Gerrit van der Meulen was one of the Dutch workers who travelled to Australia in 1950 in connection with the major post-war dredging project at Williamstown. The wider history of this project and the men recruited for it is described in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Jan Willem van Zon was born in Sliedrecht on 7 December 1926. He was the son of Arie van Zon (1893–1956) and Arigje van Noorloos (1893–1938). Jan Willem travelled to Australia on Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Kuindert Ruis, who was also known within the family as Kuin Ruis, was born in Sliedrecht on 7 November 1908. He was the son of Willem Johannes Ruis (1880–1962) and Aagje Cornelia Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Dirk van Kekeren was born in Sliedrecht on 18 July 1922. He was the son of Emanuel van Kekeren, a skipper, and Magcheltje Vonk. On 22 July 1950, Dirk departed Amsterdam on Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. In the first half of 1950, the lives of the brothers Joost and Teunis de Jong were about to undergo a major change. They were preparing to leave the Netherlands for Australia, Read more
A large diorama at the Gold Coast War Museum in Mudgeeraba depicts one of the most famous battles fought in the Netherlands during the Second World War: the struggle for the bridge at Arnhem in September 1944. The model shows a Dutch town devastated by fighting, with the bridge, damaged Read more
The following is an English translation of the original Dutch account. The complete Dutch document is attached below. Cornelis Jan van Noordennen is listed among the passengers on the flight to Sydney, Australia, on 22 July 1950 (seat G4). He was born in Hardinxveld on 11 August 1928, the son Read more
The following is an extensive English summary of a Dutch-language account prepared by Kees van der Sluijs and Fred Stuij. The complete original Dutch story is attached below. Arie van Kekeren and his wife Maria Blokland belonged to a generation of people from Sliedrecht whose lives were closely connected with Read more
The evacuation of the Netherlands East Indies flying schools was one of the largest movements of Dutch military aviation personnel during the collapse of the colony in early 1942. Hundreds of student pilots, instructors, observers, wireless operators, air gunners and technical personnel escaped to Australia. Although their stay was brief, Read more
When Dick was nineteen, he was seized by the German authorities and transported to Germany. According to the account he later gave to Glenda Korporaal, he was initially taken to the Dachau concentration camp. He recalled harsh treatment during his detention, including an incident in which a guard broke his Read more