Military and Political History
David Groen – 18th Squadron
Interview with David’s son Maurits Groen – 2005(?) See also: The 18 Squadron Netherlands East Indies – RAAF
Military and Political History
Interview with Dirk Stellema – pilot 18 Squadron
Dirk Stellema, comes from Snake in Friesland, Born in 1917, Was in the airforce in the NEI in 1937, and was in Australia during the war from 1942, and came to Australia permanently in 1949 , and was in the 18th Squadron Note: Somebody in the group saying Allies in Read more
Migration history
Cornelis du Buy – table tennis champion
Cornelis du Buy was born on January 8, 1921, in Amsterdam, the son of Cornelis du Buy and Maria Catharina Ramakers. During his teenage years, in the interwar period, Cornelis learned table tennis at home from his father, playing on the dining table. Cornelis’ mother, originally from Limburg, acted as Read more
Art, Music, Film, Theatre
Nico Martin van Dalen – Artist
Nico was born on 8 December 1932 at Nijmegen, Netherlands, and migrated to Australia in 1955. On arrival he stayed in the Bonegilla Migrant centre, in 1997 he produced 15 cartoon styled drawings of live as an early migrant in Australia. He worked as a designer in various positions until Read more
Literature
Pastor Hans Mol’s Life, Career, and Contributions
Biography Johannis Jacob “Hans” Mol, (14 February 1922 – 26 November 2017) a notable sociologist of religion, was born in Rozenburg. His early academic pursuits at the University of Amsterdam were disrupted by World War II when he refused to pledge allegiance to the Nazi party. Consequently, he was forced Read more
Migration history
Peter van Ryn – a ‘Sophie’s choice’ and being the physio for the Socceroos
Information provided by Peter’s son Laurie Early Life and Athletic Career Petrus “Peter” or “Piet” van Rijn was born in The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands, on 18May, 1917 (and passed away on 26th June, 2002). His parents were Piet van Rijn and Antonius Hendrieka Knijf. His mother was born in Read more
Literature
Jan van Ravesteyn -Family Stories of a Migrant Child
His life, hopes and adventures written and remembered by Jan (John) Ravesteyn It is a tale of our large family of 10 finding their way in a land and culture where many things have to be learned again and being guided by his Christian faith as the foundation of his Read more
Dutch Media
Andries Snoek, Dutch journalist in Australia
Andries Snoek (b.1932) has been writing for Dutch newspapers in Australia for 37 years, contributing to the Dutch Australian Weekly from 1983 to 2004, and to the Melbourne-based Dutch Courier from 2005. His career in journalism began at the age of 14 in Gorinchem, when his interest in the city’s Read more
Migration history
Football player and recruiter Tony Noy
Tony Noy, emigrated to Australia from Gennep as an eighteen year old with his family and was soon playing in the Melbourne competition, first with Slavia, and then with Wilhelmina, enticed there by Van Hoboken with the promise of a job for his father and cheap housing for his family. Read more
Dutch Media
Alfred Schuurman – founder of the Dutch Australian Weekly
The Sydney-based Dutch Australian Weekly (DAW) newspaper was founded in 1951 by Alfred Schuurman and A. Hilbrink, with the assistance of Earl White from the Cumberland Newspapers. In 1930 at the age of twenty-one, Schuurman left the Netherlands for the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), where he developed an interest in Read more