Introduction Broome, on the remote north-western coast of Western Australia, occupies a particularly important place in the shared wartime history of Australia, the Netherlands and the former Netherlands East Indies (NEI). During the opening months of 1942, as Japanese forces advanced through Southeast Asia, Broome became a vital evacuation point Read more
A major source for the transition from wartime cooperation to Indonesian independence The Huygens Institute’s digital publication Officiële Bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945–1950 contains a substantial body of primary material relating to Australia. The Huygens Institute is the DACC’s principal research partner in the Netherlands. The two organisations collaborate Read more
Robert Pikler’s career connects the musical life of the Netherlands East Indies with Australia’s post-war concert halls. A Hungarian musician who worked in the Dutch colony and survived Japanese internment, he subsequently became an influential performer and teacher in Australia. Born in Fureszfalu, Hungary, on 24 January 1909, Pikler studied Read more
A pioneering Netherlands East Indies airline The Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij, commonly known as KNILM, was the principal civil airline of the Netherlands East Indies. It was established on 16 July 1928, initially as the Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij. The company later received the royal designation Koninklijke. Despite the similarity of Read more
From De Uiver to the Netherlands East Indies transport squadrons Archerfield Airport occupies a distinctive place in Dutch–Australian aviation history. Its association with the Netherlands began with the celebrated visit of the KLM airliner De Uiver in 1934 and expanded through the pre-war services of the Royal Netherlands Indies Airways Read more
Rebuilding a Dutch fighter force Following the Japanese conquest of the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942, Dutch military aviation had to be rebuilt from personnel and aircraft scattered across Australia and the United States. The immediate priority was the formation of No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF, which Read more
Plans for a second Dutch bomber squadron No. 119 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF was formed in Canberra in September 1943 as a proposed second Dutch–Australian B-25 Mitchell bomber squadron. It was intended to reinforce No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF and expand Dutch participation in Allied air operations Read more
The Dutch tanker Ondina played an exceptional role in the Allied war effort from Australia during the Second World War. She survived an unequal battle with two heavily armed Japanese commerce raiders, returned under her own power to Fremantle and subsequently served as a floating fuel depot for Allied submarines 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
The evacuation of the Netherlands East Indies flying schools was one of the largest movements of Dutch military aviation personnel during the collapse of the colony in early 1942. Hundreds of student pilots, instructors, observers, wireless operators, air gunners and technical personnel escaped to Australia. Although their stay was brief, Read more