Ian van Wieringen’s life and artistic career connected the Netherlands, Australia and Indonesia. Born in Scheveningen on 15 January 1943, he moved with his family to Indonesia in 1953 and to Australia in 1957. According to his published biography, he studied and lectured at the University of Sydney between 1961 Read more
Alfred Calkoen was a Dutch-Australian artist who played an important role in the development of the visual arts in Victoria, Australia. He was born on January 1, 1917, in Amsterdam he finished his study in the Netherlands in the Nieuwe Kunstschool (Amsterdam). During his career he also was an art 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
Soon after the liberation of the southern Netherlands, on 14 September 1944, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina decreed from London the official formation of a NEI government-in-Exile. This replaced the Netherlands East Indies Commission for Australia and New Zealand (NEICANZ) as it was established in 1942 in essence not much changed structurally and 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
On 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney, an Australian light cruiser, was engaged in a naval battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off the coast of Western Australia. During the battle, both ships were sunk, with the loss of all 645 crew members on board the Sydney and 81 crew Read more
The United States 7th Fleet is responsible for operations in the Western Pacific Ocean. It was formed on March 15, 1943, in Brisbane, Australia, during World War II. The fleet was initially commanded by Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender, and it consisted of the cruisers USS Minneapolis and USS New Read more
The Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM), or Royal Packet Navigation Company, became one of the largest and most influential shipping enterprises operating across the Netherlands East Indies and the surrounding region. Its extensive network connected hundreds of islands and ports and eventually extended to Australia, China, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and Read more
Batchelor Airfield, approximately 100 kilometres south of Darwin, became the principal wartime base of No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF. From May 1943 until its departure for Balikpapan in July 1945, the joint Dutch–Australian squadron flew B-25 Mitchell bombing, reconnaissance and anti-shipping operations from Batchelor against Japanese forces across Read more