The first known Dutch encounters with the Aborigines in Australia took place during the 17th century, when Dutch ships were looking for new trading opportunities and made voyages of discovery to the region now known as Australia. It’s worth noting, however, that the lack of recorded incidents does not mean 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…
A Voyage to New South Wales from the journal of a Ship’s Doctor An early Dutch writer on Sydney in the 1840s was P van Os. His book “Reis naar Nieuw-Zuid-Wallis. Uit het dagboek van een scheepsdokter” was edited for children. It is a curious semi-fictional work and although it Read more…
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in Southeast Asia, the area also included the supply port of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. ABDA had been established at Bandung, Java on 10 January 1942 and became operational following the declaration of war Read more…
Despite the poor level of language retention among the descendants of the Netherlands-born, Dutch remains an important community language in Sydney. In 2002 a new Dutch syllabus was introduced to the New South Wales Higher School Certificate. However, the number of students sitting for Dutch exams at the end of Read more…
Introduction The Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS) was a Dutch military intelligence service during and after World War II. The purpose of the NEFIS was initially to collect intelligence for the Allied forces with regard to the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) that was occupied by Japan. It operated from Melbourne 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…
Just as there have been extreme weather events in Australia last year carrying over into this year resulting in devastating floods over large areas of Australia resulting in loss of life, livelihood and billions of dollars’ worth of damage to property and infrastructure, so there was seventy years ago an Read more…
Two Dutchmen, both passed way, members of the same extended family, yet three generations apart, made a noticeable contribution to Australian culture, by just going about their business. The artist Jan Hendrik Scheltema migrated here in the 19th century, and the other was his great-nephew Cas Jeekel, who just visited 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…