A major source for the transition from wartime cooperation to Indonesian independence
The Huygens Institute’s digital publication Officiële Bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1950 contains a substantial body of primary material relating to Australia.
The Huygens Institute is the DACC’s principal research partner in the Netherlands. The two organisations collaborate on making historical records concerning Dutch–Australian migration and relations more accessible to researchers, families and the wider public.
The collection is principally concerned with the Indonesian struggle for independence and the political negotiations that eventually led to the transfer of sovereignty in December 1949. However, Australia appears throughout the documents as:
- the wartime base of the Netherlands East Indies Government and its military organisations;
- a source of personnel, aircraft, ships, equipment and supplies;
- a staging point for the attempted return of Dutch authority to the Netherlands East Indies;
- the location of Dutch, Indonesian and Australian political and industrial conflict;
- a base for transporting former prisoners of war and civilian internees;
- an increasingly influential supporter of Indonesian independence; and
- an active participant in international negotiations concerning the future of Indonesia.
The source edition therefore helps explain how the close Dutch–Australian military cooperation of the Second World War was followed by growing political disagreement over Indonesia.
It is also an important supplementary source for several DACC research portals, particularly those concerning the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile, the Dutch and Netherlands East Indies air forces in Australia, Dutch merchant shipping, intelligence and special operations, and Dutch women in military service.
About the Huygens publication
The Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1969 project brings together documentary publications concerning relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia from the end of the Second World War through to the 1969 Act of Free Choice in West New Guinea.
For the immediate postwar period, its central resource is the twenty-volume source edition:
Officiële Bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1950
The twenty volumes cover the period from 10 August 1945 to 31 December 1949. They include government telegrams, memoranda, diplomatic reports, minutes of meetings, military assessments, private correspondence and reports from Dutch representatives overseas.
The documents were selected principally from Dutch and Netherlands East Indies government archives. This means that the collection largely records Dutch official perceptions. Australian and Indonesian actions are frequently described through Dutch diplomatic, military or administrative reporting and should therefore be read alongside Australian and Indonesian records.
The volumes have been scanned and made searchable using optical character recognition. Searches are extremely useful, but the OCR is not completely accurate. Variants such as Australië, Australia, Australisch, Australische, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane can produce different results.
A search for “Australië” alone produces more than 1,000 OCR hits, although this number includes indexes, repeated references and multiple appearances within individual documents. It nevertheless demonstrates the importance of Australia within the published records.
The Netherlands East Indies Government in Australia
Planning at Camp Columbia
Some of the earliest documents were produced while Lieutenant Governor-General Hubertus van Mook and senior Netherlands East Indies officials were still operating from Australia.
One particularly significant document records a meeting held at Camp Columbia near Brisbane on 14 August 1945. The editorial note specifically identifies Camp Columbia as the location.
The meeting was chaired by Van Mook and attended by senior officials and military commanders, including:
- Lieutenant General L.H. van Oyen;
- Ch. O. van der Plas;
- N.S. Blom;
- Colonel C.J. Warners;
- Dutch Minister to Australia F.C. Baron van Aerssen Beijeren van Voshol;
- Rear Admiral P. Koenraad;
- General P. Mourer; and
- General N.L.W. van Straten.
The subject was the action to be taken following Japan’s surrender. The participants discussed the return of Netherlands East Indies officials, military forces and NICA detachments; the position of former prisoners and internees; the availability of ships and aircraft; and the relationship between the returning Dutch administration and the Allied commands.
The document is important evidence that Camp Columbia was not simply an accommodation or administrative centre. Senior Netherlands East Indies officials were using it to plan the attempted restoration of government across the archipelago.
For the wider history of this site, see the DACC and Camp Columbia article The Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile in Brisbane—a unique legal status following Japan’s 1942 invasion.
Returning authority to the Netherlands East Indies
The August 1945 meetings reveal the scale of the task facing the administration in Australia. The government did not possess sufficient ships, troops or aircraft to return simultaneously to all parts of the Netherlands East Indies.
Officials considered sending small advance parties to Batavia and Bandung, Padang, Makassar and Banjarmasin. Each party was to include military, administrative, medical, intelligence and financial personnel who could advise the Allied commanders and report conditions to the Netherlands East Indies Government.
The records also demonstrate the dependence of the Dutch administration on Allied decisions. Dutch officials could prepare plans in Brisbane, but they could not independently deploy their forces or assume authority. Movement depended on the British South East Asia Command, the Australian military command and the availability of Allied transport.
