Robert de Jong was born in the Netherlands and spent most of his life in South Africa before emigrating to Townsville, Queensland, in 2011 to be with family. In 2016, he was appointed Managing Curator of the Maritime Museum of Townsville, a position through which he has highlighted the city’s rich naval and military history.
Robert also has a personal connection to the War in the Pacific through his wife’s family, who survived the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. A distant relative of theirs was killed in the Battle of the Java Sea, serving as an engineer aboard the Dutch cruiser Java, which was sunk in February 1942.
Through his professional and personal experience, Robert has become a passionate advocate for greater recognition of Townsville’s strategic role during WWII and the contribution of Dutch merchant shipping, particularly vessels from the Koninklijke Pakketvaart Maatschappij (KPM), which operated under Allied command from Australian ports after fleeing the East Indies.
