In 1926 the Dutch had imprisoned Indonesian freedom fighters in a camp in the jungle of Dutch New Guinea. When the Japanese advanced they were brought – under false pretences – to Australia in 1943. When the Australians did find it they were political prisoners they ordered the Dutch to free them.
This post contains a unique collection of archives kept by Jan (John) de Wit. Jan joined the Dutch Airforce and became a guard at the Dutch Camp in Casino NSW. There were uprisings in the camp and people were killed. This became an embarrassment for Australia. The Australian Unions played a key role here as well.
She is best known for her work as a radio announcer for the Voice of Free Indonesia in Surabaya, in the Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution. The foreign press gave her the name Surabaya Sue.
When the war reached Java, he fled on the merchant ship the KPM SS Boissevain to Freemantle. He was despatched to the RAAF training camp near Lake Macquarie and from here he was send to the Jackson, Mississippi to be trained on the B25 bombers. He was assigned to the No. 18 Squadron NEI / RAAF operating from the Batchelor Airfield, Northern Territory. He flew bombing missions against Japanese military strongholds and shipping. He was highly decorated.
There were some of 42 000 Dutch military and naval personnel and 100 000 Dutch civilians who were captured when the Japanese conquered the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942. After the War around 6,000 internees and Dutch POWs who needed immediate medical assistance were brought to Australia where they were allowed to recuperate for between 3 to 6 months, after which they were either repatriated to the Netherlands or went back to Netherlands East Indies.
The ship was built during the 1930s, she was based in the Netherlands East Indies when Japan attacked at the end of 1941. After the Japanese invasion the ship left for Australia. For its escape the ship was painted in camouflage colours and the ship was disguised as a tropical island with the help of nets, branches, and other greenery. It arrived in Geraldton. Here the ship served as a patrol vessel until 16 August 1942. After that the ship was in service with the Australian Navy.
After the Franco-Prussian war in 1870/1871 – in which my grandfather fought – two important developments happened: This put Germany right in competition with Britain who was the global superpower of the day. Germany had a great (Prussian) army but didn’t have a strong naval force, rather the opposite of Read more…
Sydney Morning Herald 21 April 1921 AUSTRALIA’S HANDICAP. IN NETHERLANDS-INDIES. Among the passengers who arrived by the steamer Houtman yesterday was Count Limburg Stirum, who has only recently retired from the post of Governor-General of the Netherlands-Indies, after five years’ occupancy of It, and who is proceeding to Holland, via Read more…
Willem Frans Theodoor Brijl was born May 17th, 1897 in Surabaya in the Dutch East-Indies, the son of Frans Hendrik Brijl. In 1910 he left for the Netherlands in order to have his HBS education. September 21st, 1914 he enrolled in the Merchant Navy Academy on the island of Texel. Read more…
See the profiles and stories of Joop van Doorn and Hans de Vries and Max Horstink. Click here for more information on the 18 Squadron Nederlands East Indies Royal Australia Air Force The following information with thanks to TracesOfWar. Sidney Rudi de Kadt evaded from occupied country the Netherlands to Read more…