Post-war Asia
The Second World War marked the beginning of a new era in Australia’s relations with Asia. This topic explores the occupation of Japan, the war crimes trials, the end of European colonialism, the Indonesian Revolution and Australia’s growing role in the region.
Emotional scenes as Indonesians leave for home on the Esperance
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Seamen will boycott Dutch ships
Dutch boycott reception
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Boycott on Dutch Ships
Boycott of Dutch ships
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Dutch Boycott Stupid
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NO MUTINY ON ESPERANCE BAY
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Esperance Bay Story Denied
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Esperance Bay 'Double Cross'
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The Esperance Bay Mutiny
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Esperance Bay Enquiry Urged
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Trouble On Esperance Bay Explained
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Esperance Bay
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Black ban on dutch mercy ships
Dutch Ships Again Black
Black Armada by Rupert Lockwood
The Black Armada: Australia's Boycott of Dutch Ships (1945-1949)
The Black Armada was the name given to the campaign by Australian waterside workers, seamen and trade unions who, between 1945 and 1949, refused to load or service Dutch ships in support of Indonesian independence. This archive brings together contemporary newspaper reports documenting the boycott, the Esperance Bay incident, union bans, political debate, diplomatic tensions, and the growing Australian support for the Indonesian Republic. It provides a valuable collection of primary sources for readers and researchers interested in Australian and Southeast Asian history.
The 'Black Armada' - Australian boycott of Dutch ships in 1945
War Crimes Trials on Morotai Island - WW2TV (video)
Pacific reckoning - Australian war crimes trials (video)
Ashes and Sakura: an Australian story of the making of a Pacific nation
In September 1945, on a sweltering parade ground at Morotai, Australian troops watch as General Sir Thomas Blamey accepts the surrender of the Japanese Second Army. For Corporal Tom Davis, the ceremony brings neither triumph nor relief. The war has ended—but something within him remains unsettled.
Ashes & Sakura is a sweeping work of historical fiction set in the uneasy aftermath of the Second World War. Moving from the battlefields of New Guinea and Borneo to the shattered cities of occupied Japan, and from rural New South Wales to the political chambers shaping Australia’s post-war ambitions, the novel explores what happens when the guns fall silent but the reckoning has only just begun.
