Gus Winckel, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Gus Winckel

Dutch World War II hero

Date of Birth: 03-Nov-1912

Place of Birth: Muntok, Sumatra, Indonesia

Date of Death: 17-Aug-2013

Profession: aircraft pilot

Nationality: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Willem Frederick August (Gus) Winckel (3 November 1912 – 17 August 2013) was a Dutch military officer and pilot who flew for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force (ML-KNIL) in World War II.
During the attack on Broome, Western Australia, on 3 March 1942, Winckel managed to land his plane full of refugees safely on the Broome airstrip just before the Japanese attack.
He then dismounted the plane's machine gun and shot down one of the Japanese fighters, the only Allied "kill" during the attack. Shortly after the attack on Broome, Winckel was sent on a mission to Bandung, Java, to recover several officers from the Allied headquarters, which was under threat of being overrun.
He served the remainder of the war with No.
18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF in Australia.
After World War II, he fought in the Dutch Politionele acties.