in charter to tbe Lago Oil Company. tigate the possibility of an air service.
J lie number of passengers between Curacao and Cuba, however, was
limited, mainly due to an old Cuban law which makes it extremely difficult for
The Parkiet is lost
a Netherlands citizen to obtain a Cuban visa. August 22. 1942 was a day of great anxiety, soon followed by deep sorrow.

In July Governor Wouters was succeeded by His Excellency J. Kasteel. A On that morning the Lockheed PARKIET left the Paramaribo field on sched¬

special flight was carried out to provide transportation for the departing Gov¬ ule, arrived at Piarco and, after the customary stop, started for Curacao. The

ernor and his family to San Jose, Costa Rica. This was the first (light of a KLM weather was rather unfavorable, though no worse than our pilots had often ex¬

plane to Central America. perienced during the wet season in the Caribbean. Shortly after the PARKIET
left the field, the radio contact was broken, but as no reports whatsoever came
1 he airfields on Curacao and Aruba greatly extended in there was no immediate cause to fear an accident. But the plane did not

In the beginning of 1942 the Dutch troops on Curacao and the other islands arrive in Curacao on time and therefore an alarm was sent to the various sta¬

were reinforced by American military units, among them bomber and fighter tions. Search planes were sent out the same afternoon and night. There was,

squadrons of the U. S. Army Air Force. For the landing and start of their however, no indication of the fate of the PARKIET. Early in the morning the

tremendously fast planes the Curacao and Aruba airfields were of insufficient reconnaissance flights were resumed. It was many hours later that a report came

dimensions. The Public Works Department of Curacao did another fine job; in saying the PARKIET was found, smashed to pieces, not far from the Piarco

in a very short time Hato s runway was extended to about twice its original size. field in the dense jungle. All occupants had been killed instantly by the terrific

Many installations and new buildings were erected in connection with the mili¬ impact. A careful investigation showed no mechanical defects. It was the first

tary requirements. From a medium size civil airport, in a few months Hato accident in almost seven years of continuous operation. From innumerable sides

became a first class military field. Necessitated by the military demands, in KLM received expressions of sympathy, proving how much the people of Cura¬

those months there was much more money spent for it than during all the pre¬ cao and Surinam considered KLM a part of their own and how many good

vious years together. friends we had all over the Caribbean.

Even more revolutionary improvements were required for the Aruba field, the The ten passengers killed were all of Dutch nationality; they were military

big problem there being that it was squeezed in between the sea and the main men as well as construction workers on their way from Surinam to Curacao.

road between Oranjestad and St. Nicholaas. A few years before it had been Several still had relatives in occupied Holland, which seemed to make this event

suggested that the road be diverted a quarter of a mile to the north, so that the even more sad. KLM lost three able crewmen^Badings, the pilot, who had only

field could be made that much longer. This, however, would have involved the arrived a half year before from Australia; De Bruyn, who had entered our ser¬

expenditure of a large sum of money, so the plan was shelved for the time being. vice in Curacao in 1936 as an apprentice mechanic and skillfully worked his way

J his time the Curacao Government had to take bold steps. A new road was up to a flight engineer; and radio officer C. van Oyen, who came out with the

laid out along the south coast, so that the field could be extended northward photographic crew in 1939, a fine fellow, a very competent radio operator and

over a considerable distance. The diversion of the road caused KLM s little valuable instrument expert. Their passing away was a heavy loss for our com¬

station building to be at an undesirable spot. Consequently the Government pany. The PARKIET was an irreparable wreck, from which only some minor

built a very nice and well designed permanent building near the south edge of parts could be salvaged.

the field. Th is building has been in use since September 1942. The twice- J his accident imposed an even greater strain on the remaining flight person¬
enlarged wooden structure that had served our purpose so well for more than nel and depleted equipment. More scheduled trips, originally flown with Lock-
seven years was taken over by the military detachment on the field. heeds, had to be carried out with the Fokker planes. With the heavy demand for
charter flights still undiminished, some of the less profitable lines had to be
First trip to Ciudad Trujillo further curtailed.

In August, for the first time, a flight was made straight north across the Passenger traffic in those days was still increasing and in fact the KLM
Caribbean to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. During booking-office in Curacao received many more applications for seats and carriage
of freight than coulcf be accepted. I he Government introduced a priority system,
which was undoubtedly the only way to secure places for vital passenger travel,
but at the same time further complice ited the task of the understaffed traffic
department.

Mow seemingly unrelated conditions can influence airline traffic was demon¬
strated by a decline in bookings on the Jamaica line in the fall of 1942. As told
before, this service was greatly favored by employees of the oil companies, who
were allowed lo spend their vacations on that island. However, as in several
other places, gasoline and tires became available only for essential driving in
Jamaica and without a car one coidd hardly reach the attractive vacation re¬
sorts on the beautiful north coast. So there was a sharp drop in vacation travelers
to Jamaica, which, on account of the already over burdened schedule, was the
reason to temporarily suspend one of the two weekly round-trips between Cura¬
cao and that point.

In September PAA inaugurated a new Caribbean air service from Miami

via Camaguey, Port au Prince and Ciudad Trujillo to La Cuaira, Venezuela,
with Douglas DC-3 landplanes. At the same time they applied to the Curacao
Government for permission to make an intermediate landing at Curacao, three
times each week. J his was not granted immediately. The refusal of the United Willemstad from 8,000 feet

States to KLM s request in 1936 to be allowed to operate a service from Curacao

had filed applications, but eight of these were dismissed before any hearings
to Miami had never been revoked, though the charter for the Lago Oil Company
took place. Of the remaining seven, five were foreign and two American carriers.
from Aruba to Miami continued on a practically twice-wee kly sch edule.
The final decision of the Civil Aeronautics Board was not made public
until April 1943. The five foreign carriers mentioned before, among them KLM,
Invitations for Miami received permits to start operations on most of the routes they had applied for.
However, an important event was in the offing. On September 10, 1942 the
Much had to be done, however, before we were able to inaugurate this service;
Civil Aeronautics Board in Washington, D. C. published their much discussed
the flight crews had to be instructed and the equipment had to be adapted ac¬
Docket 778, stating that on account of the serious shortage of transportation
cording to the rules applying to air operations over U. S. domestic territory.
facilities, due to the war, immediate inauguration of additional air services 1 hat took more time and more effort than had been expected. KLM s first sched¬
might be of considerable aid in alleviating this shortage. Further quoting the
uled trip to Miami as a public service took place in August 1943. More about
official document, the Board introduced a proceeding to determine whether per¬ this flight will appear in next year’s report. I he other carriers seemed to have
mits for the inauguration of air service by American or foreign carriers between
had their troubles too, because by then there was only one other company that
Miami and Central America and the Latin American countries should be actually started a service to Miami.
issued, whereby the applicants shoidd state the time that they expected to be
During the time the charter flights to Miami were carried out the service was
able to start this service and what equipment they had available for the purpose.
flown via Havana. As the Rancho Boyeros airfield was considered unsafe for
KLM s United States representative, at that time Mr. F. C. Aronstein, use by the fast Lockeed 14 s, the regular service was planned via a centrally
assisted by Mr. Versteegh and Dr. Ysselstyn, who came over from Curacao, located airport in Cuba, (Camaguey) and further it was decided to include
filed th e required documents^—pages and pages of printed statements, supple¬ Kingston (Jamaica) as well as Port au Prince, Haiti. One trip each week was
mented by maps, financial estimates, proposed schedules, personnel lists, de¬ to go via the former port and one via Haiti, where the field in the meantime had
scription of repair facilities, stocks of spare parts available, etc., etc. Then fol¬ been considerably enlarged and provided with hard-surfaced runways. A new
lowed hearings in Washington and then^-a long silence. contract between the Government of Llaiti and KLM for the operation of
We learned that a total of fifteen companies, six of which were American. scheduled services was entered into in August 1943.

{77 y
 Traffic results in 1942
And so ended the year 1942, which showed an unprecedented amount of
traffic: 25,817 passengers, 544,000 pounds of freight and excess baggage and
56,500 pounds of airmail. As never before, the charter flights formed a great
part of KLM’s operations; almost 200,000 miles were flown in charter, equaling
over 2,000,000 passenger miles, 77 times the number of charter passenger miles
of 1941. The total number of passenger miles, line and charter flights combined,
was over 7,071,000, more than double the figure for 1941. Against 5,954 in 1941,
the planes were 5,596 hours in the air, a notable achievement for the technical
department. The route mileage at the end of the year had increased to 5,128.

