Lloyd Gehrke, received these artefacts. His uncle Archie Mann and his wife Grace (the sister of Lloyd’s mother)had a horse-riding business in Kalinga, Brisbane. This city was, after General Douglas MacArthur established his WWII head office here in 1942, an important military centre. The horse riding business mentioned above attracted lots of Australian and Allied […]
Mark Gehrke’s WWII artefacts from Brisbane 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 his military service. Early Life and Military Involvement Chris van Oosterzee was a member of
Engelandvaarder Chris van Oosterzee – trained at Camp Columbia Read More »
The Digulists This story is about the Digulists – prisoners of war who were captured after the Indonesian uprising of 1926/27. These political prisoners were transported to a specially established concentration camp in Tanah Merah on the Digul River in Dutch New Guinea. By the start of WWII, a large number of these political prisoners
The Digulists who brought a Gamelan with them to Australia Read More »
Introduction Simon Hendrik Spoor was one of the central figures in the Dutch military and intelligence presence in wartime Australia. A professional KNIL officer with a strong background in military intelligence, Spoor became closely involved in rebuilding the Netherlands East Indies intelligence organisation in Australia following the Japanese conquest of the archipelago in 1942. He
Simon Spoor – Director of NEFIS at Camp Columbia Read More »
Mauritz Christiaan Kokkelink became one of the best-known survivors of the remarkable resistance maintained against the Japanese in Dutch New Guinea during the Second World War. Born on 17 June 1913 at Fort Willem I in Ambarawa, Netherlands East Indies, Kokkelink joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in 1931. Following the Japanese occupation
Sergeant Mauritz Kokkelink – Honoured at Camp Columbia, 6 August 1945 Read More »
Camp Columbia in Brisbane was set up by the Americans in 1942 as a staging camp for the liberation of the Southwest Pacific. When the Americans moved on to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in 1944, the Dutch took over Camp Columbia. It was used by the Netherlands East Indies Government in Exile as their
Camp Columbia and the Indonesian story Read More »
Costavina “Coosje” Ayal was one of the remarkable survivors of the resistance against the Japanese occupation of Dutch New Guinea. Still only sixteen when Japanese forces occupied Manokwari in April 1942, she joined a resistance group that remained in the jungles of the Vogelkop for more than two years. Her eventual rescue brought her to
Coosje Ayal – Resistance in New Guinea and rescue to Australia Read More »
Christiaan Philip Karel (Flip) Winckel (Batavia (Nederlands-Indië), April 16, 1919 – Wassenaar, September 18, 2009) was a Dutch “Engelandvaarder” (soldiers who escaped to England during World War II) and a jurist. When World War II broke out, he was studying at Leiden University. Winckel belonged to the Winckel family listed in the Dutch Patriciate. Flip
Engelandvaarder Flip Winckel had a short stint as military auditor at Camp Columbia Read More »
The monument commemorates the men and women of the Netherlands who joined in the defence of Australia from 1941 to 1945 during World War Two. On Friday 3 November 2017, the monument was rededicated at Memorial Corner in Roma Street Parkland. It was relocated from its former location at Queen’s Place (corner Alice and George
Netherlands & Netherlands East Indies WWII Memorial Brisbane Read More »
Sultan Muhammad Jabir Syah (4 March 1902 – 4 July 1975) was the 47th ruler of Ternate from 1929 to 1975 and the last Ternatan Sultan with executive powers. In 1944, during World War II, the Western Allies began liberating parts of eastern Netherlands East indies. They contacted Sultan Jabir, who had moved to the
Sultan of the Spice Island of Ternate at Camp Columbia Read More »
Willem Frans Boot. Born 26 November 1906, Zuid-Beijerland. Died: 18 Januari 1987, Den Haag. He joined the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1934. Even before the capitulation from Netherlands East Indies (NEI), staff of the Military Aviation Department of the KNIL(ML-KNIL) were sent to Australia. Most of the department of Captain Willem Frans Boot went Brisbane
Captain Boot the unpopular commander of the 18 NEI RAAF Squadron Read More »
In 2023 Board member Bart Lommerse contacted Josep (Joe) Kalemba. Joe is an expert metal detector hobbyist and when they started talking, he showed Bart his finding of a sword he had unearthed at Camp Columbia. He had already figured out that it was Dutch however, he had no idea why Dutch artefacts were showing
Ceremonial sword discovered at Camp Columbia Read More »
In August 1947, Australian military observers were stationed in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) under the auspices of the United Nations Good Offices Committee (UNGOC). Their purpose was to monitor the ceasefire between the Dutch and Indonesian forces during the Indonesian National Revolution. The number of Australian observers increased after the Second Dutch military operation
Australians in Netherlands East Indies first ever UN Peacekeepers Read More »
While there were strong voices for greater forms of independence for Indonesia, the conservative hard-line Dutch Government was only prepared to provide more participation of Indonesians in local government structures but it would still have to be under the final control of the Netherlands, they had no interest in discussing independence and were adamant to
The Black Armada in support Indonesian Independence Read More »
Willy de Eerens Willy de Eerens was born on 27 February 1921 in Tjilatjap, an important port on the south coast of Java. During the Japanese invasion he was evacuated to Australia as one of the 99 student pilots from the class of 1 July 1941 of the Vlieg- en Waarnemersschool (V.W.S. – Flying and
The story Willy de Eerens and the dog tag found at Camp Columbia Read More »
