Dutch buy ex-Australian vehicles

[Mike K]

The Dutch soldiers pictured were mostly conscripts ? I believe some younger Dutch males emigrated rather than be conscripted into the armed services .

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

The Dutch soldiers pictured were mostly conscripts ? I believe some younger Dutch males emigrated rather than be conscripted into the armed services .

Yes, the majority were. I once met a veteran of the Dutch Prinses Irene Brigade, he joined as a volunteer after the South of the Netherlands was liberated in '44. He was 17 years old at that time.
After the war, he was drafted for military duty as in the meantime he had turned 18. He reckoned he had done his bit in '44-'45 but that did not count they said, he had to serve for his official conscript period in Indonesia.

[Ian Fawbert]

In adding to this post, and slightly related but sideways from Mike Cecil's post about the Royal NEI Army, there are LOTS of entries for disposal of Australian vehicles in the AWM ledgers citing the purchaser/disposal line being the RNEIA.

Cheers,
Ian.

[Mike Cecil]

Not sideways, Ian, a relevant expansion and also supports Hanno's comments about the Dutch scrounging the world market for equipment. Where better than right next door (so to speak) in Australia? Not only arranging to have new-build trucks from Ford Australia, but any second-hand all wheel drive vehicles no longer required by the Australian Army. I wonder if these were a special 'govt to govt' deal outside the normal CDC disposal channel? It would seem so, otherwise the relevant dealership of the manufacturer (Ford or Willys) would have snapped them up for re-sale to RNEIA, rather than them appearing in the registers as a direct disposal to RNEIA. It's an aspect I've not delved into much beyond the CDC guidelines. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Mike

[David Dunlop]

Interesting reading, Mike.

There probably isn’t a federal government anywhere in the world that has not used, or is still using, a private company to launder surplus military goods to politically incorrect destinations. I have heard rumours for years that the Levy’s operation in Ontario was frequently used as a conduit by the Canadian Government for such purposes.

David

[David Dunlop]

Hanno.

Out of curiosity, what sort of sense do you have of the general feeling of the average Dutch citizen after the war, with regards to Indonesia? Would they have been quite happen with an independent Indonesia?

It seems so odd that Britain, France and Holland, from a political perspective after the war, were all so hell bent on reestablishing their concept of colonialism in Southeast Asia. It was such a costly mistake for all of them.


David

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hanno.

Out of curiosity, what sort of sense do you have of the general feeling of the average Dutch citizen after the war, with regards to Indonesia? Would they have been quite happen with an independent Indonesia?

It seems so odd that Britain, France and Holland, from a political perspective after the war, were all so hell bent on reestablishing their concept of colonialism in Southeast Asia. It was such a costly mistake for all of them.


David

Britain ,France and the rest had to contend with the USA post war policies.
Generally the US was not supportive of the policy of the European powers holding onto their pre-war colonial territories. Roosevelt and Truman were very much anti colonial by nature but things changed when Ike took over and the US supplied arms to the French in Indo China - Vietnam . The US didn't support UK or France in the Suez crisis

[Hanno Spoelstra]

David,

I think in general the average Dutch citizen living in the Netherlands could not care less. After the war, everybody wanted to get back to normal life. People coming back from German and Japanese concentration camps were told not to feel sorry for themselves, as "everyone had had to live through the war" (...).

For citizens which had lived part or all of their lives in the Netherlands East Indies, many of whom had fought to defend it, their world had fallen apart. If they had lived through it, they moved to the Netherlands with no possessions other than the meagre clothes on their backs. My late father's family was among them.

For the Dutch government and businesses trying to prevent the loss of the colony was worth fighting a four year-long bloody war, as a lot of money was made and power gained over the course of 350 years of colonialism. The Dutch knew no better than that the NEI were a part of the Kingdom...

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Out of curiosity, what sort of sense do you have of the general feeling of the average Dutch citizen after the war, with regards to Indonesia? Would they have been quite happen with an independent Indonesia?

It seems so odd that Britain, France and Holland, from a political perspective after the war, were all so hell bent on reestablishing their concept of colonialism in Southeast Asia. It was such a costly mistake for all of them.