The unveiling of two headstones took place today June 2 in the Bathurst
Cemetery. These were for Adrianus Nicolaas Maria “Aadje” Van der KLUGT and another headstone for all the other Migrant Camp children who died during the operation of the camp in Bathurst from 1948-52.
Aadje’s headstone was unveiled by his sister Laura Goldsmith & the Netherlands Consul General Frank van Beuningen.
About 14 of Aadje’s family consisting of brother, sister and other members of the family, together with over 10 former children who were in the camp 70 years ago also attended the ceremony.
The event also received good coverage on TV, radio and in the newspaper here
At the time the migrant camp accommodated up to 8,000 people at one time located on the Limekilns road near Bathurst in an ex-WWII army camp that was designed to accommodate 1,500 soldiers. Bathurst at that time had a similar population to the camp. In its 4 years of operation almost 100,000 people passed through the camp.