Jan Hilgers

[1] For the official memorial of this in 1955 a monument was erected in the town of Ede, also a road, the "Jan Hilgersweg" was named after him.

[3] As it was impossible for Indos in colonial history to attain the necessary education in the Dutch East Indies (now: Indonesia) required to maximize career opportunities, Indo-European families that could afford it would send their children to schools and universities in the Netherlands.

In 1910 his firm hurried him home from training camp in France to ensure they beat the pilot Clément Van Maasdijk, who had just received his flight certification (1 July 1910) and was commissioned by another organization to fly the first airplane in Dutch airspace.

In 1912 Hilgers joined another Dutch East Indies born Dutchman and aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker at his newly established company in Germany.

On May 30, 1914, Hilgers was involved with Hein ter Poorten in the founding of the forerunner of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force.

Hilgers died in a Japanese prison camp at Ngawi, East-Java on July 21, 1945, just before Japan’s surrender to the Allies.