Anne Pieter Erkelens was born in Sliedrecht on 27 August 1911. He was a son of Adriaan Erkelens and Elizabeth Visser and grew up with his brothers Cornelis and Adriaan in a community closely connected with the river and maritime industries. On 18 April 1942, Anne Pieter married Cornelia Leeuwestein, Read more
Dirk Baan was born at Wijk A 981 in Sliedrecht on 10 December 1904. He was a son of Maarten Baan and Neeltje Jannigje van de Graaf and grew up with one brother and three sisters. In 1936, Dirk married Angelina Anna van Dooren in Antwerp. The couple later lived Read more
Willem de Vroom was born in Amsterdam on 28 March 1914. He was the son of Jan de Vroom and Geesje Oord, who lived in Heiloo. Willem trained and worked as an engineer. On 8 May 1940, Willem married Hendrina van de Water in Amsterdam. Hendrina had been born in Read more
Arie Hougee was born in Dordrecht on 15 December 1899 and grew up in a family closely connected with inland shipping and towage. Like his father, he chose a working life on the water and became a tugboat captain based in Lobith, an important shipping centre on the Rhine. His Read more
Adrianus Borsje, known as Adrian, was born in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands, on 6 August 1913. He died in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, on 31 August 2000 and was buried at Geelong Western Cemetery. He was a son of Jan Philippus Borsje (1871–1932) and Francina Stuij (1881–1952). According to the available information, Read more
Jacobus Leendert de Looff was born on 24 June 1924 in Wissenkerke, on the Zeeland island of Noord-Beveland. He was the son of Jacob de Looff, who worked as a farm labourer, and Janna van der Moere. He grew up in Zeeland during the interwar period and experienced the Second Read more
Oep Mangel was born in Velsen on 16 August 1912, the son of Arie Mangel and Antje Vliegop. His father worked as an engineer and stoker. Oep later chose a life at sea and worked as a crew member in the merchant navy. In 1945, his voyages included a journey Read more
Jan Volker was born on 2 August 1923 in Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude, North Holland. He was the son of engineer and company director Johan Hendrik Volker and Marianne Euphemia Catharina Kruiver. His mother died in 1929, when Jan was only five years old. The Volker family had earlier roots in Read more
Information checked on 9 October 2026. For Dutch migrants in Australia, becoming an Australian citizen can raise a difficult question: will they retain their Dutch nationality? Australia permits dual citizenship, but Dutch law generally provides for automatic loss of Dutch nationality when an adult voluntarily acquires another nationality. There are, Read more
Teunis Cornelis Paans, generally known as Toon, was born in Nijmegen on 20 January 1918 aboard his parents’ vessel. His father, Cornelis Adrianus Paans, was a skipper and engineer, and Toon grew up within the Dutch inland-shipping community. He later worked as a mechanic. Following an earlier marriage to Tonnie Read more