The name New Holland (Hollandia Novae) appeared on maps depicting the continent of Australia after the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman charted the west coast of the continent in 1644. According to linguist Dr. Jan Tent (see paper below), the name was probably given to the continent by one of the Read more…
Queenie van de Zandt is the daughter of Ria and Hans van de Zandt. Hans is the co-founder of the Canberra Dutch Club in the ACT. Queenie mentioned that she is very proud to be Dutch and that parts of her Dutch heritage have influenced her writing. In particular in Read more…
It is interesting to note that in the 20th century the Royal Netherlands Navy visited Australia more times than any of the other other European Continental Countries. This has obviously to do with the Dutch colony to the north of Australia, the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. Dutch Naval Visit Read more…
Miniland was a theme park in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in 1972 by Peter Zorgdrager, a Dutch immigrant who was inspired by Dusneyland. The park featured a variety of giant sculptures, including dinosaurs, animals, and landmarks from around the world. It also had a children’s playground, Read more…
Het onbekende Zuidland naderbij’ by Jaap van der Veen is a catalogue of an exhibition about the history of Australia, the Aborigines and the Dutch explorers and emigrants. It is published by Volkenkundig Museum ‘Gerardus van der Leeuw’ in Groningen in 1988. It contains contributions from Don Grimes and other Read more…
The centre of gravity of the Airforce of the Royal Netherlands Navy ( Marine Luchtvaartdienst – MLD) was undisputed in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). The aircraft carried out many reconnaissance flights for the fleet. Just before the outbreak of war, the MLD had 34 Dornier Do 24K flying boats 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…
The MV Ondina was a tanker ship that played a role in World War II. It was launched in April 1939 and was built at the NDSM shipyard in Amsterdam. Upon completion in August 1939, the Ondina was initially employed by La Corona, a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell Read more…
The HNLMS Van Galen and Tjerk Hiddes were N-class destroyer built as HMS Noble and HMS Nonpareil for the Royal Navy during the Second World War and transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy shortly after completion. The tender price for the Van Galen was £400,684 excluding the cost of Admiralty Read more…
The HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck, a light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy, arrived in Australia in October 1942 and was based in Fremantle, Western Australia. She was assigned to Allied Naval Forces Western Australia and performed convoy duties in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. She also provided Read more…