Scholte, Elke (Oral history)

Dutch petty officer served aboard submarines HNLMS K XVI and K XIV in Far East and US, 1939-1943; served aboard submarine HNLMS O 19, 9th Submarine Flotilla in GB coastal waters and 8th Submarine Flotilla Far East, 7/1943-7/1945 including sinking on Ladd Reef in South China Sea, 9/7/1945

REEL 1 Background in Sneek, Netherlands, 1919-1936: family; education. Aspects of training and service with Royal Netherlands Navy in Netherlands and Mediterranean, 1936-1939: reasons for enlistment in Royal Netherlands Navy; early training; non-intervention patrols aboard HNLMS Hertog Hendrik during Spanish Civil War; fire control system aboard German cruiser Deutschland; transfer from HMLMS Hertog Hendrik to cruiser HNLMS Gelderland. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard submarines HNLMS K XVI and K XIV in Far East, 1939-1942: background to joining submarine service; joining HNLMS K XVI at Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies; duties on board; story of starting to learn English in Singapore, Malaya, 1939; reasons for belief that Netherlands would be involved in Second World War; transfer to HNLMS K XIV; unpreparedness of US Navy for war, 1941; German equipment on board Dutch K boats; lack of supply problems in Dutch East Indies after occupation of Netherlands; stationing in Balikpapan, Borneo, Dutch East Indies, 12/1941. REEL 2 Continues: attempt to intercept Japanese invasion fleet to north west of Borneo, 23/12/1941; torpedo hit on merchant vessel; training on Dutch submarines; second patrol to Pulau Laut area of Macassar Strait; attack by Japanese aircraft; failure to intercept Japanese forces in Macassar Strait, early 1942; third patrol in Java Sea; superiority of Japanese forces during Battle of the Java Sea, 27/2/1942; shortage of oil for submarine; problems negotiating Sunda Strait; voyage along Sumatra, Dutch East Indies to Columbo, Ceylon, 3/1942; question of German Japanese contact on Madagascar; voyage from India to South Africa, 10/1942-11/1942; accidental clash between HNLMS K XIV and Dutch ship SS Kota Tjandi in North Atlantic on route to US, 23/11/1942. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as petty officer with submarine HNLMS K K XIV in US, 1942-1943: free victualling provided by US Navy; story of Vichy French submarine which sank Allied shipping; ashore in Philadelphia; repairs and alterations to submarine; how he lost stripes for going Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) in US, 1943; move to Dundee, GB, summer 1943. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard submarine HNLMS O 19, 9th Submarine Flotilla in GB coastal waters and 8th Submarine Flotilla in the Far East, 7/1943-1945 including sinking on Ladd Reef in South China Sea, 8/7/1945: transfer to submarine at Grangemouth, GB; 7/1943; character of submarine; provisioning in Rosyth, GB; social life ashore; move to Ceylon; patrols off west coast of Sumatra, summer 1944; problems of negotiating Japanese defences in Lombok Strait; patrolling from Freemantle, Australia, 10/1944-12/1944; use of Bathy Thermograph in Lombok Strait; success of second patrol; question of Japanese survivors unwillingness to be picked up; effect of having female survivor on board. REEL 4 Continues: third patrol and depth charging by Japanese submarine chaser, CH-5, 9/1/1945; report by broadcaster Tokyo Rose that HNLMS O 19 had been sunk during attack; damage sustained by submarine; unorthodox use of red wine issue; ashore in Port Darwin, Australia, 1945; running aground on Ladd South China Sea and rescue by submarine USS Cod; fate of HNLMS O 19, 9/7/1945. Aspects of transfer to submarine HNLMS O 23 in Far East, 8/1945; story of mission to rescue Dutch internees in Dutch East Indies, 1945. REEL 5 Continues: opposition from Indonesian insurgents during rescue mission.