Republished with permission. Chapter five from the book: A Touch of Dutch. For the full pdf click here. See also: Dutch-Russian Ace Pilot Iwan Smirnoff (WWII) The Lost Dutch Diamonds on Carnot Beach, Western Australia
Republished with permission. Section one from the book: A Touch of Dutch. For the full pdf of the book click here. Introduction chapters of the book: Touch of Dutch See also: Following the Dutch VOC Seafarers
Edwin Jongejans, born on December 18, 1966, is a retired diver from the Netherlands who has made significant contributions to the world of diving, both as an athlete and a coach. Jongejans’ journey in diving began on the global stage with his participation in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. Read more
Vertrek is a lively, wide-ranging social biography about fifteen postwar Australian-Dutch families, taking central stage is the Paulusse family. Candidly narrated by Kees Paulusse, the son of Dutch immigrants to Melbourne in the early sixties, this chronicles the family’s adventure and his own perceptions and experience. Vertrek begins on November Read more
The celebrations of the first 400 years of relations between The Commonwealth of Australia and The Kingdom of The Netherlands in 2006 marked a very special and important event for both countries. The shared relationship between the two countries was first established in 1606, when the Dutch vessel Duyfken mapped Read more
Daniel Johannes Huygens, born in Utrecht, Holland, in 1908, is recognized as an unsung hero of World War II for his courageous efforts in hiding Jewish families from the Nazis. During the German occupation of the Netherlands, Huygens and his wife, Lydia, transformed the upper story of their house into Read more
On the night of the 28 April 1656, the Vergulde Draeck struck a submerged coral reef midway between what are now the coastal towns of Seabird and Ledge Point, Western Australia. On board were 193 crew, eight boxes of silver coins worth 78,600 guilders and trade goods to the value Read more
The Vergulde Draeck sailed from the Netherlands bound for Batavia. The ship foundered in 1656 at Ledge Point, near the mouth of Moore River, leaving 68 survivors stranded. In 1658, two ships were sent to attempt a rescue. Aboard one of the ships, the Waeckende Boey, was officer-navigator Abraham Leeman van Santwits. This Read more
Early Career and Rise to Prominence Jan (later John, Johnny) Van Oosten was born in The Hague. The family emigrated to Australia in 1954, when Jan was 7 years old. They settled in Victoria Park. His father was Dutch, his mother Polish, they had met each other in Germany where Read more