The 7th Fleet was formed on March 15, 1943 in Brisbane, Australia, during World War II. It served in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) under the control of General Douglas MacArthur, and the 7th Fleet commander also served Read more
Born in Holland, Bill Vrolyks was send to Australia in 1945 for training to fight the Japanese as part of the Dutch Air Force. Because of the union boycot in support of Indonesia the trainees were flown all over Australia Read more
During the final months of World War II, the Australian 460 Lancaster Squadron played a pivotal role in Operation Manna, a humanitarian mission that delivered desperately needed food to the starving people of the Netherlands. During the harsh winter of Read more
Christiaan Vincent Gradwell (Chris) van Oosterzee, born on March 20, 1922, in Weltevreden (Batavia), and died on April 18, 1989, in Amsterdam, was a significant figure during and after World War II. His life included notable interactions with Australia during Read more
There is an unconfirmed story that General Douglas MacArthur ordered the printing of money for the Netherlands East Indies at the Commonwealth Bank Note Printing Works in Melbourne. This printing facility, established in 1912, had its role taken over by Read more
In all there were over a dozen WWII airfields in the Top End and many of them were at occasions used by the Dutch. Sometimes their planes were directed to these fields because of congestion or weather. Sometimes planes were Read more
Early Life and Education Hendrik (Cornelis Gijsbertus) Kolenberg was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on July 31, 1946, to Gijsbertus Anthonius Kolenberg and Wilhelmina Maria Kolenberg (née Schellaars). In October 1952, the Kolenberg family emigrated to Australia, where Hendrik began Read more
The following is the list of Dutch and Netherlands East Indies casualties mainly from the various squadrons that operated from the Northern Territory in Australia during the period 1942-1945, as published in: De Militaire Luchtvaart van het KNIL in de Read more
From its inception in August 2016, Zing! Sing in Dutch promised to be a choir with a difference. Following a series of two vibrant workshops in June that year featuring nursery rhymes, cabaret ballads, pop songs and waltzes (all in Read more
After publishing ‘The Lost White Tribes of Australia‘ Part Two, the author Henry van Zanden realised that the Victorian chapters deserved a more thorough investigation and its own book dedicated entirely to the smallpox outbreak in Victoria and NSW. In Read more