Whereas the expenses were only 20% higher than the year before, the op¬
erating revenue was more than double. Instead of a limited operating loss there
was a substantial profit. It was most gratifying that the Curacao and Surinam
Governments could be advised that their subsidies, which KLM had enjoyed
and appreciated so much in previous years to alleviate the operating loss, were
not needed for the time being.
The greatly increased activities made it necessary to engage quite a few more
employees, so that at the end of the year they numbered 154, a 40% increase
over the previous year.

Saba offers little opportunity to build an airport

It should be understood that this permission to operate a service from Cura¬

cao to Miami was of a strictly temporary character. It was granted for three
months, to be extended each time for an equal period at the discretion of the
C.A.B.; but it would in any case expire six months after the end of the war.
Though we were completely in the dark as to what the future would bring in
this respect, we nevertheless were confident that in the post-war era a recip¬
rocal agreement between the governments concerned might keep the door to the
U. S. open for KLM.

The last months of 1942 brought universally bad weather and exceptionally
heavy rains. The Bonaire field was drenched, so that the service had to be can¬
celled for a considerable period. Wet weather in Curacao often is accompanied
by illness; the personnel of KLM had its share, again increasing the strain on
the remaining staff. Nevertheless, some extra charters were carried out to
Ciudad Trujillo, from which place even foodstuffs were flown by plane to Cura¬
cao; on one of these occasions the Lockheed was filled with 1400 pounds of
cheese. The Paramaribo and Trinidad services were practically booked to capac¬
ity on each trip.

4 78 y
Reinforcement of flying staff
KLM s Caribbean operations in tbe beginning of 1943 continued practically
in tbe same way as during tbe busy last quarter of 1942. It was fortunate that
the Management in New York finally succeeded in getting some urgently
needed personnel released from military service. Most of these people originated
from tbe KNILM and they were temporarily put at tbe disposal of KLM in
Curacao. By June 6th pilots R. van Rees and W. C. J. Versteegb, the latter a
son of tbe Managing Director, arrived. Van Rees bad distinguished himself
particularly during tbe hazardous evacuation of one of tbe outer islands of tbe
Netherlands Indies, on which occasion he was injured severely, fortunately
without permanent harm. Both these pilots stayed for over a year in the West
Indies, until they could be relieved by KLM pilots, who also came from Aus¬
tralia. A few months later another pilot, G. J. Schipper, arrived in Curacao.
Mr. Schipper left his original company and joined KLM. Further, two radio
operators, Mr. H. Buytendyk and Mr. J. J. Muller, were assigned to the West
Indies, as well as three flight engineers, Messrs. Belie, Boon, and Weststraten,
all experienced crewmen of the KLM Amsterdam-Batavia line; also three from
KNILM, Messrs. Van Onselen, De Meel and Feith and in addition an instru¬
ment expert Mr. Colyn. These men were all extremely welcome reinforcements
to the technical staff.
Though there was still no question of an abundance of personnel, we could The Bay of St. Maarten island
at least breathe a little more freely and relieve to a limited extent the stress under
were prohibitive to the reopening of the Bonaire service. The Government of
which the original staff had worked, especially during the second half of 1942.
Curacao finally decided to construct a new airfield in Bonaire, suitable under

Regular service to Ciudad Trujillo all weather conditions. The project was actually started in December 1943,
but unfortunately the progress was rather slow.
Except for the important fact that the charter flights to Miami, pursuant to
the permit from the U. S. Government, were converted into a regular service in J hough in 1942 it was already felt that we practically were running to full

August, and that a regular ilight once every two weeks from Curacao to Ciudad capacity, the number of passengers as well as their average route mileage steadily

Trujillo was added, the schedule underwent only minor changes. In accordance increased. During 1935 each passenger traveled an average of 71 miles. This

with the traffic demands one round-trip weekly was added to La Guaira; to figure doubled in 1939; in 1942 it increased to 260 miles, in 1943 to 350 miles,

Maracaibo one was suspended. The frequency of the Trinidad-Paramaribo and with a top in November of 400 miles average per passenger.

Barranquilla trips was changed twice to adapt them to the fluctuating require¬
St. Maarten gets an airfield
ments. However, on August 4th a new revised timetable was published, which
In the beginning of this story we mentioned the three small islands in the
included the new Miami service; as from that date the schedule remained un¬
northeast corner of the Caribbean, that had also been Dutch territory for many
altered until the end of 1943.
centuries, namely: Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. These islands, though
The fares in general were not changed, but the excess baggage rates were
having a much better climate for agriculture than Curacao and Aruba, have
increased to the international level of 1% of the one-way passage fare.
only very limited economic value. For many years their budgets had to be supple¬
The exceptionally heavy rains, which continued in the beginning of 1943,
mented by financial help from Curacao. The transportation facilities from

{79 y
{soy
Curacao to the islands left much to be desired for a long time. It was not so long of land where even a small airfield could be made. As for the other two islands,
ago that one could only reach these spots by schooner, a trip enjoyable only on St. Maarten there was some land suitable for an airfield, but the cost would
lor people with sturdy sea legs, lasting from five days with a favorable wind, be rather high, very high in comparison with the economical significance of the
or up to three weeks, when the weatherman was unfavorably disposed. air service; on the Island of St. Eustatius, though of even less importance than

With the aid of a government subsidy the Royal Netherlands Steamship St. Maarten, Holmberg found a site where an airstrip could be made at a small

Company several years ago opened a fortnightly service to the Windward expense.

Islands with a small cargo steamer, which accommodated twelve passengers. But again it was the war that expedited the fulfillment of KLM s wishes. The
I his trip from Curacao, via Bonaire, to St. Maarten, took three days. After St. urgency for a fast connection with the Windward Islands for military and civil
Maarten the ship visited Saba, St. Eustatius and the British Island of St. Kitts authorities had increased and the Caribbean had not yet been cleared of enemy
and returned to Curacao along the same route, the entire journey lasting two submarines. Finally, the more expensive but definitely better location was
weeks. The war also caused an interruption of this connection and it is no adopted and the construction of a good airfield near Philipsburg, on St. Maarten,
wonder that, though there was not much hope for a financially self-supporting was decided upon.
air service, KLM kept an eye on that isolated corner of the Caribbean.
One day in July, before this field had been completed, there was an urgent
As early as 1940 Holmberg, the airport manager in Curacao, made a trip to case that demanded quick transportation to Curacao. The only field in the
these islands to investigate the possibilities for the construction of an adequate vicinity was on the British Island of St. Kitts; so the KLM plane flew over to
airstrip on one of them. He put his conclusions down in an enlightening report. that island, northwest over the Caribbean, a distance of 550 miles, took aboard
On Saba, just a volcano, rising steeply from the ocean, with its two tiny villages its passengers, who had come over from St. Maarten by motor launch, and
pasted against the lush green mountain sides, it was impossible to find a piece carried them to Curacao in record time.

