From collapse in the Netherlands East Indies to allied operations from Australia The rapid Japanese advance through the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) in early 1942 forced surviving Dutch air personnel and aircraft to withdraw to Australia. What followed was a remarkable episode of Allied cooperation. From Australian bases—most notably Archerfield Read more
This document presents a first-hand civilian account of work at Archerfield Aerodrome in Brisbane during the Second World War and the immediate post-war years, with particular relevance to the Dutch and Netherlands East Indies presence in Australia. Written by Jean White (née Forrester), the memoir begins with her early employment Read more
In a striking twist of history, the Netherlands and Australia are converging around Indonesia’s deep human past. What began as a late-nineteenth-century Dutch scientific quest in the former Netherlands East Indies is now being reframed through Indonesian custodianship and contemporary Australian research. Anthropology, rather than diplomacy or conflict, has become Read more
The Douglas DC-5 was one of the most unusual transport aircraft to see service during the Second World War. Designed and built in the United States by the Douglas Aircraft Company, it featured a high wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a wide fuselage optimised for passenger transport. These modern features, however, Read more
In November 1942, a rare Dutch (American build) transport aircraft came to rest on an Emergency Landing Ground east of Charleville after a forced landing that ended its flying career. By then, the Douglas DC-5 Wakago had already survived a redirection to the Netherlands Caribbean island of Curacao following the Read more
In 1596, the first Dutch ships arrived at the islands of the Moluccas (Spice Islands), marking the beginning of trade relations between the Netherlands and the Indonesian archipelago. This was part of the broader European exploration and colonisation wave. The Dutch East India Company, known as the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Read more
This article originally appeared in the Western Independent on 30 October 2025. By Jayde Andrews Many people find it remarkable how my great grandmother survived two Japanese internment camps from 1941-1946 in the Dutch East, the Indonesian revolution and a famine on her way back to Holland in 1946- all Read more
Missionary origins and the road to Australia In the late nineteenth century, there was growing interest among Catholic women in becoming actively involved in overseas missionary work. This development was closely linked to the rapid expansion of European colonial empires and the social conditions that accompanied them. In many colonial Read more
On 28 October 1945, a Netherlands East Indies Air Force (NEI-AF) B-25J Mitchell bomber was forced to ditch in tidal waters in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. The aircraft, serial N5-254 (USAAF 44-30900), came down in the Glenelg River system north of Broome, although some contemporary sources refer Read more
Introduction: a coalition without equal footing When the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) was created in January 1942, Australia and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) entered the arrangement from very different political positions. Australia was formally allied to Britain and had long relied on imperial defence guarantees centred on Singapore. The Netherlands, Read more