The Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum in northern Victoria preserves the history of one of Australia’s most important inland flying-boat bases during the Second World War. Established at the former RAAF Lake Boga base near Swan Hill, the museum interprets the secret repair and maintenance work carried out there on Read more
Introduction The wartime history of No. 18 Netherlands East Indies Squadron RAAF is closely connected with northern Australia. From 1942 onwards the Dutch-manned squadron operated North American B-25 Mitchell bombers from a network of airfields around Darwin in support of Allied operations against Japanese forces in Timor and the former Read more
Dutch bombers over northern Australia During 1942–43 the newly formed No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron began flying North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from northern Australia against Japanese targets in Timor and the Netherlands East Indies. The squadron had been created in April 1942 as a joint Dutch–Australian unit, Read more
Introduction The Broome Historical Museum, operated by the Broome Historical Society, is one of Western Australia’s most important regional museums and a key institution for preserving the town’s maritime, multicultural and wartime history. Located in a small heritage precinct overlooking Roebuck Bay at Town Beach Reserve, the museum occupies several Read more
Introduction Among the most tangible reminders of the dramatic Dutch wartime presence in Western Australia is a salvaged engine from a Dornier Do-24 flying boat, now preserved in the Broome Historical Museum. Recovered decades after the Japanese air raid on Broome in March 1942, this artefact provides a rare physical Read more
Dutch passenger liner Oranje was built in 1939 build by the Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Maatschappij and was at the time one of the most modern ones in operation. However, its operation as a liner was cut short by the war in Europe. The ship was able to flee to Surabaya in Read more
Samanuddin was born in 1906 in Dacca (now Dhaka, Bangladesh), then part of British India. He later served as a seaman in the Netherlands Merchant Navy. Like many Asian sailors recruited by Dutch shipping companies during the interwar and wartime years, he became part of the multinational crews that operated Read more
Introduction The Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek (Perth) is one of Australia’s most important specialist aviation museums. Established by the Air Force Association of Western Australia and opened in 1979, it houses a large collection of military and civil aircraft, engines, aviation equipment, archival material and interpretive displays related Read more
From collapse in the Netherlands East Indies to allied operations from Australia The rapid Japanese advance through the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) in early 1942 forced surviving Dutch air personnel and aircraft to withdraw to Australia. What followed was a remarkable episode of Allied cooperation. From Australian bases—most notably Archerfield Read more
This document presents a first-hand civilian account of work at Archerfield Aerodrome in Brisbane during the Second World War and the immediate post-war years, with particular relevance to the Dutch and Netherlands East Indies presence in Australia. Written by Jean White (née Forrester), the memoir begins with her early employment Read more