Camp Columbia brought together Australian civilians and Dutch military and government personnel during and immediately after the Second World War. Among them were Patricia “Pat” Metcalfe and Willem “Wim” van Wely, who met while working at the camp. Their meeting began a relationship that would eventually take Patricia from Brisbane to Indonesia and later the Netherlands.
Patricia Metcalfe
Patricia Mary Metcalfe was born in Cairns in 1929 and moved to Brisbane with her family when she was four. She attended St Columba’s School at Wilston.
A surviving reference from St Columba’s Presbytery, dated 18 November 1942, described her as a young woman of excellent character.
Patricia subsequently found employment at Camp Columbia. Family information indicates that she initially worked for the Americans. By about July 1945, she was employed as a telephone operator with the Netherlands East Indies Army.
A Netherlands Indies Government reference dated 10 April 1946 recorded that she had worked for the Dutch Army as a telephonist for nine months. Her supervisor described her as diligent, efficient and cheerful.
From 3 June 1946, Patricia worked for the Netherlands Indies Government’s Department of Public Works and Communications. She remained employed as a telephonist, clerk and typist until 19 December 1947. Her employment records demonstrate that Dutch and Netherlands East Indies government activities continued in Brisbane well beyond the end of the Second World War.
Willem van Wely
Willem Johannes Cornelis van Wely was born at Roosendaal in the Netherlands on 11 February 1922. During the German occupation, he studied engineering at Delft University of Technology.
In 1943, the German authorities required Dutch university students to sign a declaration of loyalty. Most students refused, including Wim. Those who refused faced the threat of arrest and forced labour in Germany.
Wim escaped from the occupied Netherlands and reached Switzerland. Following the Allied invasion of Western Europe, he and other Dutchmen wanted to return home. According to the family account, they were permitted to do so on the condition that they entered Dutch military service.
After approximately six weeks of military training at Wolverhampton in England, Wim travelled to Australia. He served with the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and was assigned to the Motor Pool associated with Camp Columbia.
Surviving military records show that Wim held the rank of reserve second lieutenant and was temporarily assigned to the Department of Public Works and Communications. He was demilitarised with effect from 5 November 1946 and formally honourably discharged from the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army on 15 November 1946.
Meeting at Camp Columbia
Patricia and Wim met while they were both working at Camp Columbia. It is possible that Patricia’s duties brought her into contact with the Motor Pool where Wim was stationed, although the precise circumstances of their first meeting have not been documented.
They became friends and later an engaged couple.
Their story is one example of the personal relationships that developed between Australians and Dutch personnel during the Dutch occupation of Camp Columbia. While Patricia was an Australian civilian employee rather than a member of the Dutch Women’s Corps, her work placed her within the Dutch military and administrative community at the camp.
Separation between Brisbane and Batavia
After leaving military service, Wim continued to work for the Netherlands Indies Government. A travel document issued by the Netherlands Consulate in Brisbane in December 1947 described him as a government official and authorised him to travel to the Netherlands East Indies.
Wim subsequently went to Batavia, now Jakarta, where he was expected to work for the Department of Public Works and Communications. It is unclear whether he took up that position, possibly because of the rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the Indonesian struggle for independence. He later worked as a civilian for the import and export company Deli Atjeh.
Patricia remained in Brisbane. According to the family’s account, Patricia and Wim underwent a marriage by proxy so that she would be able to travel to Indonesia and join him. Continuing hostilities delayed her journey until early 1949.
They completed or formally registered their marriage in Jakarta on 29 April 1949. Further documentation may be needed to clarify the precise legal relationship between the earlier proxy ceremony and the marriage recorded in Jakarta.
Life in Indonesia and departure
Patricia and Wim established their life together in Indonesia during a period of profound political and social change. The Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty to the Republic of Indonesia in December 1949, but conditions remained unsettled for many Dutch and other European residents.
According to the family account, Wim was assaulted and seriously injured in 1957. Following this attack and further threats, the couple decided to leave Indonesia. They took the first available ship to the Netherlands, where their daughter Donna was later born.
These experiences are recorded as part of the family’s recollections and should be understood within the complicated circumstances of post-independence Indonesia.
Returning to Camp Columbia
In 2022, Donna visited Camp Columbia and shared the story of her parents with Paul Budde. During the visit, she was shown the area in which Patricia and Wim had worked and where their relationship had begun many decades earlier.
Their story illustrates an important part of Camp Columbia’s history. The camp was not simply a collection of military buildings. It was also a place where Australian civilians worked alongside American, Dutch and Netherlands East Indies personnel—and where friendships, relationships and marriages began.
Documents
The collection accompanying this article includes surviving employment and military documents relating to Patricia and Wim. These include:
- a 1942 character reference for Patricia from St Columba’s Presbytery at Wilston;
- a 1946 employment reference confirming her work as a telephone operator for the Netherlands East Indies Army;
- records of her employment with the Department of Public Works and Communications;
- documents relating to Wim’s military service and discharge; and
- a Netherlands consular travel document authorising Wim to proceed to the Netherlands East Indies.
View the documents relating to Patricia Metcalfe and Willem van Wely
Related articles
Patricia was an Australian civilian employee and not a member of the VK-KNIL. The experiences of the Dutch servicewomen stationed at the camp are covered separately in the VK-KNIL Research Portal.