Before first scheduled flight to Miami on August 17, 1943; l. to r.: engr. Slimmers, ass't
traffic-mgr. Peerehoom, Director of Gov’t Radio Service Willemse, Gen’l Mgr. Dr. Yssel- Arrival in Miami of first scheduled plane. Capt. Hakkenberg is complimented by Rear
styn, American Consul the Hon. Huddleston, Director of Pub. Works Groote, station-mgr. Admiral Meyer Ranneft of Netherlands Embassy. At left, Mr. P. Prins, Board member
Clemens, Mrs. Huddleston, Mrs. Ysselstyn, radio-op. Broekhuyzen, Capt. Hakkenberg, of KLM; fourth from left, Mr. M. E. A. L. de Jong, traffic-mgr. KLM/KN1LM. Far right,
co-pilot Langenberg, flight-engr. Bak Mr. Eichholtz, station-mgr. of KLM in Miami
r

<81 f

Curacao-Miami service inaugurated The traffic conditions had gradually become a little more stabilized and it
was thought possible to come to a more permanent schedule, instead of having
As previously stated, it took quite some time before all preparations for tlie
to adapt the service about every month to meet the rapidly changing situations.
extension to Miami bad been completed. Under temporary permission to make
Because of that KLM could also order a new printed timetable, which for the
charter llights it had been possible to use the same operations methods as on
first time appeared in a more luxurious edit ion with a brightly colored cover and
the other lines in the Caribbean. However, as soon as KLM became a public
illustrated with many interesting pictures.
carrier into American territory it was subject to the many times more compli¬
One of the most radical changes in the schedule was in the Curacao-La
cated United States Government regulations. Besides the fact that the flight
Guaira service which, practically through all the years, had been flown in the
crews had to prove that they were able to use all navigational resources as
morning hours. But now, after the opening of KLM s own Miami service, it
installed in the U. S. and were thoroughly acquainted with the U. S. flight
became important to provide immediate through connection to and from Vene¬
rules and regulations, the equipment, especially the radio sets, had to be supple¬
zuela; the schedule was arranged in such a way that the local La Guaira plane
mented by several special items, which as a result of the war, were often only
left Hato after the arrival of the plane from Miami. It stayed overnight in La
obtainable after several months of patient waiting. We are inclined to believe
Guaira, left that station at an early hour the next morning and arrived in Cura¬
that these complicated requirements were the main reason for several of the other
cao in time to enable passengers to transfer to the Miami plane.
companies, which had obtained similar permits, not actually starting the services
they had applied for.
Finally, in mid-August, everything was ready, and on the 17th of that month
the regular Curacao-Miami service was officially inaugurated.

Much interest was evidenced in this event. At Miami’s 36th Street airport
the TROEPIAAL landed ten passengers and 18,860 first llight covers for
Captains Rouffaer
stamp collectors, 8 hours and 23 minutes after departure from Curacao. The
and Bos in the cock¬
plane was welcomed by Rear Admiral J. Meyer Ranneft, Naval Attache at the pit of the MEEUW
Netherlands Embassy in Washington, the Dutch Consul in Miami, Mr. Van
der Stempel and several United States military and civil authorities. 1 he crew
on this trip was composed of Captain Hakkenberg, co-pilot M. Langenberg
(temporarily assigned for duties with KLM in 1943), flight engineer Bak and
radio operator Broekhuyzen. Two members of the Board of KLM and KNILM
and the Traffic Manager from New York, Mr. M. E. A. L. de Jong, were also
present. It undoubtedly was one of the most important events in the history of
KLM’s West Indies section.
KLM Lockheed in front of new sta¬
Interior of Barranquilla station building tion building of Avianca in Barranquilla
 relief action was organized in Curacao, and KLM contributed its share by
New York staff members assist in Curacao
carrying a full planeload of medical equipment and clothing collected by the
Several members of the staff of KNILM, at the time employed in the
people of Curacao to La Guaira. J his gesture was greatly appreciated by the
United States, were temporarily assigned to KLM in Curacao, to assist the
Venezuelan authorities. It was a satisfaction to us to have this opportunity of
General Manager with the many problems that arose with the expansion of the
reciprocating, be it to a small extent, the friendly cooperation KLM had for
lines and the ever increasing traffic.
many years received from the Venezuelan Government.
Mr. De Jong, mentioned before, stayed in Curacao during September and
In connection with the increased duties of the radio operator on the Miami
October; Mr. J. M. Mynlieff, secretary of KNILM, was there in August. Mr.
route, the technical department carried out an alteration in the cabins of the
J. P. De Bree, chief engineer of KNILM, temporarily residing in California,
Lockheeds, similar to an arrangement that had been in use in the Lockheeds in
assisted chief engineer Augustyn in Curacao during three months in the spring
ihe East Indies. A partition was placed behind the first two passenger seats, one
with the reorganization of the technical department and with his planning for
of which was already occupied by the radio man. In this way the operator had
the future.
his own compartment where he could work undisturbed and communicate much
Mr. H. K. de Graaf, operations manager of KNILM, first in May, June
more easily with the plane commander. The opposite seat was destined for
and July, and again from September until the beginning of 1944 assisted with
the flight engineer as, unlike previously, on the Miami line all services were
the expansion of the flight control office at Hato, a new department which had
executed with a crew of four, of which two were fully qualified pilots. Of course
already been prepared by chief pilot Hakkenberg, and which had become more
there remained only nine seats available for passengers, but there was no way
and more essential due to the tremendous increase in contemplated mileage.
This organization, which contributed largely to the efficient operation of KLM s to get around this disadvantage.

airlines in the Caribbean, had to be set up with a very limited and, in the It is understandable that from the very beginning of the air traffic boom in
beginning mostly unskilled, staff; the creation of this bureau was a great achieve¬ the Caribbean, KLM tried very hard to obtain some new equipment, and the
ment for all concerned. situation became critical after the tragic accident which resulted in the total loss
Miami having grown into an important KLM terminal, the Management of the PARKIET. Through the Netherlands Purchasing Commission and the
stationed there Mr. L. Eichholtz (formerly station manager in Batavia), who is Netherlands Shipping and Economic Mission in New York, and with the sup¬
closely cooperating with KLM’s local agent, Air Express International. port of the Curacao Government, every possible channel was probed to have
In August a tragic disaster occurred in Venezuela. Torrential floods engulfed some planes released for the operations in the West Indies, which became more
a large part of the Orinoco Delta; there were hundreds of victims and thousands and more of the highest importance in connection with the war. However, many
of homeless people who had lost everything they possessed. Spontaneously a other commercial carriers faced the same problem and the U. S. miltary require-

One of the additions to KLM car-park; bus

ferrying between La Guaira and Caracas Shaw Park Hotel, Jamaica, vacation resort Loading the Lockheed
 ments, which of course had preference, grew by the day. We have to be grateful
1,000,000 respectively. That month 110,000 miles were down in roughly 700
that these endeavors after all did not remain entirely without result.
hours by the Lockheeds and the Fokkers combined.

I wo Lodestars for Curacao

Traffic figures in 1943
T he U. S. Government finally released two Lockheed Lodestars, an im¬
In 1943 KLM carried in the West Indies, a total of 33,152 passengers as
proved and somewhat enlarged version of our Superelectras, to the Netherlands
against 2j,817 in 1942, and 724,673 pounds of freight and excess baggage as
Government, to be put in use in the West Indies in direct relation to the war
against 544,000 in 1942. J he greatest increase proportionately was shown in the
effort. 1 he Netherlands Government charged KLM with the operation of these
airmail, mainly due to the large shipments of letters to and from the American
planes, and through this arrangement they could take over many special and
garrisons in Curacao and Aruba. From 56,500 pounds in 1942 this soared to
charter flights, which previously had to be carried out with the older Lockheeds.
144,454 pounds. Passenger miles sold increased from 7,071,000 to more than
In this way the PJ-AKA and PJ-AKB provided a badly needed relief.
10,757,000, five times as many as in 1939. The number of dying hours increased
During the following months several trips of special character were actu¬ by 34% to 7,4/4 hours. At the end of 1943 the airnetwork measured 4,540 miles.
ally made by the Lodestars, after the pilots and aircrews had been given the As of December 31, 1943 the personnel numbered 191, twice the figure of
opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new ships and their different two years previously.
equipment. The cabins were originally fitted for use as military troop trans¬
ports and they remained thus for some time before KLM was able to obtain the KLM s Management transferred to London
chairs and all the other items necessary to convert the planes into regular, com¬
In September 1943 an important change in the general set-up of Nether¬
fortable passenger carriers. The presence of the Lodestars became of even more
lands commercial aviation was made by the Dutch Government in London.
importance when the Lockheed TROEPIAAL, on a scheduled flight on Octo¬
We have already mentioned that after the occupation of Holland by the Ger¬
ber 29th, just after the take-off from Jamaica, experienced trouble with the Iand-
mans and due to the fact that not one of KLM s original Management had
ing gear. Pilot Versteegh handled this difficult situation in a masterly manner;
been able to escape from the Nazis, the Government in London had charged
he executed a smooth belly-landing so that the passengers and crew, entirely
the Board of Management of KNILM in Batavia with control of all KLM
unhurt, could step out of the plane as if nothing at all had happened. However,
matters; and that the staff of KNILM, after the disastrous invasion of Java by
the plane was badly damaged. A repair crew, with tools and replacement parts,
the Japanese in February 1942 had been transferred to Australia; finally, that
was down over from Curacao. It was not until January 13, 1944, more than two
after the compulsory liquidation of KNILM s own operations in Australia,
months of hard and strenuous work, before the plane was again in dying condi¬
Major Versteegh, the Managing Director and his staff, in March 1943, moved to
tion. After a test flight it returned safely to Curacao to have the finishing touches
New York, where the Board of the company had already been established. From
put to this difficult but skillfully executed repair job.
this central point the operations of KLM in the West Indies and in England
In October 1943 KLM was fortunate enough to see arrive in Curacao two were directed after that date.
veteran pilots, Captains G. J. te Roller and E. E. Hulsebos. These two men
J he development of events all over the world induced the Netherlands Gov¬
had played important and gallant parts in the evacuation of Java and had ex¬
ernment in London to separate the management of the KLM from that of
perienced several narrow escapes.
KNILM. In connection with the liberation of Holland, expected in a not too