NICA, NEFIS and other Australian-based organisations
The documents refer frequently to the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration—NICA—and to the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service—NEFIS.
These organisations had expanded in Australia during the war and were now expected to provide personnel for the reoccupation and administration of liberated areas. However, the precise command relationship was complicated. Some Dutch and Netherlands East Indies personnel remained attached to Allied organisations and could not simply be reassigned by Van Mook’s administration.
The August 1945 discussions record concern over control of NEFIS personnel and particularly NEFIS III, the operational section working with the Allied Intelligence Bureau. The documentation therefore provides a useful bridge between the DACC’s wartime intelligence research and the postwar return of Dutch organisations to the archipelago.
Dutch and Netherlands East Indies forces in Australia
Troops, training and equipment
Immediately after Japan’s surrender, Netherlands East Indies military units remained dispersed across Australia and other Allied territories.
The Huygens records discuss:
- Dutch and Netherlands East Indies troops operating under Australian command;
- the incomplete training and staffing of some units;
- proposals to train security troops in Western Australia;
- the accommodation of military personnel in Australian camps;
- clothing, weapons and equipment requested from Australian authorities;
- the movement of troops and NICA personnel from Australia; and
- the future command of the land, naval and air forces.
One August 1945 discussion estimated that ten to twelve infantry companies might be available, provided that companies operating under Australian command were released. The same meeting considered asking Australia to provide clothing for as many as 150,000 liberated prisoners and internees and weapons for 50,000 men.
These figures represented planning requirements rather than confirmed Australian commitments. They nevertheless illustrate how extensively the Netherlands East Indies authorities depended on Australian supplies at the moment of Japan’s surrender.
The continuation of negotiations concerning the training of security forces in Western Australia was also specifically discussed.
Australian command in eastern Indonesia
The surrender of Japan did not immediately restore Dutch control. Allied command arrangements divided responsibility for accepting Japanese surrenders, releasing prisoners and maintaining order.
Documents in the collection discuss proposals under which British forces would deal with Java and Sumatra while Australian forces assumed responsibility for large parts of eastern Indonesia.
This brought Australian forces into contact with Dutch officials, NICA detachments, local rulers, Indonesian nationalists, former prisoners and Japanese forces awaiting disarmament. The resulting records are relevant to Australian operations in Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, Timor and Netherlands New Guinea.
They also help explain why the administrative and military organisations assembled in Brisbane were directed first towards eastern parts of the archipelago rather than immediately returning to Java.
The Netherlands East Indies air forces
The collection begins only five days before Japan announced its surrender. It does not replace the operational histories of the Dutch squadrons during 1942–45. Its value lies principally in documenting decisions about their future, movement and postwar employment.
The proposed disbandment of No. 18 Squadron
A particularly important August 1945 record discusses whether No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron should be disbanded.
The purpose was not dissatisfaction with the squadron’s wartime service. Dutch planners faced an urgent shortage of trained crews and ground personnel. They considered transferring personnel from the bomber squadron to the fighter squadron and the Netherlands East Indies Transport Service.
The argument presented was that fighters might be more useful than bombers for dealing with possible armed resistance during the restoration of authority. Other officials argued for retaining the bombers as a visible demonstration of Dutch military power.
The same discussion considered using Dutch-marked aircraft for distributing leaflets and questioned whether Liberators based in Colombo or the Cocos Islands could be used.
The document therefore provides unusually direct evidence of how Dutch officials in Australia were reconsidering the purpose of their air forces immediately after Japan’s surrender.
See Volume 1, page 18.
Nos. 18 and 120 Squadrons
Other documents discuss the proposed arrival of Nos. 18 and 120 Squadrons in the Netherlands East Indies.
One August–November 1945 record states that the arrival of both squadrons was considered highly desirable. This should be understood within the wider effort to establish a visible Dutch and Netherlands East Indies presence before political conditions deteriorated further.
See Volume 1, page 147.
Later records show No. 120 Squadron moving into the Netherlands East Indies. A 1946 document refers to the squadron initially proceeding to Batavia, while a subsequent report records its departure for Surabaya.
See:
These records supplement the operational history covered in the DACC article No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF.
Catalinas and naval aviation
The documents also refer to a Netherlands Catalina squadron and a medium-range transport squadron in plans for the arrival of Dutch forces at Batavia.
See Volume 1, page 252.
