The Battle of Ambon, which raged from January 30 to February 3, 1942, in the Netherlands East Indies during World War II, held significant strategic implications due to its potential for facilitating air attacks on Australia. The Dutch garrison, ill-equipped and understaffed, found itself confronting Japanese aggression alongside Allied forces, Read more…
The following information is from the Australian War Memorial. Anton van Beurden was born in 1912. He joined the Dutch merchant navy as a young man, specialising in radio telegraphy. In 1933, he was selected for officer training in the Royal Netherlands Naval Reserve (RNNR). After attending the Royal Naval Read more…
Dutch war veterans in Australia oral history project [sound recording] The aim of this project “is to collect interviews that will recapture the life experiences of a representative group of Dutch veterans in Australia. Most of these veterans served with the Royal Netherlands Army in the Netherlands East-Indies (NEI) during Read more…
The following breakdown provides a comprehensive overview of completed and ongoing research projects in the field of DACC. Allies in a Bind: Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War Australia Explained: A Site for Newcomers and Old Hands Children Born on Ships En Route to Australia Read more…
In 1938, amidst escalating tensions of war, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board recognised the necessity for a versatile ‘local defence vessel’ capable of anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties. This need birthed the concept of the HMAS Armidale, envisioned as a vessel with a displacement of around 500 tons, capable of reaching Read more…
During World War II, Gould Airfield, also known as Gould Strip, was an important airfield located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It played a significant role in the defence and strategic operations of the Allies in the Pacific theatre during the war. Here’s more information about Gould Airfield and Read more…
The 15th day of August 1945 will go down in history as the day of the end of the Second World War. On that day, Japan capitulated and the President of the United States announced that the conflict in the Pacific was over. But there was no question of a Read more…
An often used trivia question in the Netherlands is, what part of the Netherlands remained unoccupied during WWII. The answer is Southwest Dutch New Guinea, with Merauke as its capital When General MacArthur initiated an offensive on mainland Netherlands New Guinea on a modest scale in 1942, his left flank Read more…
So far, we have not been able to get stories from people that were allowed to come to Australian for recuperation after their stay in the Japanese Camps in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) during WWII. This, first one, are recollections of Yoke, wife of Wim van de Wallen, whose Read more…
The following overview has been compiled by Dr. Nonja Peters Papers on Dutch culture and heritage by Nonja Peters 2016: Opening and closing/summing up speeches at the NIAS LORENZ International Workshop on Digital Humanities – Conceptualising a model for the Digital Preservation of Immigrants Cultural heritage, 22 and 26 August Read more…