Over 3,000 passengers in one month distant future, it was felt essential to secure the closest possible contact with the
Board of Managing Directors of KLM. On the other hand, the interests of
As stated before, 1943 saw another increase in traffic on all lines and espe¬
KNILM lie mainly beyond the Pacific and with the growing strength of the
cially on the long-distance dights.
Allied Forces in that area, the time seemed not so far off that the Japs would be
In the month of July, for the first time, more than 3,000 passengers were
thrown out of the Netherlands Indies. KNILM should be ready to charge itself
carried, almost 80,000 miles down and close to 930,000 passenger miles sold,
with vital air transportation in those regions, following right behind the armies,
30% more than in July 1942. In August the figures were even higher, with 3,364
and therefore, the complete reconstruction of KNILM under the auspices of the
passengers and over 100,000 miles down. Seat miles down and passenger miles
Netherlands Indies Government had to be taken in hand with the least possible
sold reached top figures in November with approximately 1,200,000 and delay.
 I he Government consequently decided to appoint a new Board of Manage¬
ment o f KLM in London as of September 8, 1945. The members of this Board
were Mr. A. A. Pauw (formerly Chairman o f the KNILM Board in New
York), Mr. P. Rykens, Mr. G. J. Bensink, Professor J. de Boer, and Professor E.
Hondelink. At its first meeting this Board appointed as Managing Directors
Mr. H. Nieuwenhuis and Ir. P. J. C. Vos.
Mr. Nieuwenhuis has been in commercial aviation since 1923; before that
he was an Officer of the Royal Dutch Navy and, since 1915, a pilot. In the
service of KLM he was in charge of Rotterdam Airport and, since 1926, of
Schiphol, at the same time being KLM’s Operations Manager. Early in March
he was appointed the leader in Java of the newly founded Royal Netherlands
Indies Airways. He developed this into the prosperous Company we knew
before the war. In 1938 he returned to Holland to become co-Managing Direc
tor of the KNILM with Mr. A. Plesman.

The Royal Standard of Princess Juliana flies from the MEEUW

H.R.H. Princess Juliana and crew of the MEEUW, that brought Her from Miami
to Surinam and back. L. to r.: Spanjaard, Rouffaer, H.R.H., Bos, Van der Ham

Ir. P. J. C. Vos, a Reserve-Officer of the Dutch Air Force since 1928, has
been an Engineer with the K.P.M. Shipping Company in the Dutch East Indies.
He was with the Fokker Aircraft Factory until his spectacular escape by aero¬
plane to England during this war. He served with the R.A.E. as a pilot. Major
Vos was posted to tlie Air Staff in London and subsequently loaned to KLM.
As of September 15, 1943, therefore, the KNILM was relieved of the man¬
agement of KLM, but because of the fact that the KNILM staff for the time
being was going to stay in New York, they were charged with the representation
ol KLM in the United States.
The divorce of KLM and KNILM which ended this three year old marriage
of convenience, did not mean that the New York office dissolved its relations
with the Wesl Indies section. On the contrary, since the opening of the Miami
service much more work of the most diversilied kinds has had to be done in the
U. S. on behalf ol the West Indies operations.

Princess Juliana travels by KLM

We wish to complete the story of 1945 by putting on record the most honor¬

1M*
able task consigned to KLM in that year.

In November 1943 Her Royal Highness, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands,

who since 1940 had made Her residence near Ottawa, Canada, decided to pay a
visit to Surinam, and it was arranged that She should travel by KLM.

The cabin of the Lockheed MEEUW was specially fitted to carry the Prin¬
cess and Her Suite as comfortably as possible on this long trip. I he Royal party
left Miami on November 1st, escorted by two military bombers, one of the U. S.
Army Air Force and the other of the Netherlands Indies Army Air horce.
A stop was made at Port au Prince, Haiti, where the Princess was welcomed
by Minister of Foreign Affairs Gerard Lescot and Mme. Lescot, whose home
She visited briefly before making a short automobile trip around the Haitian

The MEEUW escorted by a U.S.A.A.F. and a Netherlands Indies Army bomber

Upon arrival at Port au Prince, H.R.H. is welcomed by Min¬

ister of Foreign Affairs Gerard Lescot and Mme. Lescot

capital. I he next landing was made in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Her
Royal Highness was received by several of the high ranking United States mili-
lary authorities, after which the Princess proceeded to the home of Governor
Rexford G. 1 ugwell, where She had dinner and spent the night.

After the departure from Puerto Rico the course was set in such a way that
the MEEUW passed over the little Netherlands islands in the northeast corner
of the Caribbean. I he airfield on St. Maarten was not completed at that time, so
that no intermediate landing could be made, but this was partly compensated for
by the MEEUW flying low and circling over the islands. Work had stopped,
schools were closed and everywhere flags were waving gaily in the strong breeze
of the northeast trade wind. On a large field the school children were standing
at attention, forming the letters “O for the House of Orange, and “V for
victory, while Princess Juliana’s greeting cards were dropped from the plane. A few
minutes later the course to St. John, Antigua, had to be resumed; the MEEUW
was refueled and Irom there on the flight proceeded straight to Port of Spain,
1 rinidad, where, after the landing, an honor guard of Rritish IVIarines greeted
the Princess’ plane by playing HET WILHELMUS. The Princess was wel-

J85f
{86Y

corned by the Governor, other British officials and U. S. Admiral A. G. Robin¬

son, who lormerly was stationed in Curacao. After a short rest the party pro¬
ceeded on the last lap of the journey to Surinam.
I he MEEUW arrived at Zandery airport late in the afternoon of November
2nd. Units of both tl le Netherlands and United States forces in Surinam par¬
The total traffic on the West Indies lines during the first six months of
ticipated in the warm welcome for Her Royal Highness and, as She stepped from
1944 again was higher than during the corresponding period of the previous
the plane a band played the Netherlands national anthem. The Princess was
year; it remained at a fairly steady level and averaged monthly 2700 passengers,
received by Governor J. C. Kielstra and many high ranking American and
880,000 passenger miles sold, 27 tons of freight and extra baggage. KLM’s Lock-
Surinam officials.
heeds and Fokkers combined flew an average of 650 hours, covering almost
After inspecting the Guards of Honor the Princess continued to Paramaribo
100,000 miles per month. Only the amount of airmail, mostly due to the inaugu¬
and during the two-hour procession She won the hearts of Surinam’s polyglot
ration of the PAA service from Miami to Curacao, but also as a result of the
population. As the car passed through the various settlements, the natives
withdrawal of part of the U. S. forces from the Dutch islands, decreased to barely
waved, cheered and threw (lowers in the path of the Princess, the Carib women
half that carried in 1943.
in gold-banded festal garb, Creole women in their voluminous Kotta Missie
dresses, and the Hindus and Chinese in their traditional costumes, each in their As in the beginning of KLM’s business in the Caribbean, the Curacao-

own way extending greetings. Aruba line still ranked first in the number of passengers carried, with an average

It goes beyond the scope of our story to fully relate the visit of Her Royal of 1300 each month. Curacao-La Guaira had shifted to second place with

Highness to Surinam—the first time that Princess Juliana had visited one of the about 360; unpretentious Bonaire came third with over 300 passengers arriv¬

Netherlands overseas territories and the first time She had set foot on free ing and departing. Fourth was Maracaibo with 250 which, a few years before,

Netherlands soil since May 1940. These were days of unlimited enthusiasm, of occupied a strong position as second. Trinidad averaged the same figure as

demonstrations of genuine patriotism and pledges of unbreakable ties of the Barranquilla with about 180, followed closely by Miami and Paramaribo. The

House of Orange with the people of Surinam, of all color, race and creed. other destinations attracted less than one hundred passengers per month each.

