Allies in a Bind : Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War by Jack Ford

This is a second-hand copy of the book Allies in a Bind: Australia and the Netherlands East Indies in the Second World War by Jack Ford. This is copy number 123 of a limited edition 200 copies. This copy is signed on the title page by the author - see photos.

Condition: This is a used book in good condition. There is some high-lighting of text and two previous owners have their name tags inside the front cover.

Publisher: Australian Netherlands Ex-servicemen and Women Association
Year: 1996
ISBN: 0646295578
Format: Hardback (not issued with a dustjacket)
Pages: 468
Condition: Used (Good)

"Allies in a Bind" examines the relationship between the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) and Australia during the Second World War. This thesis charts the steady decline in the Dutch/Australian wartime relationship and as such, it sets the scene for the open animosity that occurred as a result of the Australian Government lending support to the Indonesian Republic in its struggle for independence from the Dutch in the immediate post-War period. This significance of Australia's involvement with the NEI can be seen from the fact that the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile was the only foreign government ever to be established on Australian soil and the Dutch had larger forces than the British involved in Australia's defence during the Pacific War.

The dissertation commences with a look at the Dutch/Australian co-operation from the Fall of the Netherlands in May 1940 through to the Allied capitulation on Java in March 1942. Australia's embroilment in the defence of the NEI resulted in the loss of almost as many Australian personnel as had been surrendered at Singapore and the Japanese attacks launched against the Australian mainland at Darwin and Broome. This caused bitterness and a low Australian opinion of Dutch military competence. The Dutch view was that they had been duped into sending their forces to help defend Singapore but then had been abandoned to the Japanese by the British and the United States."