Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra
In 1949 when the Dutch finally threw the hat in the ring, they handed over most of their equipment to the Indonesian Army.
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Presumably the Indonesian Army disposed of their ex-KNIL vehicles over time and many wound up in Dutch civilian hands. We know there was a mass exodus of the Dutch population during the 1950's, with many of them choosing Australia as their new home. Amongst their possessions would have been cars and trucks, which would have been easy enough to ship if required. Perhaps some adventurous Dutchman brought this ex-Army 4WD truck to Darwin as an ideal vehicle for outback exploration. Whatever the case it appears to have wound up in Adelaide where the engine was reconditioned in 1961, and where it probably received the fabricated metal cab, which closely resembles others known to have been fabricated in Adelaide engineering works. At some later stage it was fitted with the drilling rig for use in opal mining. This rig has clearly been transplanted off a much longer truck, requiring the cab rear panel to be cut out completely, and the diesel power plant projecting into the cab itself.
