CONFIDENTIAL THE BATTLE OF TIMOR By Dean Campelj and Andrew Rotondo

When and Where? The Battle Of Timor occurred from during WW2. It all started when Japan invaded Timor on 19 February 1942 and ended 10 February 1943.

Prior To The Battle Timor was under attack from Japanese aircraft before the war. An Allied convoy of reinforcements travelling to Timor was attacked by more Japanese aircraft and had to return back to base at Darwin. Other Australian and Dutch reinforcements arrived in Timor including Sparrow Force. Their numbers were reduced due to the squadron suffering from malaria and other various diseases.

The Battle Begins Japan caught the allies by surprise as their vessels were mistaken carrying Portuguese reinforcements. On the same night allied forces in Netherlands Timor came under intense air attacks. The main body of the Japanese 228 th Regimental Group landed in Netherlands Timor with a fierce amphibious attack. By the end of February the Japanese controlled most of Netherlands Timor and some of Portuguese Timor including it’s capital Dili. The Allies which included Australian and Netherlands commandos as well as some Timorese civilians and Portuguese colonists now held position in the south and east of Timor.

During the Campaign By now the Japanese were dominating the battle and had successfully recruited a significant number of Timorese civilians who provided intelligence on Allied movements. The ABDA ( American-British-Dutch- Australian ) naval force fought against the Japanese naval force in the Battle of Java Sea. Only three of fourteen allied ships survived the battle but were sunk later by Japanese heavy cruisers.

Sparrow Force A 1400 strong Australian army detachment known as Sparrow Force arrive in Timor on December 12, On May 22, 1941 Sparrow Force guerrillas assassinated Japanese war veteran named the ‘Tiger Of Singapore’ for his success in the battle of Singapore. Some members of Sparrow Force who were in Netherlands Timor escaped from the Japanese infantry to Portuguese Timor where they joined the 2/2nd Independent Company. They commenced a successful guerrilla campaign against the Japanese Imperial Army until their eventual withdraw o n December , 1942.

Weapons and Artillery AustraliaJapan The Australian weapons involved the.303 rifle and bayonet, M1911A1 Colt 45 Automatic, Machine Carbine rifle and the BREN Light Machine Gun. The Japanese weapons included the type 14 Nambu pistol, the arisaka rifle and bayonet, the type 99 light machine gun and the type 92 and 99 heavy machine gun.

The End Of The War The Japanese forces remained in control of Timor until their surrender in August The commandos and their civilian allies had prevented an entire Japanese division from reaching the New Guinea campaign. However this had come at a price with about 40,000 – 70,000 deaths of Timorese civilians, 300 deaths of Dutch Commandos and about 151 deaths of Australian Commandos. After a year of fighting the Japanese won in a tactical victory but ended up losing the war.

THE END