For many Dutch migrants who came to Australia after World War II, migration was driven by economic opportunity, housing shortages or the search for a better future. For Cees Koeman, however, another powerful force played an important role — adventure.
As a boy growing up in a small rural village in the north of the Netherlands, Cees developed a fascination with cowboy stories and distant horizons. Surrounded by horticultural landscapes, tulip farms and pear orchards, his world may have seemed small, but his imagination stretched much further. An ex-cowboy living next door and a school headmaster who encouraged students to “embrace the whole world” further fuelled his curiosity about life beyond the Netherlands.
By the age of fourteen, Cees already knew he wanted to leave. As he later recalled, he wanted “to go anywhere”.
For many young Dutch people in the post-war years, opportunities for travel remained limited. Emigration schemes, however, opened entirely new possibilities. Australia and the Netherlands had signed migration agreements that encouraged Dutch settlement in Australia, with assisted passage programs reducing the cost for migrants seeking a new start.
For Cees, the assisted migration scheme offered exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for. At just eighteen years of age he left the Netherlands and embarked on the journey that would change his life.
There was another motivation as well. Like many young Dutch men of the era, Cees faced compulsory military service. Emigration offered a way to avoid conscription and at the same time pursue his dreams of adventure and independence.
Before leaving, his father insisted that he first learn a practical trade. Cees completed an apprenticeship as a builder and joiner — a decision that reflected the practical mindset of many Dutch families and would provide useful skills later in life.
The journey to Australia itself was very different from modern travel experiences. Cees flew aboard a KLM DC-4 aircraft nicknamed Lazy Willem. The trip took seven days and represented a major step into an unknown future. Unlike today’s travellers, migrants of that period often left knowing they might never return and might not see family members again for many years.
Cees eventually arrived in Hobart, beginning a new chapter of his life in Australia.
As with many migrants, arriving was only the beginning of the story. Australia brought new experiences and opportunities. Cees later discovered passions such as skiing and bushwalking — activities that became an important part of his Australian life.
His journey reminds us that migration stories are shaped by many motivations. Some migrants were escaping hardship; others sought economic opportunity. For Cees Koeman, a childhood fascination with cowboy adventures and a desire to see the world helped shape a life-changing decision.
His story also reflects an important aspect of Dutch-Australian migration history: not every migrant arrived with a detailed plan. Sometimes curiosity, imagination and a willingness to take risks were enough to set a young person on a path that would ultimately lead to a new life on the other side of the world.
Source: Immigration Place – Cees Koeman story
There is an interview with Cees in the SBS archives: First generation stories: Cees Koeman – 21-11-2014
