Dornier
Do-24T-3 HD.5-1/X-24 Marine
Luchtvaartdienst
Thirty-seven
Dutch- and German-built Do 24s had been sent to the East Indies by the
time of the German occupation of the Netherlands in June 1940. Until the
outbreak of war, these aircraft would have flown the tri-color roundel.
Later, to avoid confusion with British or French roundels, Dutch
aircraft flew a black-bordered orange triangle insignia. A Dutch Dornier
Do 24 is credited with sinking the Japanese destroyer Shinonome
on December 17, 1941 while the ship was escorting an invasion fleet to
Miri in British Borneo. On 10 January 1942 a Dutch Dornier Do 24K
spotted a Japanese invasion fleet heading for Tarakan Island in Dutch
Borneo, giving adequate warning so that all oil installations could be
destroyed before the Japanese arrived. After the Japanese invasion of
the Netherlands East Indies, six surviving Do.24s were transferred to
the Royal Australian Air Force in February 1942. They served in the RAAF
through most of 1944 as transports in New Guinea, making the Do.24 one
of the few aircraft serving operationally on both sides during World War
II.