Edition Number 11 2006
Overvalwagens!
Kaleidoscope of military vehicles of the
Dutch East and West Indies before 1945
Hello and welcome!

A word from the owner and
author/editor of this site.

This is a website dedicated to the
research of military, commercial and
improvised vehicles as used in the
Netherlands East and West Indies
before 1945.

The website derives its name from the
so called overvalwagens (literally
"assault vehicles"). These armoured
vehicles were designed, built and used
in the Netherlands East Indies by the
Dutch East Indies Army (K.N.I.L.) and
its auxiliary forces (Stadswachten or
Home Guards).

My ambition is to make this site a
Kaleidoscope of military vehicles of
the Dutch East and West Indies
before 1945.

Why? Well, it has never been done
before, while the Dutch former
colonies' history is full of interesting
and unique vehicles. The East Indies,
now Indonesia, were the territory of
General Motors and Chevrolet
products and variants unknown to the
rest of the world. The West Indies (now
Surinam and the Dutch Antilles) were
Ford and Marmon-Herrington
countries: home to many exclusively
designed and built K.N.I.L. vehicles
and conversions, delivered by these
companies.

For those with any doubts: my aim is
not to celebrate Dutch colonial history
or to glorify K.N.I.L. The focus is on the
research of (military) vehicle history.

A small word on the spelling of
geographical names: I have mostly
used contemporary (pre-1945) Dutch
spelling of geographical names for
practical reasons. So Surabaya is still
Soerabaja when I am referring to the
city during, for instance, 1941. Where
there is no direct need to use
contemporary Dutch spelling I will use
the modern Indonesian names.

Few publications exist on this subject
and to open it up a lot of research is
still needed. In order to make this
possible I have temporarily posted
many pictures on this site to study and
share the subject with as many other
people as possible.

Of course, I did not take these
photographs myself, nor do I own
them. I have found them elsewhere on
the internet or scanned them from
(copies of) books or contemporary
magazines. By doing this I hope to
create a unique and dynamic forum for
the research of former K.N.I.L. and
related vehicles. If anybody objects to
the use of his or her original picture,
he or she should contact me.

On the other hand, much of the
analysis and research work is mine (or
somebody else's where specifically
stated). All texts in this publication are
therefore internationally copyrighted
from August 1st, 2004 onward by the
legal owner of these pages.

But be welcome to quote and link from
this site!
Overvalwagen of the Stadswacht (Home Guard) of Batavia (now Jakarta), 1941
Click below:
Please also visit the
Overvalwagen Forum
and discuss, debate
and get informed!
Help Wanted! Do you have old pictures of or information on any
pre-1945 military vehicles of the Dutch East and/or West Indies
please contact me!

Hulp gezocht! Heeft u oude foto's van of informatie over oude
voertuigen uit het vooroorlogs Nederlands-Indie en/of de West,
neemt u dan alstublieft met contact mij op!
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At no cost!
The eleventh edition of
Overvalwagens! has arrived.

Overvalwagens! has hosted more
than 35.000 page views since its
launch on August 1st, 2004.

Most chapters have been updated or
corrected for this edition, some more
than others though. A chapter on
engineer ans specialist vehicles has
been added.

In the next edition of Overvalwagens!
a chapter will be added on limbers and
trailers. In the meantime news and
related subjects will be dealt with as
usual on
The Overvalwagen Forum.

The Overvalwagen Forum really
started taking off in January 2005 as
well and is now seeing on average
12000 clicks a month, with visitors
hailing from 70 countries.

Of course, I could not have carried
through this project without the
continuing support, feedback and
advice of many friends. I thank them!