This story starts with the famous First Fleet of eleven vessels sailing into Sydney Cove in 1788. The plan was to establish a colony that would become self-sufficient. They brought with them supplies for 2 years for the 1000 people. After they had unloaded their supplies over a period of Read more
These pictures are all from the Evert Herman van Hummel collection. He was a flight engineer from 1938 till approx. 1970. Unfortunately most photographs don’t have any accompanying information. This first section is most likely from his early period in the 1930 and early 1940s. During WWII he was stationed Read more
In 1795 the Netherlands was conquered by the French revolutionary armies and annexed by Napoleon. The Netherlands, now being a client state of France brought them in conflict with France’ s arch enemy Britain. As a result, the British launched a series of campaigns against Dutch colonies around the world, Read more
Evert van Hummel was born in Baarn in the Netherlands on 29 January 1916. Evert Herman Van Hummel (some called him Evert others called him Herman) left high school at the age of 15, because he was fascinated by engines. He first worked as an apprentice car mechanic at a Read more
It was the 67th DC-3 (model Douglas DC-3-194B. c/n 1944) to be completed by the Douglas factory in California. It was the 10th DC3 purchased by KLM for the route Amsterdam-Batavia and received the name ‘Wielewaal’ (Golden Oriole). Initial registration sign: VH-ANR. The aircraft was flown from Santa Monica to 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 Steam Ship Volendam was a 15,434 GRT ton ocean liner operated by Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij). She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, in Govan, Glasgow. The ship was purchased by Holland America Line while under construction and launched on 6 July 1922. Her Read more