 On December 28, 1946, he was put on board the troop ship "Sloterdijk" – the last he would see of his homeland, except for a brief visit many decades later.Also aboard the "Sloterdijk" was the young Communist Piet van Staveren, also a reluctant conscript who would eventually desert and join the Indonesian rebels.Both of them did meet during the trip and sharing their anti-colonial ideas

When he arrived in the Indies, Princen was charged with desertion.