Completing Her week’s visit the Princess left Surinam on November 9th for
Her return flight to the United States. That trip was also made in the MEEUW 1944 Schedules
and accompanied by the same military escort. The crew members who had the
During the greater part of 1944 the schedules showed the following services:
honor of flying the Princess on this memorable occasion were Captain Bos,
Curacao—Aruba (local) .8 times weekly
co-pilot Rouffaer, flight engineer Van der Ham and radio officer Spanjaard.
—La Guaira.5
I hroughout the entire trip the West Indies Manager accompanied Her Royal
—Aruba-Maracaibo.3
Highness.
—Bonaire .3

Before the end of the year KLM was able to link Curacao’s little part in the —Miami .2

northwest corner of the Caribbean with the main island. (once via Port an Prince and once via Kingston)

At the end of November the field on Si. Maarten was ready; on December —Barranquilla .once

3rd the first plane landed on the island amid intense curiosity and tremendous —Kingston .

enthusiasm. It was not the intention to start with a regular schedule at once, —Trinidad .
but rather to carry out charter (lights as circumstances might demand. —Trinidad-Paramaribo.

In addition the schedule included the following trips: a so-called regular

extra once a week to Barranquilla, and once every two weeks a (light Curacao-
I rinidad, one Curacao-Trinidad-Paramaribo, and one Curacao-Cuidad Tru¬
jillo. 1 he mileage of all the routes combined was 4,540**md about 20,000 miles
were flown each week on the scheduled services, not including the charter
flights and extra trips.
 After the completion of the airfield near Philipsburg, KLM soon started to
carry out charter (lights to the Island of St. Maarten; the interest in this service
grew to such an extent that for the coming months an average of two trips each
month was fully justified.

Princess Juliana makes a second trip with KLM

In February of this year for the second time KLM was honored by providing
transportation for Her Royal Highness, Princess Juliana, this time for a visit to
Curacao and Aruba. On February 24th the MEEUW, manned by Captain
Hakkenberg, co-pilot Versteegh, Jr., flight engineer Van der Ham and radio
officer Van Haaren, left Curacao for Miami, via Kingston. On the 26th they
returned over the same route with the Princess and Her Suite, again accom¬
panied by the General Manager Dr. Ysselstyn. In Kingston, where the little
station building had been decorated in bright colors, the Governor of Jamaica
and Lady Huggins, the Netherlands Consul Sir Alfred D’Costa and several
military and civil authorities were present to greet Her Royal Highness.

At 3:30 P.M. the MEEUW landed on Hato airfield. For this occasion the
passenger department had been temporarily shifted to one of the hangars, so
that the station was entirely available for the reception of the Princess. His
Excellency the Governor and many military and civil officials, as well as repre¬
sentatives of various foreign countries, were there to welcome the Princess; as
the plane rolled to a stop a band struck up the Netherlands anthem and a mili¬
tary guard of honor presented arms.
Princess Juliana in the MEEUW. With Her are Jhr. van Tets, Her sec’y, and Dr. Ysselstyn
On February 29th a special flight was made to Aruba and back, which
enabled Princess Juliana to pay a visit of eight hours to that island. This visit of Her Royal Highness to Venezuela without any doubt strength¬
ened the already close ties between that country and the Netherlands. On
On March 2nd Her Royal Highness visited the Island of Bonaire, where a
March 4th the return trip toward Miami was undertaken, the crew this time
colorful group awaited her in gaily decorated carts and trucks. This flight was
consisting of Captain Groeneveld, co-pilot Van der Kolk, flight engineer Van
made in the ORIOL. The next day the MEEUW carried the Royal party to
der Ham and radio officer Broekhuyzen. In the meantime the airfield on St.
La Guaira for an official visit to Venezuela. One of the Lodestars was used by
Maarten had been completed, so that a landing on that island was included.
the authorities accompanying the Princess on this trip. On Her arrival the Prin¬
J he entire population of St. Maarten and many inhabitants of the two neigh¬
cess was hailed by the people of Venezuela as “the worthy representative of a
boring islands were present to greet the Princess. Her Royal Highness spent the
heroic people and was given a thunderous ovation on this, Her first visit to this
night on the island and the following morning the trip was continued, via
South American Republic. Her Highness and Her Suite stayed for several hours
Ciudad Trujillo and Camaguey. In Ciudad Trujillo the Princess paid a visit to
in Caracas, where a brilliant reception was given by General Isaias Medina,
the President of the Dominican Republic.
President of the Republic. The climax of Her visit was the ceremony by which
On the entire trip the MEEUW was escorted by two bombers of the U. S.
President Medina invested Princess Juliana with the highest Venezuelan honor,
Army Air Force. During the journey, which had done so much for the strength¬
the Collier of the Order of the Liberator, America s oldest decoration, created
ening of the relationship of the House of Orange with the Netherlands terri¬
in Peru in 1825, and which is given only to chiefs of state or heirs apparent. At
present it is held by only six persons. tories in the Caribbean and several of the surrounding Republics, the Princess
traveled over 4,000 miles by KLM.
 Miami traffic jumps ahead
But in the fall there was an unprecedented demand for seats. In the begin¬
ning of October 44 most Miami-Curacao trips for January 1945 were already
booked to capacity.

1 o the extent permitted by the equipment and personnel available, extra

flights were added to the regular schedule. In the second half of the year the
number of passengers on the Miami line increased to a monthly average of 260,
and still the waiting lists grew longer and longer. From seventh place in number
of passengers, this vital service jumped ahead to fourth place, leaving behind
Maracaibo, Trinidad and Barranquilla. As to passenger mileage the Miami
line beat all others by a wide margin.

In March two veteran employees of KLM were assigned for duties in Cura¬
cao. They were Mr. J. J. Peters, formerly an inspector on KLM s Amsterdam-
Batavia line and later an officer in the Netherlands Military Flying Service, and
Captain Van Balkom, who finally came back to Curacao after a diversified
career. We mentioned before that he left Curacao in 1955; after that he had
flown over all Europe and between Amsterdam and Batavia, and he assisted
with the evacuation of Java in those fateful days of February 1942. In Australia
he served with the Netherlands Indies Army Transport Command and finally
the Management got him released for duties in Curacao.

In the past the position of operations manager in Curacao had always been
H. Nieuwenhuis, Managing Director KLM since Major P. J. C. Vos, Managing Director of KLM
September, 1943 since September, 1943 fulfilled by the senior pilot, and as long as an airnet of limited size was operated
and the duties of the pilots could be arranged in such a way that the senior pilot
had sufficient time to manage this department, this set-up worked out satisfac¬
torily. However, the responsible work connected with the operation of much
PAA includes Curacao in its schedules longer lines, the addition of complicated international regulations, the sharp

An important event for Curacao in the development of commercial aviation increase in flying hours and so forth, took practically the entire time of the senior

was the opening of the regular service by the Pan American Airways from pilot. These considerations led to a reorganization of the operations department

Miami via Port au Prince, Ciudad 1 rujillo and Curacao to La Guaira in Febru¬ in Curacao and the establishment of a flight control office. Captain Hakkenberg,

ary 1944. They started to fly three times weekly, but soon thereafter the service with considerable devotion, succeeded in running the flight bureau after Rup-

became a daily one. As expected this new connection caused some reduction plin’s departure, notwithstanding the lack of adequate help. But in the end a
reorganization was inevitable.
in KLM s traffic, but fortunately the demand for seats was still so great that the
average number of passengers in the KLM planes between Curacao and Miami As already mentioned, during 1945 De Graaf, head of KNILM’s opera¬
remained on a high level. The only marked decrease was in the transportation tions department, spent several months in Curacao to assist Hakkenberg in
of airmail, because of the fact that the only sound principle, that the mail should establishing this new branch. Finally, in March 1944 Captain Van Balkom
be forwarded to its destination at the first available opportunity, was carefully arrived in Curacao and, in accordance with his seniority and also in view of his
maintained. Temporarily, during the summer, there was some reduction in the long practice with these matters, was put in charge of the operations department,
traffic figures on a few of the routes. Several defense projects in the Caribbean to which he could devote his full time.

were nearing completion and the constant How in both directions of personnel, Mr. Peters, with his long experience with KLM, was a very welcome addi'
employed with these works, started to decrease gradually. tion to Dr. Ysselstyn’s small office staff, which for several years had worked

{s8 y
 *{ 89 )*

under a continuous strain as a result of the shortage of shilled personnel.

