[Boudewyn van Oort]

The First party of volunteers left Durban around May 24, 1940. A good friend of my family was on that ship. I think it was the m.v. Boissevain, but may be wrong. The volunteers came largely from the Dutch immigrant community in South Africa, and were motivated partly by patriotism , but also coming under the threat of conscription, imposed by the Netherlands government in exile and put into force by the South African Government. A number of Dutch nationals citizens were incarcerated. but that happened after we left, and the facts are murky.
Our party was the second one to leave , on 26 May 1940 from Durban , but also was the first party to arrive, on 11 June at Tandjong Priok, the harbour of Batavia (today's Jakarta. There twenty of us, passengers on the KPM ship Straat Soenda. The party consisted of seventeen men, three women and a child (me). The Boissevain's arrival was delayed by stops in various coast cities on the Indian Ocean. Our arrival in Jakarta caused a minor diplomatic row because it contradicted the assurance made by the Netherland's Government in Exile of strict maintenance of the Status Quo in the Indies. Our arrival suggested otherwise to the Japanese-- that the Netherlands Government was actively arming the Netherlands East Indies. I have a group photo of this party of volunteers and managed to identify a number of people. The story of the voyage , what led up to it and the fate of some of these volunteers forms part of the story in my book, Tjideng Reunion.
All told between 200 and 300 "South African" - Dutch volunteers sailed to the Indies.
My father was set to work for the army to help design and build the Royal Military Academy in Bandoeng, referred to as the "KMA complex. I have a group photograph taken as completion was nearing, but aside from my father, I have been unable to identify any of the other celebrants, a mixture of Europeans and Asians and of military and civilians.
A forgotten piece of history.
The KMA complex is still in use as a military training centre for the Indonesian army.

Boudewyn van Oort BSc, BA(Oxon), MA(Oxon), Victoria