On the night of June 23, 1944, the small town of Dodewaard in the Netherlands became an unwilling witness to the horrors of World War II. A Handley Page Halifax III bomber, serial number MZ 715, was shot down during a mission over occupied Europe. This tragic incident not only Read more…
The Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC) is happy to support the CBG|Centre for Family History in their initiative to make the collection of the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (1883–1969) accessible and searchable. This extensive collection includes 30,000 scans of passenger manifests, ship logs, and crew lists, revealing an estimated 750,000–890,000 individual Read more…
In Grantlee Kieza’s compelling book, Sister Viv, the harrowing experiences of Australian Army nurse Vivian Bullwinkel during World War II are vividly recounted. The narrative highlights the profound connections between Australian and Dutch wartime histories, particularly through the events on Bangka Island in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), now Indonesia. Read more…
The 18 Netherlands East Indies squadron RAAF was established on April 4 1942 They destroyed many Japanese operations on NEI, sunk 6 Japanese ships and numerous smaller boats.
Republished with permission. Original article was published in the Conversation on January 3, 2025 Author:Alexandra LudewigProfessor and Head of the School of Humanities, The University of Western Australia Disclosure statementAlexandra Ludewig does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit Read more…
Wim Willems, Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, The Netherlands In this chapter, in the book: Europe’s invisible migrants “No Sheltering Sky: Migrant Identities of Dutch Nationals from Indonesia” by Wim Willems, delves into the complex postwar migration and settlement experiences of Dutch nationals from Indonesia, focusing on their journeys Read more…
Read his full Wikipedia article here. Alexander Jan Reitsma (1919-1982) was a distinguished Dutch economist whose career bridged three continents, making significant contributions to the fields of international economics and trade policy. Born in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, he began his academic journey at the Netherlands University for Economics, earning advanced Read more…
The National Australia Remembers Freedom Wall commemorates the “sacrifice of a generation” that have resulted in 50 years of peace in the Pacific since World War Two, and honours the servicemen and servicewomen who died in service or were killed in action, and also those who brought freedom to Australia, including workers Read more…
The Pacific War during World War II saw countless daring operations carried out by Allied forces, often in extreme secrecy. Among these, the contributions of Australia’s RAAF Catalina crews and their Dutch counterparts from the Marine Luchtvaartdienst (MLD) stand out as critical yet often overlooked components of the broader Allied Read more…
The Dutch history of Schouten Island Schouten Island, located off the east coast of Tasmania, forms part of the Freycinet Peninsula and holds a significant place in the history of Dutch exploration in the Southern Hemisphere. Its narrative, like many Tasmanian islands, is marked by its Indigenous heritage, European exploration, Read more…