Cornelus "Corry" Koedam interviewed by Edith van Loo in the Dutch war veterans in Australia oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 5972743
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Koedam, Cornelus, 1925-, interviewee
- Online Access:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 2012 May 9
- 3 sound files (ca. 237 min.)
- Series:
- Dutch war veterans in Australia oral history project.
- Technical Details:
- Mode of access: Online.
- Summary:
-
Cornelus Koedam, born in Utrecht (the Netherlands) talks about music playing an important role in his upbringing; suffering from asthma as a child; his parents; the political views of his father; life in Utrecht; Montessori school; friends; playing the violin in an orchestra; the German invasion of the Netherlands, WWII; his life during the German occupation; forced labour camps; his arrest during WWII; curfew; the ban of radios; working with Phillips in Eindhoven, the supply of meals to the workers during WWII; training on the job in accounting; staying with family in Eindhoven, digging a bomb shelter in the backyard; the treatment of pro-German neighbours; his motivation to enlist in the services; parents still being in the occupied part of Holland; being earmarked for warfare training in Australia, receiving basic military training at Wolverhampton, UK; on the ship 'Rangitata' to Australia, conditions on board; Australian soldiers returning home; Airforce cadets being sent to Australia for training; their arrival in Sydney, then a steam train to Casino; the Victory Camp in Casino being regarded Dutch property, KNIL (Royal Dutch Indisch Army) soldiers served there after they had fled from the Netherlands East Indisch; uniforms; being sent to St. Ives for RAAF jungle warfare training.
Koedam discusses how at the end of the war, flying training in Point Cook was cancelled by the Australians; the Dutch authorities did not know what to do with the Airforce cadets; Airforce House, Sydney; after the Japanese surrender, there was no more training; being seconded from the Airforce into the Infantry; soldiers of the Royal Dutch Indisch Army guarded behind barbed wire by Dutch soldiers; his office job; Richmond River, South Casino; the formation of a Dutch Military Police; Australian Labour Party being sympathetic with the Indonesians, but they were sent back to Indonesia; being sent back for training to Holland, asking for discharge; his decision to migrate to Australia; finding out his parents had survived the war; spending time in Jakarta waiting for transport back to Australia, his flights from Jakarta to Surabaya, Surabaya to Bali, Bali to West-Timor, Timor to Darwin, Darwin to Daly waters; his first accommodation; working with MLC (investments); other Dutch migrants working with MLC; working hours; the Dutch soccer team in Sydney; meeting his first wife; his sons and grandchildren; building their first home; keeping in touch with family overseas; divorce; meeting Fay and not being allowed to marry in Holland because he was no longer a Dutch Citizen; his relationships with his former Dutch comrades, also called the 'Casino Boys'.
- Notes:
- Recorded on 9 May 2012 in Sydney, N.S.W.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary (7 p.) and uncorrected transcript (typescript, 117 leaves).
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Van Loo, Edith, 1967-, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Dutch war veterans in Australia oral history project.
This collection contains 13 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2082 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 2012
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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