Camp Columbia in Brisbane was set up by the Americans in 1942 as a staging camp for the liberation of the Southwest Pacific. When the Americans moved on to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in 1944, the Dutch took over Camp Columbia. It was used by the Netherlands East Indies Read more…
The Tasman expedition left Batavia (Netherlands East Indies, now Jakarta, Indonesia) on 14th August 1642 with two vessels, the Heemskerk with a 60-man crew and the Zeehaan with 50 men on board. They first called at Mauritius, where they stayed for a month-long repair to both ships. Intending to sail Read more…
Dirk Drok (Dalfsen, Netherlands 1915–1988), Perth) and his wife Kitty Isabella Theodora Uitenhage de Mist-Barkey (Java 1921–2001 Perth) lived in Java, Netherlands East Indies NEI (now Indonesia). After the Japanese had occupied the NEI, Dirk and kitty both – separately – ended up in Japanese Camps. There is an extensive Read more…
At the end of the 19th Century, the French government looked around for labour for New Caledonia. Workers were needed on the coffee plantations and also servants were sought after. New Caledonia became home to the second largest Javanese community outside Indonesia with some 20,000 immigrants sent between 1896 and Read more…
This article is about the Dutch seizure of part of New Guinea in 1828. The English activities in Northern Australia played an important role in this. The author of the article is Jeroen Overweel. He is engaged in cultural heritage participation and is an independent researcher on Indonesian, Melanesian and Read more…
The SS Bantam (3322 gross weight, built in 1930 ) was one of the original twenty-one KPM vessels that took refuge in Australian ports after the fall of Java that Dutch officials requested be put into service for the war effort. The ship, as well as other Dutch merchant ships, Read more…
Dutch New Guinea The Moluccan policeman (only known as M.E.) operated in New Guinea from 1935 to April-May 1942, first in Fakfak and then in Babo. On the day of the capitulation of the KNIL he was in the area south of Babo, in the Mimika region in Oeta. The Read more…
The SS Waterman, initially constructed as the enlarged Victory troopship SS La Grande Victory (VC2-S-AP3), holds a notable place in maritime history. Post-World War II, the State of the Netherlands procured three ships from the US War Shipping Administration, and the SS Waterman was one of them. Designed with reinforced Read more…
Researched by Ruby Todorovski, researcher at the University of Queensland. Source: National Archives of Australia. Netherlands East Indies Commission for Australia and New Zealand Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile in Australia (1944-1946) Netherlands Forces in Australia WWII Evacuees from Netherlands East Indies recuperating in Australia after WWII Migration and Repatriation issues Read more…
Declassified documents from the National Archives of Australia, researched by Ruby Todorovski, University of Queensland Links to other declassified WWII Australian Documents re the Netherlands East Indies Military Command After the surrender of the Dutch military in the Netherlands East Indies to the Japanese in March 1942, the Dutch military Read more…