JAN VAN DER GAAG ✞ | 16.9.1916 - 27.2.1942

This page is made in Memory to my uncle Jan van der Gaag (I’m named to him), Jan the (14 month) older brother of my father served the Royal Netherlands Navy and died during the historical World War II 'Battle of the Java Sea' on the 27th of February 1942 when his ship, the light cruiser Hr. Ms. Java was hit by a Japanese torpedo at 23.32 PM, in complete darkness and sunk almost instantly.

At that time the Hr. Ms. Java was part of the The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) together with two heavy cruisers, HMS Exeter and USS Houston, three light cruisers, Hr. Ms. De Ruyter, HMAS Perth and nine destroyers, HMS Electra, HMS Encounter, HMS Jupiter, Hr. Ms. Kortenaer, Hr. Ms. Witte de With, USS Alden, USS John D. Edwards, USS John D. Ford, and the USS Paul Jones. The Dutch ships where under command of Admiral Karel Doorman (also killed in action) from his flag-ship the light cruiser Hr. Ms. De Ruyter.

More than 2300 sailors died during this sea-battle on the 27th of February of which 900 sailors from the Dutch ships Hr. Ms. De Ruyter, Hr. Ms. Java and the Hr. Ms. Kortenaer. From the Hr. Ms. Java total crew of 560, only 43 sailors survived.

Of course I never met my uncle and when my father (Gerrit van der Gaag 1917-2005) still was alive his name popped up occasionally but not very regular. I remember that my father told me that it was uncertain for several years for him and the family, if he had died during the battle or maybe escaped alive from the sinking ship and still was alive as Prisoner Of War in one of the Japanese camps in Indonesia or Japan. The official 'Act of Dead' from the bureau of civil status in Batavia (Jakarta - Indonesia) arrived at the family 6 years later on July 1948 where they confirmed that my uncle had died during the battle of the Java Sea on the 27th of Februari 1942 aboard the Hr. Ms. Java, at the age of 25 year in the military rank of Leading Seaman (Kwartiermeester) of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Especially my grandmother suffered from the uncertainty and conflicting messages over those years and died in 1953 at the age of 58.

In 2023, I discovered a box with old family photographs and noticed a stack of very small photographs from my uncle in there. So I scanned the photo’s and digitally cleaned them from dust and scratches, edited them and enlarged the files in Photoshop. Now on the larger photo’s much more details were visable so I tried to identify his age and placed them in a timeline and the ships he sailed on, from the moment he signed at the Navy in 1935 at the age of 18 till the end of his life in February 1942. This all made it easier with the detailed information of original copies of his personal Marine records and officiall cards I received (on request) in 2017 from the department of Semi-Statistic Information Management of the Ministery of Defense of the Netherlands. After cleaning and coloring (some), as you will see below, some of the photo’s are so crisp and sharp as if they were not taken 80+ years ago.