The ship ‘ Sloet van de Beele’ that carried my grandfather, Marinus Droop, during World War II, was bombed by the Japanese during the invasion of Indonesia. Opa Droop served in the KNIL, the Royal Dutch East Indies Army. His picture was taken shortly before the invasion. "Troop transport ship SLOET VAN DE BEELE (1914) of the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (Royal Dutch PackageDelivery Company) under captain C.L. van Dierendonck and the Netherlands Navy destroyer 'Van Nes', which accompanied her as her protector, were attacked in the Gaspar Straight south of the island of Bangka, by planes from the Japanese aircraft carrier 'Ryujo' and both sunk at position 03.27 ° S / 106.38 ° E. Attempts were made by the Netherlands Naval Air Service to save survivors of both ships. The Catalina 'Y 62' succeeded in rescuing and boarding 87 drowning people in a single flight. The Dornier 'X 18' also managed to pick up 55 survivors. In total, about 225 people on board were rescued. THE BEELE had left for Tandjong Priok with 383 KNIL soldiers from Tandnong Padan (Billiton). Because there were also civilians on board, it is not known how many people lost their lives. The masts of the wreck of the SLOET VAN DE BEELE were still visible in the Gaspar Straight in 1958. Sluiten