Darra Ordnance Depot: role and significance During World War II the Darra Ordnance Depot—situated along Archerfield Road—played a crucial role in the South West Pacific theatre. Constructed in early 1942, the site quickly became one of the largest munitions depots in the region, supporting the logistical needs of Allied forces and acting as a major […]
Darra Ordnance Depot and freak explosion Read More »
In the immediate post-War World years, refugees from war-torn Europe were resettled in different places across Australia. By 1949, it is estimated that one-tenth of the American/Dutch/Australian Army’s Camp Columbia area became the Wacol East Displaced Persons Holding Camp. In the early 1950s the camp was developed to become the Wacol Migrant Centre, the biggest
After the war Camp Columbia was opened for refugees and migrants 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 »
The Old Fellow’s War. Edmund Nyst 2007 These are abstracts from the book as researched by Ruby Todorovski for the Queensland University Archaeological Research Project Camp Columbia Wacol. P132 Born 1927. Father was Dutch consul in Marseilles. Mother was American. Lived in Marseilles until after German occupation in 1942. Joined the resistance and in September
Edmund Nyst – Dutch soldier at Camp Columbia Read More »
Patricia (Pat) Metcalfe (born 1929 in Cairns) moved to Brisbane when she was 4 years old and after she finished the St Columba school at Wilson, was employed at Camp Columbia as a typist and secretary, first with the Americans and since 1945 with the Netherlands-East-Indies Government. Here she worked for the Department of Works
Patricia Metcalfe – Typist, Wim van Wely – Dutch Motor Pool Read More »
By her son David Hill. Joan McConachy was a secretary at Camp Columbia, Brisbane working for the Dutch Army as she later told her son David. Joan was born in 1924 at Winton (Central West QLD) and moved to Brisbane around 1943 from the then family home (Cattle Station), “Dotswood” at Charters Towers in Far
Joan McConachy – secretary at the Dutch Army at Camp Columbia 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 »
