August Deibel 1st Lieutenant August Gerard Deibel ( 11 September 1915 – 12 June 1951 ) was a Dutch pilot of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force . He was part of 2 - VLG - V , which was stationed in Singapore before its withdrawal to Java . His unit emblem was a rhinoceros head painted on both sides of the front fuselage on his Brewster Buffalo aircraft . His rank and surname , ' Lt Deibel ' was printed beside the nose art . Deibel is credited with three kills , two of which were Ki - 27 Nate s on 12 January , during a Japanese air raid over Singapore , and was twice wounded in action on 12 January and 19 February 1942 . Deibel was killed on 12 June 1951 , piloting a Gloster Meteor aircraft when it crashed near Uithuizen in the Netherlands . World War II . Singapore . Deibel arrived in Singapore with his squadron on 9 December 1941 with 9 - 12 Brewster Buffalo es and was stationed at Kallang Airfield . He first saw action on January 12 , 1942 , during a Japanese air raid over Singapore . A formation of Japanese bombers escorted by five Ki - 27 Nate s were sighted at 1000 hours . They were intercepted by three Dutch Buffaloes , who succeeded in chasing them away , damaging one of the bombers . When they returned in the afternoon , Deibel and two other pilots were scrambled to intercept them , encountering nine Ki - 27s . Deibel claimed two of them before being shot down himself . He was hospitalised for four days after suffering a wounded head . His squadron returned to Java on 18 January , missing out on the Battle of Singapore . Deibel followed eight Buffaloes to Semplak , while 23 others flew to Andir and Tjilitian . Dutch East Indies . When a formation of 35 Japanese aircraft attacked Semplak on 19 February , eight Buffaloes ( including Deibel ) engaged them . Deibel managed to fire twice at an A6M Zero , but was wounded by a 20 mm shell ten minutes later , forcing him to land . 11 Japanese planes were shot down , with the Dutch losing four Buffaloes and two pilots . The raid destroyed three RAF Lockheed Hudson s and two KNILM Sikorskys . On 7 March , Japanese troops had reached the plateau of Lembang . Deibel , along with Lieutenant Gerard Bruggink and Officer Cadet Jan Scheffer , volunteered to join Captain Jacob van Helsdingen on his mission using the last three working Buffalo aircraft . The four pilots took off from Andir airfield and proceeded to Lembang to provide air support for ground troops fighting in the city . Helsdingen ' s squadron travelled 200 metres when they encountered a Japanese aircraft , which Deibel attacked before it escaped . Some time later , three Japanese A6M Zero s appeared . Deibel fired at two of them which turned away , but was hit in the oil tank by the third Zero and had to break off from combat . His wingman , Scheffer , escorted him back to Andir airfield under a tropical rainstorm , shooting down a Nakajima Ki - 43 fighter . One of Deibel ' s landing gears , damaged during the fight , broke off from his aircraft , causing it to crash in a ground loop . He survived without sustaining any injuries . Helsdingen and Bruggink remained above Lembang , but were now dogfight ing six Zeroes . Helsdingen was soon shot down , but Bruggink managed to escape into the clouds before returning to Andir airfield . Dutch forces in Lembang surrendered the next day . All four Dutch pilots were awarded the Military William Order on July 14 , 1948 .