Lockheed-12s are added to the KLM fleet
Three KNILM pilots who for many months had rendered valuable service
to KLM during the time we were so short of pilots, returned to their own com¬ Some relief in the still existing shortage of equipment was obtained when

pany. Captains Rouffaer and Van Rees left on April 4th for the United States, the Commander in Ch ief of the Royal Netherlands Indies Army Air Force put

where they were assigned to special duties; Versteegh, Jr., followed a month at the disposal of KLM a couple of Lockheed L-12s. These small planes had

later. I he latter however returned temporarily to Curacao in August in view of been used for some time for the training of Netherlands Indies pilots in the

a number of essential charter (lights that had to be carried out during the follow¬ United States on twin-engined aircraft. After the completion of the training

ing months. program a few ol these Lockheeds were made available for other purposes. I hey

In .May two co-pilots arrived from England, Mr. W. C. van Heugten and could carry only four or five passengers, but they were a welcome acquisition for

Mr. C. van der Plas. In October these two men were elevated to the rank of first KLM, being very useful for charter flights and also for training and refresher

pilot. Captain Hulsebos, who arrived in October 1943, returned to the U. S. courses for the KLM flying personnel.

in July, where he was assigned to other duties. It was also a loss to KLM that 1 he first plane to be reconditioned for our own use bore the civil registra¬
Van Mannekus, who had been in charge of the dispatch of our planes for a long tion mark PJ-AKC; it was put into service with KLM in March 1944.
time, left Curacao in August to accept a position with the Netherlands Indies An important piece of work was finally completed in August. The second
Government in Australia. In August another KLM pilot arrived from England, edition of the Agents Manual was distributed among KLM’s offices and agents
Mr. V. A. Mans, so that the flying staff at that time, besides the Operations throughout the West Indies. People who have themselves never helped in the
Manager Captain Van Balkom, consisted of seven captains, three co-pilots, compilation of such a simple-looking book cannot possibly understand the
fifteen Flight engineers (several of whom were assigned to ground duties by tremendous amount of work involved in gathering and bringing up to date the
turns) and eight radio operators, the latter number including the chief of the vast amount of data, chapters full of instructions and directions, all of which are
radio maintenance department. Van Haaren. an indispensible guide to those who sell air transportation. 1 he first edition,

The K0L1BRIE in front of the temporary station building on Palisadoes airport,

Lodestar PJ-AKA and Lockheed PJ-AIK at Port au Prince airport Kingston, Jamaica

i
iooy
which was compiled in 1935 by Bouman and Koot, had gradually become ating it once every two weeks. J he (lying time between Curacao and St. Maarten

obsolete. There were so many corrections and additions that little was left of the is three hours and forty-five minutes. With this newest addition Curacao had

original text. Besides the personnel of the head office in Curacao, Mr. de Jong, become the hub of a vast spider web of airlines all over the Caribbean. I he

Traffic Manager of KNILM in New York, had a large share in compiling this establishment of the airline to St. Maarten was made linancially possible be¬

work. cause the Government of Curacao guaranteed a minimum revenue on these

trips. This extension brought KLM s route mileage up to 5,180.
In the same month a new and colorful route map, showing the West Indies
lines, was published. A couple of important charter flights between Paramaribo and Miami were
carried out in June, July and August on behalf of the Netherlands Government.
A sad event occurred in May. One of KLM s most honored collaborators,
On one of these trips, under command of Captain Te Roller, only one inter¬
John Cj. Eman, head of the Eman Trading Company in Aruba, who from the
mediate landing was made and the whole 2,410 mile flight was completed in
first days of operations in the West Indies had been one of the strongest advo¬
cates of air-travel and throughout the years a close friend of KLM in the most one day, the actual flying time being 14 hours.

all-embracing sense of the word, died after a very short illness. His passing Another notable flight was made by Captain Hakkenberg, when the Lock¬

away means an irreplaceable loss not only to his relatives, his friends and his heed-12, PJ-AKC, flew from Curacao to Nassau in the Bahama Islands; this

firm, but for KLM as well. was the first time that one of KLM’s planes landed in that territory.

On July 3rd the President of the Republic of Haiti, Dr. Elie Lescot and his Remarkable in this period was the great demand for seats on the Barran-

suite, traveled in a special KLM plane from Port au Prince to La Guaira. On quilla service as a result of the increasing interest of Curacao people for Colom¬
his way back to Port au Prince the President stayed two days in Curacao as a bia as a vacation resort.
guest of the Governor, His Excellency P. Kasteel. On July 10th this honored The high traffic figures scored in August 1943 were surpassed again in
visitor returned to Haiti. August 1944. The number of passengers, 3,451, was the highest in the history
of KLM in the West Indies; the number of passenger miles sold was almost
Regular service opened to St. Maarten 1,000,000; the freight and excess baggage carried amounted to more than 64,000

As of July 27th the regular service from Curacao to Philipsburg on St. pounds. It is worth mentioning here that during that same month KLM started
Maarten was inaugurated. In accordance with the demands KLM started oper¬ to carry fresh vegetables, fruit and milk from Miami to Curacao, whereas during

June 11, 1944. Miss Lee Yu Ching, famous Chinese aviatrix, arrives
in Curacao, on good-will flight through Caribbean. L. to r.: the Sec¬
President Lescot thanks the KLM crew of PJ-AKB for his trip on retary of Chinese Consulate; Capt. Hakkenberg, Miss Lee Yu Ching,
completion of his visit to Curacao. L. to r.: Capt. Van der Kolk, the Mr. Peters of KLM; Chinese Consul; Mr. Chong, well-known
On Soledad Airport, Barranquilla President, radio-op. Buitendyk, flight-engr. Van Onselen Chinese business-man, and radio-op. Van Haaren
 PRESENT K L M LINES
REROUTED OR
SUSPENDED LINES
OTHER AIRLINES

FIGURES IN CIRCLES INDICATE

YEAR OF ROUTE INAUGURATION

01935 ©1940
©1936 ©1941
©1937 ©1942
©1938 ©1943
©1939 © 1944
SAN JUAN ST.THOMAS

ANTIGUA

BARRANOUILLA.

BARCELONA

SCALE OF MILES
STATUTE

200
A/AUTICAl
BRITISH
 KLM AIRLINE ROUTE MILES

1944 Schedules
Curacao-Aruba . 73 miles Curacao-Aruba-Port au Prince-
Curacao-Aruba-Maracaibo . 241 Camaguey-Miami .1301 miles
Curacao-Aruba-Barranquilla. 412 Curacao-Aruba-Ciudad Trujillo . . . 487
Curacao-Aruba-Kingston . 660 Curacao-St. Maarten. .. 564
Curacao-Aruba-Kingston-Camaguey- Curacao-Bonaire . 49
Miami .1258 Curacao-Trinidad . 530
Curacao-Aruba-Port au Prince. 544 Curacao-Trinidad-Paramaribo .... 1081
Curacao-La Guaira . 175 miles

