Japanese Invasion of East Timor Battle of Timor ( )

Preparations In 1941, East Timor was divided between the Portuguese and Dutch. A defence agreement between the Dutch and Australian governments led to a 1,400 detachment called Sparrow force arriving in December. Sparrow force was joined by 650 Royal Netherlands East Indies Army troops, and supported by 12 light bombers and an anti-aircraft battery. As Portugal’s declination to cooperate left the flank open, a 400 man Dutch-Australian force occupied Portuguese Timor on December 17. despite the Portuguese dictator protesting, the Portuguese army offered no resistance, and the civilians generally welcomed them.

Preparations (cont.) With most of the Dutch troops moved to Portuguese Timor, additional support staff arrived in February 1942, including the new Commanding Officer. By then, the tropical conditions had led to many of Sparrow Force catching malaria and other tropical diseases. The Japanese first attacked Timor on January 26, launching air raids. The AA batteries hampered the attacks alongside 11 USAF planes from Darwin. An Allied convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies was intensely attacked by Japanese aircraft on February 16, and forced to return to Darwin.

Japanese Attack Portuguese Timor On the night of February 19, the Japanese began landing in Timor, their landings being mistaken for Allies in Dili. Despite this, the Allies retreated, with an 18-man Australian commando section which had been stationed at the airfield being responsible for the deaths of approximately 200 Japanese. Another section drove into a roadblock, and were massacred. With the commandos heading southeast into the interior, 200 Dutch East Indies troops headed southwest for the border.

Japanese Attack Dutch Timor At the same time, the Allies in Dutch Timor were being bombed, before being advanced on by the Japanese infantry, which led to Sparrow Force moving east. After destroying the Dili airfield, Sparrow Forces’ retreat was cut off by the dropping of 500 Japanese marines. Sparrow Forces HQ personnel continued on, while the soldiers engaged the marines, and by morning Feb 23 had killed 122 of the Japanese, but been assaulted in the rear by the main force. After consultation, the soldiers surrendered, while the HQ force with 250 Australian and Dutch troops crossed east across the border.

Commando Campaign By February’s end, the Japanese controlled most of Dutch Timor and the Dili area, but could not move to the south or east. An Australian company hidden in the Portuguese Timor mountains, and launched raids. The Timorese people and Portuguese officials helped by allowing them to use the phone system, and guiding them around the mountains. When the Japanese colonel demanded the Australian commandos surrender, the major replied with “No”. In early March, the Sparrow Force HQ unit and Dutch east Indies troops joined the commandos in the mountains, and assembled a radio which allowed them to contact Darwin, with supplies being dropped by May.

Commando Campaign (cont.) In June, the Supreme Allied Commander was given a report by a land force commander, saying an offensive in Timor would require a large amphibious attack and approx. 10,000 soldiers. He suggested that the Timor campaign should be sustained, but not expanded. The Japanese colonel demanded surrender again, and was again turned down.

Japanese Offensive In August the Japanese began to bomb and burn the villages that were suspected of helping the Allies. Three Japanese columns headed south and one east that month. The offensive ended on August 19, with the capture of the central town Maubisse, and the southern port Beco. By October, the Japanese had forcibly recruited many Timorese into their army, and were pressuring the Portuguese for assistance, and later declaring any civilians that did not move to a particular zone by a specific date would be considered accomplices of the Allies. On the night of November 30, the RAN (Royal Australian Navy) attempted to land fresh Dutch troops, while evacuating 190 Dutch soldiers and 150 Portuguese civilians. While the evacuation worked, Japanese bombers sank the troop transport, resulting in the loss of the fresh troops.

Japanese Offensive (cont.) On December 11, the remainder of Sparrow Force were pulled out, except for a few officers; during this time, there were 12,000 Japanese troops on Timor, and this led to the decision to withdraw the last of the Australian soldiers. On January 9, most of the troops were pulled out, leaving a small intelligence team behind, which was soon detected, and headed for the eastern tip, being evacuated with the remaining Allies on February 10.

Effect The commandos involvement and Timorese aid had stopped a whole Japanese division from reaching the New Guinea campaign. However, the cost was between 40,000 and 70,000 Timorese civilians, as well as many Allied casualties.

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