Interview with Vicki Mynott ca 2014 I was eight when we arrived in Australia in 1959. Like many immigrants, we docked in Sydney then took a train to South Brisbane, then a bus on to Wacol Migrant Camp. The Dutch There were a lot of Dutch people coming in then Read more
The military service records of Bernhard Jan Ruesink provide another remarkable insight into the highly international character of Dutch wartime military history during and after the Second World War. His career connected the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Australia and postwar Indonesia through Allied military aviation and Read more
The story of the WWII Camp Columbia in Brisbane did not end with the departure of Allied military forces after the Second World War. In the decades that followed, the vast wartime complex at Wacol entered a new phase of history closely linked to Australia’s post-war migration program and the Read more
This article, published in Dutch connections: 400 years of Australian–Dutch maritime links 1606–2006 and presented by Nonja Peters at the Australian National Maritime Museum, examines the gap between expectation and reality in post-war Dutch migration to Australia between 1947 and 1970. Drawing on historical records, media accounts, and migrant testimonies, Read more
One of the most striking aspects of Dutch–Western Australian history is the disconnect between early European discovery and later patterns of settlement. As outlined by Neil Foley in Dutch connections with Western Australia 1829–1920, the Dutch were among the first Europeans to chart large sections of the Western Australian coastline Read more
Between the Netherlands and Australia The end of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia led to the large-scale displacement of people connected to the former Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Between 1945 and the early 1960s, around 300,000 individuals left the archipelago. The majority settled in the Netherlands, while a smaller but Read more
This document by Desmond Cahill analyses the history, community dynamics, and assimilation patterns of Dutch Australians within the broader context of Australian immigration and multiculturalism. Dutch Australian Community’s Historical Context Settlement Patterns and Ethnic Integration Cultural Core Values and Adaptation Strategies Impact of Historical and Personal Factors Primordial Cultural Traits Read more
In early 1947, Australian newspapers reported on the disappearance of a Dutch Dakota aircraft en route from Australia to the Netherlands East Indies. The aircraft was later found wrecked in remote Northern Territory country near Katherine Gorge, after being struck by lightning during a severe storm. The strike caused a Read more
By Dr. Nonja Peters Between 1945 and 1949, around 300,000 Indies-born and Eurasian Dutch relocated from the Netherlands East Indies to the Netherlands as a result of the Japanese Occupation of Java and Sumatra and the Indonesian Revolution. Not only did the Indos (Eurasian Dutch) have to leave members of Read more
By Julia Weisz This article outlines the journey of Heinrich (Heini) Kuhn and Josefine (Fini) Kuhn, whose lives reflect the experience of many European Jewish families displaced by war, persecution, and political upheaval, and who later became part of Australia’s post-war migrant community. Early life and migration to the Netherlands Read more