POST-WAR PLANS

At the International Aviation Conference held in Chicago in November, 1944, upon the
instigation of the U. S. Government, the Netherlands Government delegation submitted
the following international air routes, sought for the Netherlands after the war, in, or in
connection with KLM s operations in the West Indies:
*1. Netherlands West Indies—Venezuela 8. Netherlands West Indies*—Europe:
(Fa Guaira, Coro, Maracaibo): (a) Curacao-Paramaribo-Natal-Sal-
*2. Netherlands West Indies—Colombia Lisbon-Amsterdam;
(Barranquilla); (b) Curacao-Bermuda-Azores-Amsterdam;
*3. Netherlands West Indies—Havana (Cuba); 9. Surinam—Buenos Aires (via Paramaribo-
*4. Netherlands West Indies—Trinidad St. Luiz-Pernambuco-San Salvador-
(B.W.I.); Rio de Janeiro-Montevideo);
*5. Netherlands West Indies—Dominican 10. Surinam—Africa—Netherlands Indies
Republic; (via Paramaribo-Natal-Freetown-Lagos-
*6. Netherlands West Indies—Jamaica Lake Chad or Kana El Fasher-Khartoum-
(B.W.I.); Shar jah-Karachi;
*7. Netherlands West Ind ies—Miami (a) Karachi-Delhi-Calcutta-Rangoon-
(via Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba); Bangkok-Penang-Medan;
(b) Karachi-Madras-Colombo-Medan).
*These routes have previously been in operation.
 d 93 b

several months substantial quantities of meat were sent by plane from Curacao lines, will again be very satisfactory. KLM will have carried about 35,000

to Bonaire. passengers, who will have traveled 11,500,000 miles in its planes. 1 hose planes
together will have flown 1,250,000 miles in some 8,000 hours. Cargo and excess
Due to the increased possibilities for tbe use of tbe Lodestars tbe technical
baggage will amount to approximately 740,000 pounds, and the airmail to
department had the opportunity to give the TROEPIAAL, after its return from
75,000 pounds.
Jamaica, a complete and thorough overhaul; this work had to be extended over
several months. After the PJ-AKB had undergone a similar conversion pre¬ That is 13 times the number of passengers carried in 1935, 50 times the

viously, in August the cabin of the Lodestar PJ-AKA was completely fitted for number of passenger miles, 40 times the goods, and almost 120 times the airmail

commercial use. in that same first year of our operations. The decrease in the amount of airmail,
as explained before, mainly due to the fact that all southbound mail from Miami
With the increasing traffic and addition of new lines the rolling stock was
is being shipped by PAA, will undoubtedly cause a substantial cut in the net
gradually enlarged. 1 he road between Paramaribo and the Zandery field being
revenue over this year. Nevertheless we are conlident that the operations over
completed, we first ran a large bus between those two points, but the unsatis-
1944 will yield a pleasant, be it moderate profit.
I factory condition of the road compelled us to resort to smaller vehicles. Lor the
connection over the road between Hato and the city one large and two small 1 hough the average seating capacity of the planes was increased due to the

buses were added to Curacao s automobile fleet. By August it had increased to addition of the Lodestars, the load factor over 1944 reached the high level of

twelve units, including six station-wagons and three buses, and orders were 84%, only 2% lower than in 1943.

being placed for more. Thus approaches the end of the ten year period, in which KLM flew 37,148

I KLM’s representation in the U.S.A. H.E. Elie Lescot, President of Republic of Haiti, is welcomed by
It might be mentioned here that, as of September 1st, 1944, Mr. Bouman, the Governor P. Kasteel upon his arrival at Hato airport, July 8, 1944

former Manager of the West Indies section, was appointed by the Board of
Directors as General Representative for KLM in the United States, succeeding
Major Versteegh, who, because of developments in the Pacific, is expected to
leave New York with the KNILM staff in the near future.

The extension for five years of the contract with Venezuela, which became
effective in October 1944, was a great satisfaction. Recalling the long period
during 1936 when KLM was anxiously awaiting the signing of the first contract
I with that country, it brought a feeling of gratification; apparently the Vene-
| zuelan Government appreciated the reliability of the fast air connections with
| which KLM always endeavored to serve the interests of that progressive
I republic.

1 The conclusion of our story

It was the intention that this book be in the hands of our friends ten years
( after the date the SNIP landed on Hato. Consequently, the story of KLM s
I operations in the Caribbean must be concluded a couple of months too early.
I During November and December of this year many notable things may hap¬
pen in the West Indies, important decisions may be taken; the end of the
war in Europe, for which we pray so fervently, will undoubtedly have its con¬
sequences. However, the printer is waiting.
If traffic in the West Indies continues as it is now, figures for the year 1944,
^ notwithstanding the arrival of a strong competitor on one of the most important
I
I
I
<
i94Y

hours, carried almost 170,000 passengers, and sold over forty million passenger most of the country and that a free Dutch Government, under the beloved

revenue miles. Shill and devotion of our men, and reliable, be it small, equip¬ House of Orange, will have been reinstated.
ment, are tbe main factors which enable us to proudly state that in all those ten A great and difficult task lies ahead. However, what was done in 1919, can
years we had to report only one fatal accident. be done again. KLM over there will rise once more; it will be rebuilt on its

December 22, 1944 will mark the end of the decade in which KLM started to shattered foundations; a new European bridgehead will be erected. Many things

build its Western bridgehead for the Atlantic airway from Holland to Curacao. will be different from 25 years ago. The main concern will not be just a few

Four years have elapsed since the time we could say we were ready to welcome hops of a couple of hundred miles with the tiny single engined crates we called

the planes that would leave Amsterdam and, after flying over 6,000 miles, aeroplanes in 1920. Commercial aviation is already circling the globe. It has

would land at Hato airport, KLM’s Caribbean spider web providing fast through grown into a major means of transportation, in which every country that en¬

connections to important traffic centers in that region. After May 1940 little of deavors to play a role in world trade, and which has adequate technical ability,

KLM was left on the European continent. For four long years the Netherlands will justly desire its share. It would be squarely against the principles the United

people had to endure a most appalling slavery. But at the moment these last Nations are fighting for if the means necessary for a healthy economical develop¬

lines are written the Allied Armies are invading Germany and have crossed ment would be denied to any of the countries who, by sacrificing blood and

the southern border of Holland. On September 14th more than a thousand property, have proven that they honestly desire the realization of the Four

army transports dropped paratroopers and tons and tons of supplies on strate¬ Freedoms’ for all human beings.

gic points in Holland. Against desperate fighting ol fanatical Nazis the allied A lot has been said about a fifth freedom—the freedom of the air. At present
soldiers, guided by Dutch commandos and underground forces, are pushing its complete fulfillment seems rather far off; it is an immensely complicated
ahead. But over the difficult terrain progress is slow and made only at high cost problem which cannot be solved on V-day. There will be quite a number of

ol lives and property. international conferences and diplomatic negotiations, wh ich will probably
result in most people obtaining a little less than they think they are entitled to.
On October 7th it was 25 years since KLM was founded in The Hague,
The best we can hope for now is that every nation who deserves it gets a fair
starting its quarter of a century of uninterrupted operation ol international air¬
chance; then world’s commercial aviation, stimulated by a healthy competition
lines. By that date only a small part of the Netherlands had been liberated, but
and fostered by loyal cooperation, may become one of the most effective con¬
there is still hope that on the day that marks the tenth anniversary of the land¬
tributions to man’s living in peace, health and prosperity.
ing of the SNIP at Hato, the bestial suppressors will have been chased from

Modern architecture. Station building in Aruba. Designed and built by the

Curacao Public Works Dep’t
 Perhaps soon KLM will be able to place the arch of its Atlantic bridge on
the two bridgeheads and establish the link between the Netherlands in Europe
and in America. And then we can gratefully look back to the decade during
which we were able to keep the KLM flag flying on free Netherlands territory.
Without customers you can’t do business, and therefore, before closing, a
word of sincere appreciation is certainly due to the many thousands of people
from all parts of the world who, either by just hopping over to Aruba in half
an hour or by traveling thousands of miles in KLM’s planes, have shown con¬
fidence in the organization, the men and the equipment of the West Indies
Section of the Royal Dutch Airlines.

This story is written by L. F. Bouman, the maps and the artwork are done by Lodestar over Caribbean
Ralph Warren, and it is printed by Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson, Inc., New York.
The photographs mostly originate from the writers private collection; in
addition several were supplied by KLM, Curacao, and the Netherlands Infor¬
mation Bureau, New York. We regret that many interesting pictures, especially
those relating to the history of the operations in the last four years, had to be
omitted due to wartime restrictions.
New York, November 1, 1944.

