For nearly three decades, one publication has remained among the most comprehensive and authoritative studies of the Dutch wartime presence in Australia during the Second World War: Dr Jonathan (Jack) M. Ford’s Allies in a Bind: Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War.
Originally published in Brisbane in 1996 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Netherlands Ex-Servicemen and Women’s Association (NESWA), the book was based on Jack Ford’s doctoral research at the University of Queensland. Although primarily circulated within the Dutch community and among military historians, it quickly gained a reputation as one of the most detailed studies ever produced on the wartime relationship between Australia and the Netherlands East Indies.
Today the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC), in close consultation with Jack Ford’s family, is coordinating the preparation of a new edited edition of this important work. The project aims not simply to reprint the original book, but to preserve and expand one of the most significant studies of Dutch–Australian wartime history for a new generation of readers.
A lifetime of research
Jack Ford devoted decades to researching a chapter of Australian history that had received remarkably little attention. Working through Australian, Dutch and British archives, official records, military files and personal collections, he reconstructed the complex relationship that developed between Australia, the Netherlands Government-in-Exile in London and the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile based in Australia during the Second World War.
His research demonstrated that the Dutch contribution to Australia’s wartime defence extended far beyond the well-known stories of No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron or the Dutch submarines operating from Fremantle. Thousands of Dutch military personnel, merchant seamen, intelligence officers, civil servants and refugees found themselves in Australia after the fall of the Netherlands East Indies in 1942. Their presence profoundly influenced Allied operations in the South West Pacific.
At the same time, Jack examined the political complexities that emerged beneath the surface of Allied cooperation. He showed that the relationship between Australia and its Dutch ally was often characterised by competing military priorities, constitutional uncertainty, financial disputes and fundamentally different visions for the post-war future of the Netherlands East Indies.
A work ahead of its time
When Allies in a Bind first appeared in 1996, public interest in these subjects remained relatively limited. Outside specialist military historians and members of the Dutch community, few Australians were aware that Brisbane had become the headquarters of the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile or that Australian and Dutch authorities had worked together so closely throughout the Pacific War.
In many respects, Jack’s research anticipated subjects that have only recently attracted broader international attention: wartime exile governments, Allied coalition politics, decolonisation, intelligence cooperation, the role of the Netherlands East Indies in the Pacific War and Australia’s changing relationship with Indonesia.
As a result, his work remains remarkably relevant today.
Building on Jack’s legacy
Jack never regarded his book as finished.
Following its publication he continued researching for almost another three decades, collecting additional archival material, identifying corrections and expanding many sections of the original work. By 2022 he had assembled a substantially revised manuscript incorporating this new research.
Sadly, Jack Ford passed away in June 2025 before seeing this revised edition published.
However, only two days before his death I was able to tell him that arrangements were being made to bring his life’s work back into print. Knowing that his research would continue provided great satisfaction to both Jack and his family.
A new edition
The Dutch Australian Cultural Centre is now working closely with Jack’s widow Brenda Ford and his daughter Leela Ford to prepare a new edition of Allies in a Bind.
Rather than producing a simple facsimile reprint, the project seeks to create a carefully edited edition that remains faithful to Jack’s scholarship while making it more accessible to contemporary readers. The new edition will incorporate revisions prepared by Jack himself, additional illustrations and photographs, and editorial refinements that improve readability without altering the substance of his research.
Historian Dr Liam Barnsdale has joined the project as editor, bringing both academic expertise and a fresh perspective to the preparation of the new edition.
Why this matters
For the DACC and the Camp Columbia Heritage Association, Jack Ford’s work has become one of the principal foundations for ongoing historical research.
Many recent articles published by both organisations—including studies of Camp Columbia, the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile, Charles van der Plas, Hubertus van Mook, NEFIS, NICA, intelligence operations and Dutch–Australian military cooperation—have drawn upon Jack’s pioneering research while also incorporating newly available archival material and more recent scholarship.
The forthcoming edition of Allies in a Bind will therefore be much more than the republication of an important historical book. It represents the continuation of Jack Ford’s remarkable legacy and will help ensure that one of the most significant studies of Dutch–Australian wartime history reaches the wider audience it has long deserved.
Looking ahead
Over the coming months the DACC will publish a series of research articles exploring many of the themes first investigated by Jack Ford. Drawing on his pioneering work, together with Australian and Dutch archival sources and more recent historical research, these articles will revisit the political, military and social history of the Dutch presence in Australia during the Second World War and examine its lasting significance for the shared history of Australia, the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Paul Budde – May 2026
See also: Dr. Jack Ford Allies in a Bind – Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War
Video clips from the symposium where the republishing of the book was announced.
