Among the remarkable documents preserved in the collection of the Bronbeek Museum is a carbon copy letter dating from June 1942. It records an initiative organised in Australia to support Dutch and Timorese guerrilla fighters operating behind Japanese lines on Timor.
The document is particularly significant because it is linked to Jan van Holst Pellekaan, one of the key figures in organising support for the Timor resistance. At the time, Australia had become the principal base for the exiled Dutch military forces following the fall of the Netherlands East Indies.
The letter accompanied parcels containing practical supplies intended for the guerrillas who, cut off from regular support, continued to resist Japanese occupation under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
Original Dutch text
Ondergenoemde kameraden van het K.N.I.L. en M.L. in Australië bieden U inliggend kleine geschenken aan met onze diepgevoelde uiting van medeleven in Uwe moeilijkheden.
U kunt zich ervan verzekerd houden, dat Uw prachtig werk niet alleen allerwege bewondering afdwingt, doch dat wij hier ten volle beseffen, welke ontberingen U te doorstaan heeft.
Door het zenden van deze kleine doch naar wij hopen nuttige gaven, geven wij gaarne uiting aan onze groote waardeering voor Uw werk.
Met onze warmste kameraadschappelijke groeten en naar wij hopen een spoedig weerzien.
Nederlandsch-Indië zal herrijzen.
Melbourne, juni 1942.
Lt. Kol. J.M.R. Sandberg
Kapt. G.S. H.J. de Vries
Kapt. G.S. S.R.H. Spoor
Kapt. Inf. Molenbrugge
Kapt. M.L. Boot
Lt. Hyronymus
Lt. Snel (Snell)
Lt. Stol (Stoll)
Dr. Ouwehand
Dr. Neeb
Kapt. G.S. A.L.A. Coppens
Maj. Art. F.B. Kroese
Kapt. M.L. Verweijs
Lt. Col. Prof. G. Otten
Kapt. G.L. Reinderhoff
Maj. M.L. Fiedeldij
Kapt. Edwards van Muijen
Lt. Kaarssemaker
J. van Holst Pellekaan (res. 1e Lt. Art.)
English translation
The undersigned comrades of the KNIL and Military Aviation Service in Australia offer you the enclosed small gifts as a heartfelt expression of our sympathy for the difficulties you are enduring.
You may rest assured that your magnificent work not only commands admiration everywhere, but that we here fully appreciate the hardships and privations you are being forced to endure.
By sending these small yet, we hope, useful gifts, we gladly express our deep appreciation for your work.
With our warmest comradeship and in the hope of seeing you again soon.
The Netherlands East Indies shall rise again.
Melbourne, June 1942.
Contents of the parcels
The document also lists the items being sent to the guerrillas.
Original Dutch list
Lectuur, sigaretten, donkere bril, was-lucifers, 3 zakdoeken, scheerzeep, opschrijfboekje, enveloppen en potlood, kleefpleister, slangenbeet etui (snake-bite outfit), zakmes, sacharine tabletten, tandenborstel, tandpasta, polshorloge (facultatief), scheermesjes.
English translation
Reading material, cigarettes, dark sunglasses, waterproof matches, three handkerchiefs, shaving soap, notebook, envelopes and pencil, adhesive bandages, snake-bite kit, pocket knife, saccharine tablets, toothbrush, toothpaste, wristwatch (optional), and razor blades.
Historical significance
This seemingly modest list reveals much about the realities of guerrilla warfare on Timor in 1942. The items were carefully selected for men living in remote mountainous terrain with little access to supplies. Practical necessities such as matches, knives, medical items and writing materials were combined with morale-boosting comforts such as cigarettes and reading matter.
The document also illustrates the close cooperation between Dutch and Australian forces during the Timor campaign. Following the Japanese invasion, Australian commandos and Dutch KNIL personnel continued resistance operations with crucial assistance from local Timorese communities. Their efforts tied down substantial Japanese forces and became one of the earliest and most celebrated guerrilla campaigns of the Pacific War.
The signatories represent a remarkable cross-section of the Dutch military leadership then based in Melbourne. Among them was S.H. Spoor, who would later become Commander of the Netherlands East Indies Army, and Jan van Holst Pellekaan, whose intelligence and operational work was closely connected with the Timor campaign.
The closing phrase, “Nederlandsch-Indië zal herrijzen” (“The Netherlands East Indies shall rise again”), captures the mood of June 1942. At that moment the Dutch colonial state had suffered a devastating defeat, yet those in exile in Australia remained convinced that liberation and eventual return would follow. For the men fighting in the mountains of Timor, these parcels represented not only practical assistance but also a powerful reminder that they had not been forgotten.
The Battle of Timor – 1942-1943
