Among the many functions of the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-exile based at Camp Columbia in Brisbane during World War II, one of the most strategically significant—and least remembered—was the work of NIGIS, the Netherlands Indies Government Information Service. Operating in close cooperation with Allied information and propaganda units, NIGIS served as the Dutch government’s Read more
Introduction During the Second World War, Australia and the Netherlands were close allies, brought together by the shared struggle against Japan. Following the collapse of the Netherlands East Indies in 1942, Australia became the principal base for Dutch military, administrative and maritime operations in exile. Yet this cooperation was accompanied Read more
The history of No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF is often told as one of Allied cooperation and operational success. Yet in its early period in Australia, the squadron experienced a profound internal crisis that culminated in one of the most controversial legal cases involving Dutch forces in exile Read more
A 2006 episode of Andere Tijden titled Australië: integreren met hindernissen revisited postwar migration from the Netherlands to Australia. What makes this account particularly valuable is that it challenges the long-standing perception that Dutch migration was a largely smooth and successful process. Instead, it highlights a more complex reality—one in Read more
One of the most remarkable pilots of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force (ML-KNIL) in Australia during World War II was Gerson (Guus) Hagers, who served with No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF. In February 1942 he was part of the group tasked with receiving newly acquired B-25 bombers 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
Introduction The Scheyville Migration Camp occupies an important, though often understated, place in Australia’s postwar migration history. Located about 50 kilometres north-west of Sydney, the camp served as a reception and training centre for thousands of migrants between 1949 and 1964. For many European arrivals—including significant numbers from the Netherlands—the Read more
A touch of humour: the recollections of Walter Mannot as a lively nine-year-old living in the former Dutch colony of the Netherlands East Indies By: Dr. Sue Summers – 2006 Walter Mannot was born in the in the Netherlands East Indies in Kemanglen in central Java in 1932. His brother Read more
Written by Johanna Wagenaar (nee, van der Steen). Johanna (Hannie) tells of the family’s sea journey from The Netherlands to Fremantle Western Australia on board the ‘Groote Beer‘ in 1951, their reception by members of the Free Reformed Church, their adventures settling into a new country, and a journey not Read more
The Butlers of Wickepin Records show Dutch were on the first fleet, that the Swan Colony had a Dutch consul as early as 1879 and that Dutch made a living on the land in Queensland in the early part of the 20th century. This tiny portal into the life of Read more