When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, they lost their control over the Dutch East Indies, and, Indonesia declared independence. However, the Netherlands, unwilling to recognise the Indonesian declaration of independence, pressed for the resumption of dutch control over Indonesian territories.
Indian troops, who fought the war for Great Britain, were ordered to go to Java to curb the uprising and aid the Netherlands in claiming the Dutch East Indies. However, there is an untold story that stands as a testament to the anti-colonial struggle.
In 1945, Indonesians in Brisbane declared all Dutch shipping as ‘black,’ denouncing their legitimacy. They aimed to cut off Dutch material supply to Indonesia through Australian waters and force Dutch colonial control. On 23 September, when arms and ammunition were found on a ship at the Brisbane port, all the Indonesian crew members walked off the Dutch ships and called for a boycott.
Backed by the Seamen’s Union of Australia (SUA), the Waterside Workers Federation, and the Communist Party of Australia, the strike began in Brisbane and Melbourne, and later in Sydney and Fremantle. The boycott was held for nine months, and on and off for four years, delaying 559 vessels, including 36 Dutch merchant ships, three Royal Australian Navy ships, and a couple of British troopships.
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