Netherlands East Indies - Australia History
Inventaris Digitale collectie Project ‘Afscheid van Indië’
Inventory Digital Collection Project ‘Farewell to the Indies’
Aviation and Shipping
The Lost Dutch Diamonds on Carnot Beach, Western Australia. New: video ABC 7:30 Report 12-11-2024
On the eve of the Netherlands East Indies’ capitulation, a series of evacuation flights brought Dutch citizens to the safety of Australia, with Broome emerging as a key evacuation hub. Among the heroic pilots, Dutch-Russian Captain Iwan Smirnoff stood out for his multiple successful evacuation missions, regarding it as a Read more…
Military and Political History
RAAF Members on Netherlands East Indies Aircraft + Archival documents
During World War II, members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) were involved in a variety of operations, including flying missions on aircraft belonging to the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) Air Force. This cooperation occurred after the fall of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) to Japanese forces in Read more…
Archive
Cornelis Bijvoet, shipping engineer & architect of Dutch emigration ships
This article was created with the permission of, and with information made available by, Mr. Bijvoet’s grandchildren, Dr. Shanti Wong and Mr. Mark Wardle. Cornelis Bijvoet (1890–1964) was a Dutch shipping engineer who served his country with distinction as a ship designer, a World War II naval officer, and a Read more…
Aviation and Shipping
ML-KNIL Dakota crashed in Moreton Bay – 1947
On 26 February, a ML-KNIL Douglas Dakota caught fire and crashed into the ocean about 23 minutes into a test flight from Archerfield, killing all six people – three Dutch servicemen and three Australian crew members – onboard. ML-KNIL = Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger – Royal Netherlands Read more…
Military and Political History
The Devil’s Grin – Japanese imprisonment of Dutch and Australian People
The book The Devil’s Grin by Toni Harting provides an in-depth exploration of the Japanese military’s imprisonment of Dutch civilians in the Dutch East Indies during the Pacific War (1941-1945). Harting offers a detailed account of the Japanese occupation, focusing on the brutality endured by prisoners in the concentration camps, Read more…
Military and Political History
Toni de Wolfe evacuated from NEI and became a driver for General MacArthur in Brisbane
The following story was told by Les Bryant and recorded in World War II Stories from Brisbane’s South West My aunt was one of MacArthur’s drivers in Brisbane, but her story started overseas. She actually arrived back in Australia about the same time as Macarthur, as an evacuee from the Read more…
Military and Political History
Eugenie Blackney survived the Japanese camps
I have lived in Forest Lake, Brisbane for years. But during World War 11,-I was in Java. When the Japanese invaded, the Dutch East Indies government escaped to Australia and ended up at Wacol, Brisbane. My family came later, in 1945. Dutch East Indies My grandfather was Polish, and he Read more…
Maritime History
Frederik de Houtman and the Naming of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands
Frederik de Houtman Frederik de Houtman, a Dutch navigator and explorer, played a pivotal role in the early European exploration of Australia. Known for his contributions to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and his skilled navigation of the treacherous waters of the Indian Ocean, one of his lasting legacies Read more…
Migration history
The Migration of Boers to Australia after the Second Anglo-Boer War
This article is produced with the assistance AI. Corrections and additions are welcome. Who Were the Boers? The Boers were descendants of Dutch, German, and French Huguenot settlers who arrived in southern Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily under the auspices of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East Read more…