120 Squadron Royal Netherlands Air Force 120 Squadron was a Netherlands East Indies Air Force unit which was later re - raised part of the Royal Netherlands Air Force . The squadron was first formed in December 1943 as part of the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) , and saw combat in and around New Guinea during 1944 and 1945 equipped with P - 40 Kittyhawk fighters . No . 120 Squadron was transferred to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force in 1946 and attacked Indonesian forces during the Indonesian National Revolution . It was disbanded in 1950 as a result of the Dutch defeat , but was re - formed in 1961 as an air defence unit . 120 Squadron was disbanded in 1983 . History . No . 120 ( Netherlands East Indies ) Squadron RAAF was formed in 1943 and was manned by Dutch pilots and Australian ground crew . Following the end of World War II The Dutch wished to move No . 18 and No . 120 Squadrons to Java , however , and to facilitate this the RAAF element of the squadron was disbanded on 30 October 1945 . The last RAAF personnel left the squadron in February 1946 and No . 120 Squadron was assigned to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force ( NEIAF ) on 20 June , thereby ending its relationship with the RAAF . No . 120 Squadron saw combat against Indonesian forces during the Indonesian National Revolution . It remained at Biak until April 1946 , when it was deployed to Cililitan near Jakarta . The British - led South East Asia Command , which was responsible for the western NEI at the time , ordered that the squadron proceed to Surabaya where it relieved Royal Air Force P - 47 Thunderbolts . During the second half of the year No . 120 Squadron flew 125 combat sorties , during which five of its Kittyhawks were damaged by ground fire . The British left the NEI near the end of 1946 ; as at December that year the squadron was located at Semarang . In late July 1947 the Dutch launched Operatie Product , which aimed to capture important economic facilities in the NEI . This campaign was also referred to as the First Police Action . At this time No . 120 Squadron was still located at Semarang and was equipped with nine Kittyhawks instead of the 19 it was authorised . Early in this operation the squadron attacked Solo and Madiun and claimed to have destroyed eight Indonesian aircraft on the ground . A strike on Jakarta was delayed by fog ; this may have saved the life of Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir as he left the city on board a C - 47 Dakota transport at about the time the Kittyhawks were originally scheduled to arrive . During the First Police Action No . 120 Squadron , like the other units of the NEIAF , provided support to Army units . The First Police Action ended on 4 August , though NEIAF aircraft continued to attack Indonesian positions . On 19 December 1948 the Dutch launched a Second Police Action , which involved offensives in western Java and Sumatra . This campaign lasted until 9 January 1949 ; during this time No . 120 Squadron ' s Kittyhawks flew 183 sorties though four aircraft were lost . In early 1949 the squadron was reequipped with P - 51 Mustang fighters , and it had nine of these aircraft but only six pilots in April . In July 1949 the Dutch and Indonesians agreed to a ceasefire , and the war ended in December with the Dutch handing over sovereignty to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia . As part of this settlement the NEIAF was transferred to the new republic , though the Dutch retained No . 18 and 120 Squadrons for as long as possible . No . 120 Squadron ceased to exist on 1 March 1950 . In November 1961 the unit was re - formed as 120 Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force . The squadron was equipped with Nike - Hercules surface to air missiles and formed part of 1 Guided Missile Wing ( " Groep Geleide Wapens " ; GGW ) along with 118 , 119 and 121 Squadrons . The Nike - Hercules missiles were armed with nuclear warheads and were provided to the Netherlands and other NATO countries by the United States . From August 1964 , 120 Squadron was stationed at Borgholzhausen in West Germany . It was transferred to 12 GGW in May 1975 but remained at Borgholzhausen . 12 GGW also included 118 , 220 and 223 Squadrons . The squadron was disbanded during 1983 .