For protection, merchant ships were formed up into convoys whenever possible and escorted by warships. In Australia's case, convoy escort included everything from protecting oil tankers crossing the Indian Ocean, to looking after troop ships headed into the Pacific, and much in between. Warships were also needed for general sea control over large areas and offensive operations against land targets. As a result, the allies needed warships in large numbers to fight and support the Pacific War.
The Dutch contributed a cruiser, three destroyers, a minesweeper and varying numbers of submarines. The first to arrive - in late February 1942 - was the light cruiser RNN Tromp, then one of ten Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) warships in Indonesia, along with 15 submarines, 13 motor torpedo boats, some mine warfare craft, and 64 flying boats.
Tromp was sent to Australia for battle-damage repairs just before most of the RNN surface fleet and eight submarines were destroyed in the Battle of the Java Sea and its aftermath. A minesweeper, disguised as an island during the day, escaped to Fremantle - as did three submarines, all much in need of repairs. One submarine was scrapped. The other two were repaired and operated from the big Allied submarine base at Fremantle, mostly on covert support of clandestine operations in occupied Indonesian territory.
This Dutch-owned and manned B-25 Mitchell bomber from RAAF No. 18 Squadron is operating from a Northern Territory base.
The flying boats fared better. Many had joined an air-shuttle flying key personnel out of Indonesia to Australia via Broome. Fifteen flying boats were in Roebuck Bay near Broome on 3 March 1942 when Japanese Zeros from Timor attacked. All the flying boats and some other Allied aircraft were destroyed, and a hundred or more people killed. The remaining RNN flying boats mostly made it to Australia, some going on to RAAF service, and others relocating to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to fly Indian Ocean sorties to help protect oil convoys and Allied shipping in general.
As a result, Tromp was the only RNN surface warship from Indonesia able to relocate to Australia. This good fortune held for the entire war, during which she survived many battles and become known to her crew as "the lucky ship". Perhaps her most remarkable survival was during an attack on Sabang Island, just north of Sumatra, on 25 July 1944. Tromp entered the harbour with orders to destroy port installations and oil tanks. The battle was fierce, with Tromp taking three hits from enemy shells. Remarkably, none exploded and the crew wrapped two of the still hot shells in blankets and dumped them overboard. Her prolonged survival against such odds seems to have got under the skin of the Japanese who claimed (via Tokyo Rose) to have rid themselves of her a number of times, but never did.
Following repairs, in mid-1942 she was sent to Fremantle for Indian Ocean convoy duties, adding further to Dutch warship numbers sailing with Allied fleets. Most were RNN ships from the Netherlands that had escaped to England ahead of the German invasion. Three such ships, the destroyers Jacob van Heemskerk, Van Galen and Tjerk Hiddes, joined Tromp soon after her arrival in Fremantle. Like Tromp, they served throughout the war on escort duties and offensive operations against the Japanese.
Also, military aircraft bought and paid for, but still in the pipe-line when the Japanese invaded, began arriving in Australia during the first half of 1942. Along with the aircraft flown in from Indonesia by Dutch aircrew relocated to fight on, this gave the Dutch more than 120 aircraft in Australia. Support personnel were too few in number, however, for the Dutch to quickly form effective squadrons. They reluctantly transferred most of their aircraft to their US and Australian allies soon after arriving - a frustration for the Dutch, but a most welcome boost to Allied airpower at a critical time.
The biggest purchase was 162 B-25 Mitchell bombers, the first of which began arriving in Australia during the first months of 1942. Early arrivals were commandeered by the Americans for immediate duty in New Guinea, but by mid-year the Dutch were establishing a B-25 bomber squadron in Canberra. An RAAF squadron, No. 18, it was commanded by Dutch officers, but part manned by the RAAF who also exercised operational control. Orders were printed in Dutch and English, and such was the mix of personnel that at one parade the CO addressed the squadron in English, Dutch and Bahasa (Indonesian).
Despite some language difficulties, the squadron was very effective. For most of the war it operated from the Northern Territory, mainly from Batchelor airfield just south of Darwin, attacking Japanese ground targets around the Timor Sea and specialising in anti-shipping operations, often in conjunction with other RAAF squadrons. In mid-1945, the squadron transferred to Balikpapan in eastern Borneo and was there at war's end.
A Kittyhawk fighter squadron, No 120, was also formed in Canberra the next year (1943) along with a unit to provide training for and support to northern operations. Like No. 18 Squadron, both were RAAF units commanded by Dutch officers, flew Dutch-owned aircraft under RAAF operational control and were part manned by RAAF personnel. The Kittyhawks were stationed in Merauke, on the south side of Dutch New Guinea (West New Guinea) for most of the war. They often operated with RAAF squadrons in the area and moved north to Biak in mid-1945.
Two transport flights were formed in Melbourne and Brisbane respectively, flying mostly C-47 Dakotas, Lockheed Lodestars and some converted B-25s to support the Dutch operational squadrons and the Allies in general. The two flights were merged late in the war to become No. 19 Squadron, again with RAAF support.
The Dutch Army in Australia numbered just a few hundred for most of the war, and concentrated on specialist areas such as intelligence and interpreter services to the Allied forces operating in reclaimed Dutch territory. The intelligence work often involved operating within occupied territory or supporting those who did, and casualties in both roles were high. Like their colleagues in the air and at sea they also took the fight to the enemy.
A memorial to the Dutch is located in Blamey Square, in the Defence Complex in Canberra, a site it shares with the much better known American memorial with its eagle atop a soaring column. This siting symbolises the fact that the Americans and the Dutch were the only non-Commonwealth countries that fought from Australia in the Pacific War. Hopefully, the siting will also ensure that the contribution of the Dutch to the Battle for Australia is better known in the future than it is today.