In early 1946, discussions concerned the Dutch Naval Air Service squadron then serving within RAF arrangements. Officials considered whether it should be removed from RAF control and used for operations in the Netherlands East Indies. The documents indicate that the squadron no longer had a conventional wartime task but retained significant transport and operational value.
See Volume 3, page 35.
No. 19 Squadron and the Brisbane–Batavia service
The Huygens collection contains especially useful references to No. 19 Squadron and its postwar transport operations.
One document describes the semi-military air route operated by No. 19 Squadron between Batavia and Brisbane. It also refers to the squadron’s employment in transporting former prisoners.
This is directly relevant to the final Australian phase of the Netherlands East Indies military air transport organisation and its gradual transfer from Archerfield to Batavia.
See Volume 6, page 587.
Additional 1947 records concern the aircraft, equipment and other property of No. 19 Squadron:
These documents should be read in conjunction with the DACC article Netherlands East Indies military air transport services in Australia, 1942–1947.
Prisoners of war, civilian internees and relief
The liberation and recovery of former prisoners of war and civilian internees was one of the most urgent subjects in the early volumes.
The Netherlands East Indies Government anticipated that large numbers of seriously weakened people would require:
- food;
- clothing;
- medical treatment;
- temporary accommodation;
- evacuation by sea and air;
- rehabilitation; and
- eventual repatriation.
Australia and New Zealand were considered important destinations for evacuation and recovery. Australian hospitals, camps, transport organisations and supply networks were consequently part of the planning.
The documents also reveal tension between immediate humanitarian priorities and the Dutch desire to return government and military personnel rapidly to the archipelago. Aircraft and ships were required simultaneously for relief, evacuation, troop movements and the re-establishment of administration.
No. 19 Squadron’s transport of former prisoners formed part of this larger operation.
The Australian maritime boycott
The Black Armada
The most extensive Australia-related subject in the collection is the boycott of Dutch and Netherlands East Indies shipping by Australian maritime workers and their Indonesian supporters.
Beginning in September 1945, Indonesian seamen in Australia refused to crew Dutch ships carrying personnel, weapons and supplies intended to restore colonial authority. Australian waterside workers and other trade unionists supported them by refusing to load, unload, repair, supply or service affected vessels.
The action became known as the “Black Armada”.
A search for boycot across the Huygens volumes produces more than 170 OCR results. These include reports about:
- ships immobilised in Australian ports;
- relief supplies unable to sail;
- Indonesian seamen leaving Dutch vessels;
- Australian unions supporting the Indonesian Republic;
- approaches to Prime Minister Ben Chifley and members of his government;
- unsuccessful attempts to obtain police or government intervention;
- Dutch protests against Australian handling of the dispute;
- propaganda and public opinion;
- the effect on military and civil supplies; and
- efforts to transport cargo by other means.
Dutch perceptions of the boycott
Dutch representatives frequently described the boycott as obstructing humanitarian relief for former prisoners and internees. Some documents used highly emotional language and argued that the unions’ actions were increasing suffering in the Netherlands East Indies.
These claims formed an important part of Dutch diplomatic and publicity efforts in Australia. Dutch officials attempted to distinguish ships carrying relief supplies from vessels carrying military personnel and matériel.
Australian and Indonesian supporters of the boycott rejected that distinction in many cases. They believed that ostensibly civilian shipping could still contribute to the restoration of Dutch colonial authority.
The documents are therefore valuable not because they provide a neutral account, but because they record how the Dutch government understood and attempted to counter one of the most serious disruptions to its postwar plans.
Examples include:
- Volume 1, pages 293–298;
- Volume 1, pages 491–499;
- Volume 2, pages 6–11; and
- Volume 3, pages 228–237.
The Karsik and other vessels
The records include references to individual ships affected by the industrial action. One document notes developments aboard the Karsik during negotiations in Canberra in September 1945.
See Volume 1, page 295.
Other reports discuss Dutch relief ships, Netherlands East Indies cargo and attempts to secure Australian government assistance against the boycott.
These documents offer potentially useful additions to the DACC’s research on the KPM and the Dutch merchant fleet, but each reference must be examined carefully to establish the ship, cargo, port and date involved.
Dutch diplomatic representation in Australia
Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane
The records illuminate the complicated geography of Dutch representation in Australia.
The Netherlands East Indies administration operated principally from Brisbane, while the Dutch diplomatic mission was based in Melbourne and maintained relations with the Australian Government in Canberra.
One contemporary report observed that Melbourne was approximately six hours by air from Brisbane and Canberra approximately four hours. The distances made consultation between Van Mook’s administration, the Dutch legation and the Australian Government more difficult.
