The Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA) and the University of Queensland will participate in a special visitors programme in the Netherlands in June 2026, organised by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE/CHA). The programme aims to strengthen international cooperation surrounding the heritage significance of Camp Columbia at Wacol, Brisbane, one of the most important Allied headquarters in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.
The programme recognises the shared wartime history between Australia, the Netherlands, Indonesia and the United States. Camp Columbia served not only as the headquarters of the US Sixth Army for the liberation of the Southwest Pacific, but later also became the home of the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile after the Dutch took over the camp in 1944.
During the visit, CCHA and UQ representatives will meet with Dutch experts in military heritage, archaeology, archives, digital mapping and museum interpretation. Visits will include the National Archives of the Netherlands, the National Military Museum, the Netherlands Institute for Military History, Bronbeek, and the Airborne Museum. Workshops and design sessions will focus on heritage interpretation, archaeological methodologies, digital inventory systems, landscape biographies and future collaborative projects.
A key objective of the programme is to further develop the long-term preservation, documentation and interpretation of Camp Columbia and its surrounding landscape, while also building lasting partnerships between Australian and Dutch heritage organisations, universities and archives.