Dutch message re upcoming Pearl Harbour attack was ignored. Identifying Japan as a potential aggressor, in the thirties the Dutch tried to strengthen their intelligence capability. In 1932 the Royal Netherlands Navy set up a radio intercept unit to monitor the activities of the Japanese Navy. Several weeks prior to Read more…
Scroll down and a map shows up with New Guinea connected to Australia but a small missing part on that map shows where in this perspective the Torres Strait could have been. See also: The Colonial Warship the Doerga explored northern Australia (1825-1826) Dutch Explorers in the Gulf of Carpentaria Read more…
The brothers Ploos van Amstel Jan Willem Ploos van Amstel was born in the Netherlands in 1827. The Ploos van Amstel family was a prominent Dutch merchant family in the 19th century. The family roots can be traced back to the 15th century and the family produced important theologians, painters Read more…
The Mutiny of the Bounty is one of the most famous mutiny stories ever. Captain’s William Bligh mission was to collect Breadfruit plans in Tahiti and deliver them to the Americas as it was seen as a cheap food for the slaves on the British plantations. The trip faced many Read more…
These pictures are all from the Evert Herman van Hummel collection. He was a flight engineer from 1938 till approx. 1970. Unfortunately most photographs don’t have any accompanying information. This first section is most likely from his early period in the 1930 and early 1940s. During WWII he was stationed Read more…
Cornelis Antoine Trijssenaar was born on 2 January 1909 in Arnhem. ‘Keesje’ grew up in an international family originally coming from Strassbourg to The Hague. He had family in Monaco, Austria and Switzerland where summer holidays were spent. Returning family occupations are either government administration or having artistic aspirations. Kees’ Read more…
Makassar centre of the trepang fishing Trepang fishing, also known as sea cucumber fishing, is a type of fishing that involves the collection of sea cucumbers, which are a type of marine invertebrate. Sea cucumbers are typically found on the ocean floor and are harvested for a variety of purposes, Read more…
The first known Dutch encounters with the Aborigines in Australia took place during the 17th century, when Dutch ships were looking for new trading opportunities and made voyages of discovery to the region now known as Australia. It’s worth noting, however, that the lack of recorded incidents does not mean Read more…
Jan Willem de With migrated to Australia from Indonesia in 1950 he was a Dutch conscription at 20.WE are looking for more information on him.
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in Southeast Asia, the area also included the supply port of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. ABDA had been established at Bandung, Java on 10 January 1942 and became operational following the declaration of war Read more…