^95f

V 4 ' ... . .. ti nrr mnurairmniM—1 —n —

 PERSONNEL CHART

K.L.M. ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES

West Indies Section
October 1, 1944

PERSONNEL DEPT,
TRAFFIC REPRESENTATIVE OPERATIONS TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
and
DEPARTMENT MIAMI DEPARTMENT Chief Engineer: J. A. Augustyn
ACCOUNTANCY
•Ass't Chief Engineer: W. Uriot
Chief: Act. Traffic Mgr.: L. Eichholtz Operations Mgr.: AIRPLANE DIVISION ENGINE DIVISION LINE SERVICE .RADIO AND
*L. C. Zonruiter •J. J. Peters •Capt. J. J. v. Balkom STOCKROOM ADMINISTRATION
FLIGHT
Ass't Chief: Ass't Traffic Mgr.: Foreman: Foreman: Foremen: INSTRUMENTS Foreman:
*W. Steen •H. Peereboom •Capt. N. Bos *J. W. Klynen Chief:
•A. J. Schuttevaer *B. J. Slimmers *P. Opschoor
•M. Weststrate •R. Brouwer
Personnel matters: Traffic Matters: Ass't Operations Mgr.: 1st Mechanics: Inspector: Chief: Stockroom Ass'ts: Clerks:
•Miss E. Salas H. v. d. Boogaart *R. Verpoorter* *P. Aengenendt Flight Engineers: •R. H. v. Haaren
W. Frdnkel *E. Henriquez O. V. Breet
R. Jaeger •A. Bak E. Lira
Bookkeeping: Miss D. Faessel Ass't Inspector: Radio Electricians: A. Quast
Miss C. Jurrjens Pilots: 2nd Mechanics: •J. Belie
B. Schotborgh *W. v. Bennekom *G. Mensink Clerk: E. Hernandes
*J. Sprock •Capt. G. te Roller •I. Panneflek O. Dominquez
C. Brandt Tickets and F. v. Sleen H. Helburg
•Capt. H. Hakkenberg G. Jansen Overhaul Shop: W. Feith
•Miss S. Salas Reservations: v. Gaasbeek E. Campagnara Electricians: Stockroom Helpers:
*J. Henriquez 1st Mechanics: *H.
•Capt. N. Bos F. de Meel *D. Kirindongo
F. O'Connor J. Hellmund Ass't Mechanics: •E. Korevaar F. Cornet
•G. Veira •Capt. H. Groeneveld J. v. Onselen W. Brown
E. Bloem •Capt. T. v. d. Kolk P. Delfer E. Baromeo
H.v.d. Ree V. Agnes •J. Plesman W. Parris E. Helburg
Capt. W. v. Heugten E. Oehlers Three flight engineers
Traffic Admin: W. Newton •E. Veenendaal J. Garcia
F. Helburg Capt. C. v. d. Plas •H. Wolff Instrument Div.:
Appr. Mechanics: Mechanics: M. Davelaar
•W. Lablans C. Vinck Capt. W. C. J. Versteegh,
Jr. (K.N.I.L.M.) *J. Cyntje G. Zegwaart
F. Pieters Miss R. Rosiers J. Capriles Mechanic:
C. Best 1st Officer B. Mans D. Thomasa A. Fynje
C. Eleonora •W. Leander
D. Ramnandan Appr. Mechanics:
E. Emanuelson Hato airterminal: Radio Operators: Sheet Metal Shop: Ass't Mechanics: Instrument Mechs.:
H. Welhous M. Ryke Oei Kok Tjai
Airport Mgr.: Chief: *A.Thode
G. Wederfoort A. Kooiman
A. deWindt *H. Clemens •R. H. v. Haaren
J. Resina
J. vanDelden Ass't Airport Mgr.: •J. Spanjaard Metal Workers:
L. Zimmerman *H. Buytendyk Accessories Shop: Cleaners:
*E. deJongh *H. Schouten
Miss C. Molenaar •J. Muller Foreman: Foreman:
Miss L. Bauer C.deJongh C. v. d. Bliek
S. Newton •W. Broekhuyzen Th. Lont D. Cumberbatch
Miss L. Lauffer •H. Welschen
Misj I. Braam E. Ruiz Turners: Twenty-one cleaners •Denotes personnel five years
•H. Mense Appr. Metal Workers:
Porters: S. Vieyra A. Bulo or longer in KLM service.
G. Isberta
Filing and Five Flight Control Office: J. Nicia •G. Mense
Correspondence: Busdrivers: Welder: Fitters:
A. Kreps
Miss C. de Haseth Four Mrs. A. Clemens B. Jesurun *C. v. d. Berg
One Ass't F. Swalef
Service Dept. Clerks: G. Mattheo
Miss D. Schotborgh Mgr.: E. Jansen Upholstery Shop: J. Mensink
F. G. Evans A. Kaersenhout
Mailing: F. Dionisio Ass't Mechanics:
L. van Breet Mrs. C. Rupplin L. Vredenbrecht
A. Tore H. Smeins
Ass't Upholsterer:
O. Braams R. Penso
J. Toppenberg M. Clement

Maintenance: it Shop:
E. Melfor

Ch. Osiano Mechanic:

O. Leonora
Carpenter Shop:
Cleaners:
A. Kelie
•E. Martina Four
A. Martina
F. Petronillia
E. Vivas

Cor Repair Shop:

C. Crozier
L. Seferina
E. Eleonora
J. Martina
Truck Driver:
M. Santiago
Cleaner:
One
 '"miirnr

Model for new Hato station building, designed by Public Works Dep’t of Curacao,
construction to be started in near future

Miami, Florida (permission of Publicity Dep’t, City of Miami)

 AGENCIES OF KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES IN THE
WEST INDIES AND SOUTH AMERICA

KLM wishes to pay its sincerest compliments to its agencies throughout the West Indies
who, by their faithful cooperation and consistent interest in the fostering of commercial air
travel, have contributed materially to the steady development of the West Indies section:

-<^?-

Barcelona, Venezuela Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic Maracaibo, Venezuela

Manual Chafardet Curacao Trading Co. Royal Netherlands Steamship Co.

Barranquilla, Colombia Coro, Venezuela Miami, Florida, U. S. A.

Avianca J. Angel Mendoza Air Express International, Inc.

Curacao Trading Co. Oranjestad, Aruba

Cristobal, Canal Zone
Eman Trading Co., Inc.
Basseterre, St. Kitts Royal Netherlands Steamship Co.
Ryan & Uddenberg Paramaribo, Surinam
Fort De France, Martinique Curacao Trading Co.
Bogota, Colombia
Ralph A. Montplaisir
Curacao Trading Co. Port Au Prince, Haiti
Georgetown, Demerara, Br. Guiana E. & G. Martijn
Bridgetown, Barbados
S. P. Musson Son & Co., Ltd. Sandbach Parker & Co., Inc. Port of Spain, J rinidad
Royal Netherlands Steamship Co.
Camaguey, Cuba Havana, Cuba
Nuevitas Trading Co. Dussaq & Toral Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
Ed. Romer (Royal Neth. Steamship Co.)
Caracas, Venezuela Kingston, Jamaica
Royal Netherlands S. S. Co. San Fernando, Trinidad
Lascelles de Mercado
Club de Turismo Geo. F. Huggins & Co.
Kralendyk, Bonaire St. Maarten, N. W. I.
Castries, St. Lucia
Bonaire Trading Co. Cyrus W. Wathey
Peter & Co.

Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela La Guaira, Venezuela Willemstad, Curacao

Casalta & Battistini Curacao Trading Co. S. E. L. Maduro & Sons, Inc.

KLM is also most appreciative to Holland American Line, its General Passenger Agents
for the United States, Montreal and Mexico City, the offices of Royal Netherlands Steam¬
ship Company throughout the West Indies, to Pan American Airways and to Eastern
Airlines, for the loyal manner in which they handled KLM s business in connection with
the Caribbean Operations.
 ■\99}

TRAFFIC STATISTICS OF K.L.M. ROYAL DUTCH fHRLMES WEST II1DIES SECTIOn

PERSONNEL (perdec.3i) I ROUTE MILEAGE (perdec3I) HOURS FLOWN I REVENUE MILES FLOWN

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PASSENGERS CARRIED PASSENGER MILES FREIGHT m EXCESS BAGGAGE MAIL

POUNDS POUNDS

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CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO OO CTO CTO CTO CTO 00 OO OO 00 CTO OO OO OO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO OO CTO CTO OO CTO CTO OO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO CTO
 *

Printed in U.S.A.

1_ _ _ _