Since November 2007, a bronze plaque on Adelaide’s Pathway of Honour has recognised the Dutch servicemen and women who helped defend Australia during the Second World War.
The plaque, donated by the Dutch community in South Australia, is located on King William Road in Adelaide. Its inscription reads:
“Dedicated to the Dutch servicemen and women, who joined the Australian forces in defending Australia in 1942–1945. We remember them. Royal Netherlands Army, Navy, Air Force, KNIL and the Merchant Navy. Donated by the Dutch Community in South Australia, 2007.”
The memorial is significant because it places the Dutch wartime contribution within South Australia’s own commemorative landscape. The Pathway of Honour contains plaques and memorials recognising military units, service groups and Allied contributions connected with Australia’s wartime history. The Dutch plaque therefore gives the Netherlands and the Dutch South Australian community a permanent place in Adelaide’s public remembrance culture.
The wording is also important. It does not only commemorate Dutch casualties or Dutch service in the Netherlands East Indies. It specifically honours those Dutch men and women who joined Australian forces in the defence of Australia between 1942 and 1945. This reflects the situation after the fall of the Netherlands East Indies, when Dutch naval, military, air force, KNIL and merchant navy personnel continued the war from Australia.
For the Dutch community in South Australia, the plaque was more than a memorial. It was a public acknowledgement that Dutch wartime service formed part of Australia’s own wartime defence story. The booklet The Dutch Contribution to the Defence of Australia during the War in the Pacific, 1941–1945, compiled by Ben van Essen and Jan Vel of Adelaide, was published in 2007 for the unveiling of the plaque. Both authors were members of the South Australian Dutch community and their work helped preserve this local commemorative initiative.
The Adelaide plaque is therefore a small but meaningful reminder that Dutch–Australian wartime history was not confined to Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne. South Australia also played its part in preserving the memory of Dutch service, through the initiative of its own Dutch community.
See also: The Long Voyage of the MS Abbekerk (an abstract from the book)
