Hendrik Johan “Harry” Burgers lived a life shaped by war, displacement and migration. He served as a radio operator and air gunner during the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, survived a forced landing at sea, shot down a Japanese fighter and received the Bronze Cross for bravery. After Read more
On 12 September 1946, Dutch guards opened fire on Indonesian detainees at Camp Victory near Casino in northern New South Wales. One man, Soerdo, was killed, while two other prisoners, Parta and Lengkong, were wounded. The shooting followed months of growing tension at the camp and occurred only a day Read more
Introduction Following the Japanese conquest of the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942, Australia became the principal base from which Dutch military, intelligence and government organisations attempted to maintain contact with the occupied territories and prepare for an eventual Allied return. What developed was not simply a Dutch intelligence operation. Read more
In the quiet grounds of Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands lie more than 1,750 Allied servicemen, most of whom died during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. Among them are four members of the Royal Australian Air Force: Reginald Austin Davis, Keith Willett, Thomas John Lennie and Read more
The story of the Burgers family brings together several important chapters in the shared history of Indonesia, the Netherlands and Australia: the Boven Digul political prisoners’ camp in Dutch New Guinea, the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, Dutch military aviation from Australia, the controversial Colombo court-martial affair and Read more
The history of No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF is usually told as one of Allied cooperation and operational success. Yet during its formation in Australia, the squadron experienced a profound internal crisis that culminated in one of the most controversial military trials involving Dutch forces in exile during Read more
Following the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942, surviving Dutch and Indonesian air-force personnel, naval aviators, civilian aircrews and aircraft escaped to Australia. From Australian bases they reorganised, trained and returned to active service as part of the wider Allied campaign against Japan. Australia became the Read more
Shipwrecks, aircraft, Dutch East India Company history and Camp Columbia form part of an expanding program of Dutch–Australian heritage cooperation A new report from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands highlights the breadth of Dutch-related heritage projects currently being undertaken across Australia. The International Programme for Maritime Heritage: Report Read more
Sophia Kruyswijk-van Thiel was both a member of the Vrouwenkorps Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger (VK-KNIL) and one of its most important historians. Her wartime generation had been among the first Dutch women formally admitted to military service, but its contribution was largely forgotten after the dissolution of the KNIL in 1950. Read more
In December 1946, the Curaçao newspaper Amigoe di Curaçao published the recollections of a young woman who had volunteered for the Dutch Women’s Corps, the Vrouwenkorps KNIL (VK-KNIL). Her article, “Ik ging naar Java als Vrijwilligster” (“I Went to Java as a Volunteer”), described an extraordinary journey from Curaçao through Read more