Adrianus Antonius “Arie” de Bruin was born in Wateringen on 30 August 1917, the son of Cornelis Jacobus de Bruin and Agatha Jacoba van de Hut. In February 1936, the young Arie was recorded as a marine living at the Marine Barracks at Oostplein in Rotterdam. His career with the Read more
Govert Veth was one of the Dutch workers who travelled to Australia in 1950 in connection with the major post-war dredging project at Williamstown. The wider history of the project is described in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Australia. Govert was born in Sliedrecht on 24 Read more
The Japanese conquest of the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942 brought a sudden and initially uncoordinated movement of Dutch and Indonesian military personnel, government officials, merchant seamen, civilian aircrew and refugees to Australia. Most members of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army—the KNIL—were captured when Java surrendered. Nevertheless, a Read more
Cornelis Adrianus Verhoef and Marinus Verhoef were among the Dutch workers who travelled to Australia in 1950 in connection with the major post-war dredging project at Williamstown. The wider history of the project and the men recruited for it is described in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in Read more
Gerrit van der Meulen was one of the Dutch workers who travelled to Australia in 1950 in connection with the major post-war dredging project at Williamstown. The wider history of this project and the men recruited for it is described in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Jan Willem van Zon was born in Sliedrecht on 7 December 1926. He was the son of Arie van Zon (1893–1956) and Arigje van Noorloos (1893–1938). Jan Willem travelled to Australia on Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Kuindert Ruis, who was also known within the family as Kuin Ruis, was born in Sliedrecht on 7 November 1908. He was the son of Willem Johannes Ruis (1880–1962) and Aagje Cornelia Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Dirk van Kekeren was born in Sliedrecht on 18 July 1922. He was the son of Emanuel van Kekeren, a skipper, and Magcheltje Vonk. On 22 July 1950, Dirk departed for Sydney, Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. In the first half of 1950, the lives of the brothers Joost and Teunis de Jong were about to undergo a major change. They were preparing to leave the Netherlands for Australia, Read more
A large diorama at the Gold Coast War Museum in Mudgeeraba depicts one of the most famous battles fought in the Netherlands during the Second World War: the struggle for the bridge at Arnhem in September 1944. The model shows a Dutch town devastated by fighting, with the bridge, damaged Read more