CHILDREN (of KAREL BOS) LEAVE INDONESIA
LEAVING INDONESIA
Elvire Bonk (Boordie-Ripassa) and her three (surviving) children, along with her new husband, all eventually relocated to The Netherlands. This occurred shortly after, and completely because of the Japanese occupation of East Java, and specifically due to the subsequent Indonesian independence movement.
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​​At that time, there was a lot of social pressures and significant instability and uncertainty for the Dutch and Dutch-Indonesian in Indonesia. This led to approx. 300,000 Dutch and Dutch-Indonesian people to leave Indonesia to make a life in The Netherlands during the 1940s and 1950s.
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(Indonesia declared independence from The Netherlands on August 17, 1945. However, The Netherlands did not immediately recognize this independence, which led to the "Indonesian National Revolution", which lasted from 1945 to December 27, 1949.)
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​​The family boarded the ship "MS Oranje" on January 27, 1947, from Batavia (now Jakarta.) They sailed to the port of Amsterdam, and settled in The Hague (Den Haag) where many Dutch-Indonesian settlements took place.
Translation of below in article (from Dutch):
Passenger list from the M.S. Oranje.
From Batavia (Jakarta) to Amsterdam.​
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THE VOYAGE
Information about the ship and the voyage by the three children of Karel H Bos, leaving their East Java homeland forever. (NOTE: Orange is the national color of The Netherlands.)
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Translation of above article (from Dutch):
Passenger list
m.s. Oranje
The names marked with an x ​​are men or boys.
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Depart Batavia (now Jakarta) Jan. 27, 1947
Depart Suez Feb. 7, 1947
Expected arrival Amsterdam Feb. 15, 1947
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Published by the Press and Publicity Department of the Repatriation Service, Wassenaarscheweg 24, The Hague.
Since the names and other data were transmitted by telegram and the printing had to be done as quickly as possible, the possibility cannot be ruled out that errors have crept into the list.
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(The children of Karel H. Bos)
#65 = Joan Helen Bos
#66 = Roy Donald Bos
#67 = Ludolph Henry Bos
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Note: The birthdate of Joan H. Bos is incorrectly listed as June 17. It is actually July 17, 1933.
(Although they are listed under “Boordie Ripassa”, to my knowledge, they were never legally adopted by their step-father.)
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Here’s a detailed overview of the MS Oranje voyage departing Batavia on January 27, 1947:
Voyage Basics
• Departure: Batavia (Tandjong Priok) on 27 January 1947
• Arrival: Amsterdam on 15 February 1947, after ~19 days at sea
• Passengers: Approximately 743 civilian repatriates
• Route: Batavia → Suez Canal → Mediterranean → English Channel → Amsterdam.
Passengers & Conditions
• Most onboard were Dutch and Indo-Europeans returning after wartime internment or the Bersiap period.
• The ship maintained its hospital-ship heritage, with medical and spiritual care provided onboard—whole passages were ceremonial, including burials at sea.
Life Aboard “Oranje”
• The hospital-ship setup included specialized beds (e.g., fracture wards using swinging “cardanic beds”) to reduce discomfort in rough seas.
• Stories from voyages (though not explicitly this one) highlight the mix of refuge and trauma—for many, it was their first taste of safety after years of hardship.
Journey Conditions
• Smooth voyage is likely, although storms in other 1947 voyages (e.g. April) caused casualties.
• A luxurious ship: well-appointed cabins (even in semi-luxury class) with shared bathrooms and communal dining—a small glimpse of comfort after years of war.