Personal Stories Archives - Page 3 of 3

General Douglas MacArthur – General SWAPA commander in Brisbane 1942-1944

General Douglas MacArthur stands among the most prominent and controversial military figures in American history. His career, spanning both World Wars and the Korean War, was marked by extraordinary tactical genius, political theatre, and a polarising personality that drew both admiration and disdain. Early brilliance and World War I heroism Born in 1880 to a […]

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American Captain Gunther Bonnin liaison with Dutch intelligence at Camp Columbia during WWII

Gunther Bonnin form Oregon in the USA was stationed as an intelligent officer in Brisbane during WWII. In this capacity he was commissioned to the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS). He apparently wrote a paper on Sukarno as part of his intelligence work. He was probably also a translator. After the war Gunther married in

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Lieutenant General Simon Spoor in charge of Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service at Camp Columbia

Lieutenant General Simon Hendrik Spoor was born on December 12, 1902, in the Netherlands, Spoor’s military career spanned several critical periods, from the war in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) to his contributions during World War II in Australia and his involvement with the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS). Spoor’s military journey began in the

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Mauritz Kokkelink – Award ceremony at Camp Columbia

For his extraordinary courage and perseverance, Kokkelink was knighted at Camp Columbia in Brisbane on April 12, 1945. His commendation highlighted his decisive actions, perseverance, and skill during the Japanese occupation, emphasising the “indescribable difficulties and hardships” he faced. Mauritz Christiaan Kokkelink, born on June 17, 1913, at the military fort Willem I in Ambarawa,

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Personal recollections Camp Columbia – Jean van Schilfgaarde

Personal recollections Camp Columbia – Jean van Schilfgaarde The information below is the exact text of a letter from Jean van Schilfgaarde to Dr Jack Ford in 1992. Jack had contacted her for his research for his publication: Allies in bind: Australia and the Netherlands East Indies relations during World War Two. This is one of the few

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Coosje Ayal’s resilience and legacy in wartime Western New Guinea, rescued to Brisbane

Coosje Ayal, also known as Costavina Aya Ayal, left an indelible mark as a formidable resistance fighter in Western New Guinea during World War II. Born on 15 April 1926, in the village of Titawaai on the island of Nusa Laut in the Moluccas, her early life took a significant turn when, at the age

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Hut C1 Camp Columbia used by migrant family Volz in 1950

Bernice Volz who, in the 1950s, lived in one of the huts in the former Camp Columbia – Camp Area No. 1 recalls that it was hut No. C1 that was allocated to her family when they arrived at the Wacol Migration Centre. More information on this hut and its occupants, as well as on

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WWII – Tension between Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur

In the aftermath of the devastating Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz swiftly rose to prominence. Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt just ten days later, Nimitz became the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT). The symbolic change of command took place on the submarine Grayling, an

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Sultan of the Spice Island of Ternate at Camp Columbia

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

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Pauleen Badke – a young woman’s wartime experience at Camp Columbia’s Officer Candidate School

Pauleen Lillian Badke was born at Booval in Ipswich in 1925. Her father’s name was ‘Wilhelm’ but he was known to everyone as ‘Bill’ – her mother’s name was Lillian. She had one brother, Keith. Bill was well known in Ipswich and surrounds as a building contractor, and for his love of harness racing –

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Historic interviews with former Wacol Residents

State Library of Queensland – Audio cassette tapes containing interviews with migrant women at Wacol Migrant Camp. Christine (Christa) Braun, nee Klein Five cassette tapes, two typed interview logs, one document containing personal background, details and interview summaries, four black and white photographs. Christa is German. She migrated to Australia in the 1950s with her

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Australia’s military commander Thomas Blainey moved his headquarters to Brisbane in 1942

During World War II, the Australian military commander in Brisbane was General Sir Thomas Albert Blamey. Blamey was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces in 1939 and held that position throughout the war. After leading the Australian Forces in Europe and the Middle East he came back to Australia in 1942. Here

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Captain Boot the unpopular commander of the 18 NEI RAAF Squadron

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

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Lieutenant Sutherland, Chief of Staff to General Douglas MacArthur in Brisbane

Lieutenant General Richard Kerens Sutherland played a significant role during World War II, particularly as the Chief of Staff to General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). In this article we concentrate on his time in Australia during the war. In early 1942, after the fall of the Philippines,

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Conrad Helfrich Commander in chief of Dutch Forces in the East

Lieutenant Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich was a Dutch naval officer who played a significant role in the defense of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) during World War II. He was born in Soerabaja, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1886, and he joined the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1903. He rose through the ranks,

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Edmund Nyst – Dutch soldier at Camp Columbia

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

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Patricia Metcalfe – Typist, Wim van Wely – Dutch Motor Pool

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

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Joan McConachy – secretary at the Dutch Army at Camp Columbia

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

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The story Willy de Eerens and the dog tag found at Camp Columbia

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

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