Dutch Minister F.C. Baron van Aerssen Beijeren van Voshol was expected to divide his time among Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. Australian ministers reportedly considered his presence in Canberra too intermittent, while Van Mook’s administration required continuing diplomatic support from Brisbane.
See:
Reports from Melbourne and Canberra
The collection includes numerous dispatches from Dutch representatives in Australia. Among the readily identifiable documents are:
- a report from the Dutch Minister in Melbourne, Van Aerssen Beijeren van Voshol, to Foreign Minister E.N. van Kleffens, dated 9 November 1945;
- a report from Dutch Minister Teppema in Canberra to Foreign Minister Van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout, dated 1 September 1947; and
- a report from Teppema in Canberra to Foreign Minister Dirk Stikker, dated 1 June 1949.
The first can be found at Volume 2, page 5.
The later reports appear at the opening of:
Together these reports help trace the change in the bilateral relationship from wartime cooperation to increasingly serious disagreement over Indonesia.
Australia and Indonesian independence
Indonesian political activity in Australia
During the war, several thousand Indonesian seamen, soldiers, officials, students and political exiles were present in Australia. Some had worked for Dutch organisations; others had been transported from the Netherlands East Indies during the Japanese advance.
Following the Indonesian proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945, many Indonesian residents in Australia openly supported the Republic. Indonesian seamen left Dutch ships, political organisations distributed information, and activists established close relationships with Australian trade unions and sections of the Labor movement.
The Huygens records describe these developments mainly through Dutch official reporting. They refer to Indonesian political meetings, propaganda, labour organisation, shipping activity and Australian supporters of independence.
Care is required when using the documents. Terms such as “extremist”, “communist”, “agitator” and “undesirable Indonesian” reflect the political language and assumptions of Dutch officials at the time. They should not be adopted uncritically in a modern historical account.
Australian public opinion
Dutch representatives closely monitored Australian newspapers, unions, churches, political organisations and public meetings.
They were particularly concerned that the Indonesian Republic was gaining public sympathy by presenting its struggle as part of the wider defeat of fascism and the right of colonised peoples to self-determination.
The Dutch government attempted to counter this through diplomatic briefings, press statements and information services. It emphasised plans for constitutional reform, the federal reorganisation of Indonesia and the dangers of disorder.
The documents consequently provide evidence not only about official diplomacy but also about the broader contest for Australian public opinion.
Chifley, Evatt and the Labor government
Prime Minister Ben Chifley and Minister for External Affairs H.V. Evatt appear repeatedly in the records.
Dutch officials sought Australian government assistance with:
- the shipping boycott;
- the movement of Dutch and Netherlands East Indies personnel;
- the use of camps and training facilities;
- transport and supply problems;
- Indonesian political activity in Australia;
- recognition of Dutch authority; and
- the international handling of the conflict.
The Australian Government did not adopt a single, unchanging position. It had recently cooperated closely with the Netherlands during the war and initially continued to recognise Dutch sovereignty. At the same time, the Labor Government faced pressure from trade unions, growing Australian sympathy for Indonesian independence and concern that continued colonial conflict would destabilise the region.
The Huygens documents are particularly useful in showing how Dutch representatives interpreted this changing position.
From bilateral disagreement to the United Nations
The first Dutch military offensive
Relations deteriorated markedly after the first major Dutch military offensive against the Indonesian Republic in July 1947.
Australia referred the conflict to the United Nations Security Council. This was a major development: a former wartime ally was now taking international action against Dutch military policy.
The Netherlands defended the operation as an internal police action intended to restore order and implement previous agreements. Australia increasingly treated the conflict as an international threat to peace.
Dutch diplomatic reports from Canberra record Australian government thinking, parliamentary and press reactions, and efforts to influence Evatt and his officials.
Australia on the Committee of Good Offices
The United Nations subsequently established a Committee of Good Offices to help mediate between the Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic.
The Netherlands selected Belgium, Indonesia selected Australia and the two nominated countries selected the United States. Australia was represented by Justice Richard Kirby.
The committee’s work contributed to the negotiations conducted aboard the United States vessel Renville, producing the Renville Agreement in January 1948.
The Huygens volumes contain extensive material concerning the committee, Australian policy and Dutch assessments of Australia’s role. Dutch officials frequently regarded Australia as too sympathetic to the Republic, while Indonesian representatives valued Australian participation.
