The story of the B-25 Mitchell N5-185, known as “Lienke”, is one of the most compelling examples of how wartime aviation, personal history and Allied cooperation came together in Australia during World War II. Operated by No. 18 (Netherlands East 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. 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 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 Read more
When and why did you move to Australia? I moved to Melbourne five years ago to live with my new partner. He is Dutch too and moved here fifteen years ago. I found out I was pregnant with my first child Read more
Peter Reef recently self-published his memoir The Road from Wagga Wagga: Recollections of a Migrant Son (2026). Peter’s parents migrated from the Netherlands to Australia an astonishing three times between 1951 and 1965, and the book recounts his experience of Read more
The 18 Netherlands East Indies squadron RAAF was established on April 4 1942 They destroyed many Japanese operations on NEI, sunk 6 Japanese ships and numerous smaller boats.
The story of Guus Hagers and his wife Lienke brings together several important aspects of the Dutch wartime presence in Australia: the airmen stranded after the fall of Java, the establishment of Dutch squadrons under Australian operational control, the emotional Read more
Seven men survive a forced landing in remote Northern Territory country On 25 March 1947, Royal Netherlands Navy Douglas C-47 Dakota W-12 made a forced landing in extremely remote country northeast of Katherine in the Northern Territory. The aircraft, carrying 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 Read more