Seven men survive a forced landing in remote Northern Territory country On 25 March 1947, Royal Netherlands Navy Douglas C-47 Dakota W-12 made a forced landing in extremely remote country northeast of Katherine in the Northern Territory. The aircraft, carrying seven Dutch servicemen, had suffered a complete electrical failure during Read more
By Dr. Nonja Peters Between 1945 and 1949, around 300,000 Indies-born and Eurasian Dutch relocated from the Netherlands East Indies to the Netherlands as a result of the Japanese Occupation of Java and Sumatra and the Indonesian Revolution. Not only did the Indos (Eurasian Dutch) have to leave members of Read more
A touch of humour: the recollections of Walter Mannot as a lively nine-year-old living in the former Dutch colony of the Netherlands East Indies By: Dr. Sue Summers – 2006 Walter Mannot was born in the in the Netherlands East Indies in Kemanglen in central Java in 1932. His brother Read more
Early Dutch claims set the framework When the Australian colonies began to look northward in the late nineteenth century, the island of New Guinea was not an unclaimed space. The Netherlands had already laid claim to the western half of the island in 1828, incorporating it—at least formally—into the Dutch Read more
Life in Java in the early 20th century Henriette Adriana Margaretha Thomas (nee Kuneman) was born on 22 January 1930 on the Badek Estate, a coffee and rubber plantation, near Kediri, East Java in the former Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Her father Jan Hendrik Kuneman (7 April 1885 – 9 March Read more
By Dr Sue Summers – 2006 John (Jan) Giezen would have to be one of the better known people within the Dutch-Australians veterans community living in Queensland. He has helped ex-veterans and their widows to access compensation and pensions; he established the Netherlands Ex-Servicemen and Women’s Association (NESWA) website, and Read more
Popular Australian entertainer Marty Rhone began life as Karel van Rhoon in the former Netherlands East Indies. His father Eddy van Rhoon was of mixed Dutch and Chinese heritage and his mother Judith (nee Bagshaw) was fifth generation Australian. Together, they gave Marty a rich and wonderful heritage: he is Read more
This article was written in 2006 Mathilde is the popular producer and presenter based in the Sydney office of SBS Dutch Radio. Born: Djalan Semarang, Jakarta on 3 March 1950 Arrival in Australia: 27 May 1981 Qualifications/Training: Secondary education: Rotterdamsch Lyceum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tertiary education: Diploma – Ecole HÙteliËre Read more
Indonesian political prisoners and colonial repression The story of Indonesian nationalist Mohamad Bondan reflects a largely overlooked chapter in the shared wartime history of Indonesia, the Netherlands and Australia. His experiences illustrate how the upheavals of the Second World War brought anti-colonial activists into direct contact with Allied wartime structures Read more
The academic paper below by Nonja Peters and colleagues presents a focused and interdisciplinary investigation into one of the most intriguing and debated aspects of early Dutch–Australian history: the possibility that marooned sailors from the Dutch East India Company established contact—and potentially long-term relationships—with Aboriginal communities along the Western Australian Read more