This article is based on detailed historical notes generously provided by the Drijver family, who have preserved accounts shared privately by Robbie (Rob) Drijver in the final years of his life after the expiry of his wartime secrecy obligations. The history of Dutch Australians during the Second World War contains Read more
Two cemeteries on one historic site In November 2025 I visited this very impressive cemetery. It is a meticulously maintained, oases of quietness and peace situated on the busy southern side of Jakarta, hemmed in by high-rise apartments and traffic, It is one of the most important WWII remembrance sites Read more
This article is an English abstract of the two-part Dutch biography of Jack and Truus Hompe, published on IndischHistorisch.nl and based on Louise Hompe’s family chronicle Uitgestelde huwelijksnacht. Their story shows how the Netherlands, Australia and the Netherlands East Indies intersected during the final phase of the Second World War. Read more
The wreck of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) in 1656 is one of the most enduring mysteries of early Dutch contact with Australia. While the wreck site was rediscovered in 1963, the fate of the seventy-five survivors who reached the shore has never been conclusively known. Recent archaeological Read more
Margaretha Hanen OAM (née Maas) was a social worker whose concern about the lack of specialist services available to ageing South Australians from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds sparked change in this sector. Early years in the Netherlands Margaretha was born in Oldenboorn in the northern Dutch province of Friesland Read more
Johan “John” Vrolyks was born in 1922 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and emigrated to Australia in 1952. After arriving in Sydney, he worked first as a car washer in Crown Street before becoming a cook with Cahill’s Restaurants. Keen to explore more of Australia, he soon joined the Postmaster-General’s Department Read more
From warship to Luna Park: the remarkable afterlife of Dutch submarine K-XII The wartime story of the Dutch submarine HNLMS K-XII is reasonably well known among naval historians, but its Australian afterlife is one of the most unusual episodes in Dutch–Australian maritime history. Few Allied submarines ended their days as Read more
Kasteel Batavia stood as the administrative heart of the Dutch East Indies, begun in 1619 under Jan Pieterszoon Coen. The rectangular fortress, built on the western bank of the Groote Rivier (now Kali Besar), featured four bastions—Amsterdam, Zeelandia, Hollandia and Westfriesland—connected by thick walls enclosing offices, warehouses, and the Governor-General’s Read more
The story of Dutch New Guinea in the 1950s is often told through the lens of Dutch colonial policy and the role of European missions. Less well known is the presence of small Australian evangelical societies. One of these was the Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU), whose station at Wolo Read more
Boesidien, Samanuddin and Abdole Hamid were members of the Netherlands Merchant Navy during World War II and are interred at Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane. Their service highlights the significant role of Dutch merchant vessels in the Allied efforts in the Pacific. Boesidien (1909–1942) Netherlands Merchant Navy – Crew member, MaetsuyckerBuried Read more