The second Dutch military offensive
The second major Dutch offensive in December 1948, including the capture of Republican leaders at Yogyakarta, generated even greater international opposition.
Australia again played an important part in pressing for United Nations action. Australian diplomacy supported the restoration of the Republican government and movement towards a negotiated transfer of sovereignty.
The later Huygens volumes document the increasingly difficult Dutch–Australian relationship and Australia’s involvement in the international pressure that preceded the 1949 Round Table Conference.
Trade, finance, supplies and war surplus material
Australia also appears in economic and logistical records.
The Netherlands East Indies had accumulated complex wartime financial obligations. Questions arose over:
- supplies obtained in Australia during the war;
- debts between Australia and the Netherlands East Indies;
- ownership of equipment;
- military and civilian matériel purchased from Allied surplus stocks;
- cargo remaining in Australian ports;
- transport costs;
- commercial relations with the recovering Netherlands East Indies economy; and
- the future of Dutch government property in Australia.
The Australian War Assets Administration and other disposal arrangements provided potential sources of vehicles, aircraft, machinery and equipment. Dutch officials attempted to obtain matériel needed for reconstruction and military operations.
Further research is required to identify every Australia-related economic document, but the source edition clearly contains material extending well beyond diplomacy and military affairs.
Women and families in Australia
The transition also affected Dutch and Netherlands East Indies women and families who had spent the war in Australia.
The August 1945 planning documents record that civilian women could not necessarily accompany the first returning government parties unless they had been formally militarised or assigned an official rank corresponding to their civil duties.
This provides important context for women serving in organisations such as the VK-KNIL and for female civil servants, medical workers and communications personnel.
Families also faced uncertainty over accommodation, employment, education and eventual return. Some accompanied personnel to the Netherlands East Indies, while others remained in Australia or later migrated permanently.
These scattered references may provide useful additions to the DACC’s portal concerning the VK-KNIL and Dutch women in military service.
What the collection adds to DACC research
The Huygens source edition does not replace the specialist squadron histories, personal recollections, operational records and Australian archival sources already used by the DACC.
Its particular value is that it connects those individual subjects at government level.
It shows:
- how decisions concerning Nos. 18, 19 and 120 Squadrons were related to wider political and administrative objectives;
- how the Netherlands East Indies Government in Brisbane planned its return following Japan’s surrender;
- how Dutch forces remained dependent on Australian and Allied transport, command and supplies;
- how former prisoners and internees were to be evacuated and rehabilitated;
- how the maritime boycott disrupted Dutch plans;
- how the political relationship with Australia deteriorated;
- and how Australia moved from wartime partner of the Netherlands to international supporter of Indonesian independence.
The records are therefore most valuable for understanding the transition between two periods that are often studied separately: the Dutch wartime presence in Australia and the Indonesian struggle for independence.
Further research
The following searches are likely to uncover additional Australian material:
- Australië / Australia;
- Australisch / Australische;
- Canberra;
- Melbourne;
- Brisbane;
- Sydney;
- West-Australië;
- Van Aerssen Beijeren van Voshol;
- Teppema;
- Chifley;
- Evatt;
- Burton;
- boycott / boycot;
- vakbonden / trade unions;
- scheepvaart;
- Karsik;
- NICA;
- NEFIS;
- Camp Columbia;
- 18e squadron;
- 19e squadron;
- 120e squadron;
- Catalina;
- Marine Luchtvaartdienst;
- krijgsgevangenen;
- geïnterneerden;
- repatriëring; and
- Committee of Good Offices.
Because OCR errors are common, searches should use alternative spellings and partial words.
Acknowledgement
The importance of the Huygens collection for DACC research was drawn to our attention by Dr F.G. “Rik” Hoekstra, digital historian at the Huygens Institute. His observation led to this preliminary examination of the Australian references within the source edition.
The results show that the publication should be treated as a major primary research resource for Dutch–Australian relations during the immediate postwar period.
Related DACC research
- Dutch and Netherlands East Indies Air Forces in Australia during World War II—Research Portal
- Netherlands East Indies military air transport services in Australia, 1942–1947
- The Dutch Merchant Fleet and the Allied War Effort in Australia—Portal
- The Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile in Brisbane
Principal source
Huygens Institute, Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1969, including the twenty-volume digital edition Officiële Bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1950.
This is a preliminary guide to the Australian material in a very large documentary collection. Additional relevant records will undoubtedly emerge as individual volumes and subjects are examined in greater detail. Corrections, comments and additional references are welcome.
