| Jacobus Roos | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Koos Roos |
| Born | May 7, 1906 |
| Died | March 28, 1956 (aged 49) |
| Place of birth | Leiden, the Netherlands |
| Place of death | Barneveld, the Netherlands |
| Allegiance |
 Netherlands |
| Service/branch | Royal Netherlands Air Force |
| Years of service | ?-1942, 1948-1956 |
| Rank | Reserve staff sergeant |
| Unit | 2nd Fighter Squadron of the 1st Aviation Regiment |
| Battles/wars | German invasion of the Netherlands |
| Awards | Bronze Lion |
Jacobus "Koos" Roos (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌjaːˈkoː.bus 'ko:s 'roːs]) was a Dutch fighter pilot and reserve staff sergeant for the Royal Netherlands Air Force during and after World War II. He became a somewhat famed hero after shooting down two German Messerschmitt Bf 110s in a miraculous way and surviving a crash in an equally miraculous way during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II.
World War II[]
On the 11th of May, 1940, Roos and his flight of three Fokker D.XXIs and two Fokker T.Vs got intercepted by a number of German Bf 110s on the way back of a mission to destroy bridges and slow the German advance. Roos's plane got hit multiple times during the initial engagement and tried to leave the cockpit by throwing off his canopy. This canopy hit one of the chasing German planes by pure chance and severely damaged it, resulting in the German plane retreating. Shortly after, Roos, again by pure chance, got behind another German plane. With his machineguns, he shot the German plane, killing the tailgunner and the German plane went down. The third German plane did manage to hit Roos's Fokker D.XXI, which resulted in him getting knocked out and severely injured. When the plane went down, Roos fell out of of the cockpit, regained consciousness and managed to pull his parachute. His plane remained somewhat intact after the crash, and is now the only remaining relic of the Dutch Air Force in May 1940.
After safely landing, Roos was hospitalized for almost a full year, with a broken arm, shrapnel in his body, multiple bulletwounds, and severy burning. After he revalidated, he was honorably discharged from the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1942.
After WWII[]
In 1948, Roos joined the Royal Netherlands Air Force once again. He assisted during floodings in Zeeland in 1953. He died in 1956 when he, and two others, crashed in a Hiller H-23B, killing all three occupants.