POW apron to be included in National WWII collection

A humble kitchen apron sewn from checked tea towels and embroidered by female prisoners in Tjideng during World War II will be included in the Australian War Memorial’s National Collection.

USQ lecturer, Dr Christiaan Willems, recently discovered the apron at his mother Maria’s home in Brisbane and immediately realised the historical significance of the item.

'My mother Maria Willems (formerly Sprengers) was a Dutch prisoner-of-war in the Tjideng Women and Children’s Internment Camp in the Dutch East Indies,' Dr Willems said.

'She was aged about 20 at the time. The apron had been fashioned from stitched-together tea towels, made with the intention of each of the prisoners embroidering some aspect of camp life on each of the small square panels – some of which have been completed.

'The apron has been preserved in virtually perfect condition and includes my mother’s POW Number (67), as well as embroidered images of the camp in Tjideng.'

The apron will be donated to the Australian War Memorial’s (AWM) National Collection to preserve its heritage.

Mrs Willems’ POW experiences have been included in Shirley Fenton-Huie’s book The Forgotten Ones – Women and Children Under Nippon.

Like many other Dutch people post-WWII, after marrying and returning to the Netherlands, Mr and Mrs Willems emigrated to the Darling Downs, Australia in 1951.

Their son Christiaan was born in Pittsworth in 1952.

'Whilst it may seem more appropriate to offer the item to a Dutch War Museum than the AWM, my considered view is that my family’s journey, culminating in their post-war lives lived in Australia, certainly makes the item relevant to this country,' Dr Willems said.

Dr Willems has written and recorded the song, Siam, based on his parents’ war experiences.

Tjideng Camp was established in one of the poorer suburbs of Batavia after the Japanese Armed Forces took control of Batavia in March 1942. Men and boys aged 12 or older were removed from their families and conditions deteriorated rapidly as more restrictions were applied. The women increasingly feared for their safety.