The Douglas DC-3 now preserved at the Queensland Air Museum in Caloundra has an exceptional Dutch–Australian history. Built for KLM in 1937 and named Wielewaal—Dutch for Golden Oriole—it served on the Amsterdam–Batavia route, escaped from Java carrying Lieutenant Governor-General Hubertus van Mook, entered Allied military service in Australia and was Read more
By her son David Hill. Joan McConachy was a secretary at Camp Columbia, Brisbane working for the Dutch Army as she later told her son David (perhaps at NEFIS). Joan was born in 1924 at Winton (Central West QLD) and moved to Brisbane around 1943 from the then family home Read more
This is the only official Dutch War Cemetery in Australia. It is only one of three non Commonwealth War Cemeteries in Australia, the other two being the Tatura (German) War Cemetery in Victoria (250 graves) and the Cowra (Japanese) War Cemetery in New South Wales (523). At Cowra the Dutch Read more
The Dutch barque De Kyverheid had some Involvement in the rescue of the crew of the schooner ‘Island Queen’ under command of Captain Porter. This ship was lost on the Great Detached Reef on 24 July 1854. The 27 passengers and crew crowded into the longboat and set out for Read more
The Hester and the Doelwyck Two Dutch ships were wrecked on 21 April 1854 upon Kenn’s Reef. The crew of the 840 tonnes wooden vessel ‘Hester’ lost one man but the others were able to make it Port Curtis (Gladstone) and from there to Maryborough and eventually Sydney. It is Read more
The SS Volendam played a pioneering role in post-war Dutch migration to Australia. Originally built for the Holland America Line’s transatlantic passenger service, she survived a torpedo attack during the Second World War, carried more than 100,000 Allied troops and was later adapted to transport emigrants. In January 1949, Volendam Read more
The MS Willem Ruys was one of the most important Dutch passenger liners of the post-war period. Originally designed for the service between Rotterdam and the Netherlands East Indies, she became the flagship of the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd. From 1959 until 1964, Willem Ruys operated a round-the-world service connecting the Read more
After the Franco-Prussian war in 1870/1871 – in which my grandfather fought – two important developments happened: This put Germany right in competition with Britain who was the global superpower of the day. Germany had a great (Prussian) army but didn’t have a strong naval force, rather the opposite of Read more
In 1910 the HNLMS Koningin Regentes undertook a cruise to Australia to show the flag. Lieutenant Pieren was interviewed re the security in the region both in regarding to Japan and the situation in the Netherlands East Indies,
Source (Trove): The Week Brisbane 16 October 1908 Java and Australia. Fostering Relations. Netherlands Consul-General. As stated in our first edition, Mr. W. L. Bosschart, Netherlands Consul-General for Australia and Polynesia, whose legation is situated at Melbourne, is returning from a visit to the Dutch East Indies by the steamer Read more