In 1869, a French chemist named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented a spread made from beef tallow and skimmed milk that he called “margarine.” Margarine was initially viewed with suspicion and was slow to catch on in Europe, but by the late 19th century, it had become popular as a cheaper alternative Read more
Prelude Following hastily established diplomatic relationships in January 1942, the Australian Labor Government offered the Dutch, after the fall of NEI, shear unlimited support in relation to facilities and training, while at the same time providing them with a remarkable high level of independence for their operations in Australia. What Read more
Amateur movies made by Mr. Arie Berger. Source Netherlands Ministry of Defence Movie #3 – 1943 Beeldbank – Department of Defence – Netherlands Movie #4 1943 -1944 Beeldbank – Department of Defence – Netherlands Movie #5 1945 -1946 Beeldbank – Department of Defence – Netherlands See also: The Dutch at Read more
After the successful trans-Pacific flight of the Southern Cross in 1928, Kingsford Smith and his team continued to break new ground in aviation. In 1930, Kingsford Smith and his crew, which included co-pilot Evert van Dijk, completed the first non-stop flight between Australia and England in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m aircraft Read more
De Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM – Royal Packet Navigation Company – was established in 1888 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company was created by merging several smaller Dutch shipping companies that were operating in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). KPM’s main purpose was to provide a regular shipping service between Read more
Batchelor Airport is a former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base located in Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia. The base was established in 1942 during World War II and was used primarily as a bomber base for the RAAF’s No. 1 Operational Training Unit. During the war, Batchelor Airport was also Read more
The following information is from the Tesselaar website. In June 1939, just weeks before the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Cees and Johanna Tesselaar left their home in Beverwijk, the Netherlands and on their wedding day aboard the Strathallan. They were headed for Australia, bringing little but their farming Read more
Victor Victorszoon was a Dutch artist (born 1653) as a painter and cartographer he accompanied the explorer Willem de Vlamingh on his expedition to Australia in the late 17th century. Victorszoon’s paintings are the sole visual record of the voyage and are among the earliest known images of the continent. Read more
Jacob Jansen (1848-1928), who later changed his name to Jacob Johnson, was born in Groningen and immigrated to Australia in the 1860s.. He became a Dutch-Australian businessman who owned and operated several cafes in Melbourne during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jacob Johnson’s cafes were popular gathering places Read more
Petrus van Alkemade, also known (in Australia) as Peter Alkemade, was born in Noordwijk, Netherlands in 1835. Son of Petrus van Alkemade, also known (in Australia) as Peter Alkemade, was born in Noordwijk, Netherlands in 1835. Son of Cornelis Cornelisz Alkemade and Alida Aris van der Plas. He arrived in Read more