Battle of Timor
Battle of Timor | |||||||
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Part of the Dutch East Indies campaign | |||||||
An Australian commando, possibly Sergeant Bill Tomasetti of the 2/2nd Independent Company, in typical mountain terrain on Timor, on 12 December 1942. (Photograph by Damien Parer.) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Japan
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
~ 2,050 strong garrison (peak February 1942) ~ 1,000 commandos (peak October 1942) | ~ 12,000 (peak late 1942) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Netherlands: ~ 300 dead Australia: 151 dead (Sparrow Force) Portuguese Timor: ~ 75 dead United Kingdom: 5 dead (The Sparrows)[1] |
~ 4,000 dead (West & East Timor) | ||||||
40,000–70,000 civilian dead[1] |
The Battle of Timor occurred in
The campaign lasted until 10 February 1943, when the final remaining Australians were evacuated, making them the last Allied land forces to leave Southeast Asia following the Japanese offensives of 1941–1942. As a result, an entire Japanese division was tied up on Timor for more than six months, preventing its deployment elsewhere. Although Portugal was not a combatant, many Timorese and European Portuguese civilians fought with the Allies or provided them with food, shelter and other assistance. Some Timorese continued a resistance campaign following the Australian withdrawal. For this, they paid a heavy price and tens of thousands of Timorese civilians died as a result of the Japanese occupation, which lasted until the end of the war in 1945.
Background
By late 1941, the island of Timor was divided politically between two colonial powers: the Portuguese in the east with a capital at
Sparrow Force was initially commanded by
Up to this point, the Government of Portugal had declined to co-operate with the Allies, relying on its claim of neutrality and plans to send an 800-strong force from Mozambique to defend the territory against a hypothetical Japanese invasion. However, this refusal left the Allied flank severely exposed, and a 400-man combined Dutch-Australian force subsequently occupied Portuguese Timor on 17 December. In response, the Portuguese Prime Minister, Salazar, protested to the Allied governments, while the governor of Portuguese Timor declared himself a prisoner in order to preserve the appearance of neutrality. Most of the Dutch troops and the whole of the 2/2nd Independent Company were subsequently transferred to Portuguese Timor and distributed in small detachments around the territory.[1]
Neutral Portuguese Timor had not been originally included among the Japanese war objectives, but after Allied occupation violated its neutrality the Japanese decided to invade.[9]
The Portuguese and the British governments reached an agreement that established the withdrawal of the Allied forces from Portuguese Timor, in exchange for the sending, by Portugal, of a military force to replace them. On 28 January 1942, the Portuguese force sailed from
Prelude
In January 1942, the Allied forces on Timor became a key link in the so-called "Malay Barrier", defended by the short-lived
Meanwhile, Rabaul fell to the Japanese on 23 January, followed by Ambon on 3 February, and both Gull Force and Lark Force were destroyed.
Battle
Japanese invasion of Portuguese Timor, 19–20 February 1942
On the night of 19/20 February 1,500 troops from the
Another group of Australian commandos, No. 7 Section, was less fortunate, driving into a Japanese roadblock by chance. Despite surrendering, according to military historian Brad Manera all but one were massacred by the Japanese.[8] Outnumbered, the surviving Australians withdrew to the south and to the east, into the mountainous interior. Van Straten and 200 Dutch East Indies troops headed southwest toward the border.[4]
Japanese landings in Dutch Timor, 19–20 February 1942
On the same night, Allied forces in Dutch Timor also came under extremely intense air attacks, which had already caused the small RAAF force to be withdrawn to Australia. The bombing was followed up by the landing of the main body of the 228th Regimental Group—two battalions totalling around 4,000 men—on the undefended southwest side of the island, at the Paha River. Five
Leggatt ordered the destruction of the airfield, but the Allied line of retreat towards Champlong had been cut off by the dropping of about 300 Japanese marine paratroopers, from the 3rd Yokosuka
Australian commandos continue to resist, February – August 1942
By the end of February, the Japanese controlled most of Dutch Timor and the area around Dili in the northeast. However, the Australians remained in the south and east of the island. The 2/2nd Independent Company was specially trained for commando-style, stay behind operations and it had its own engineers and signallers, although it lacked heavy weapons and vehicles.[3] The commandos were hidden throughout the mountains of Portuguese Timor, and they commenced raids against the Japanese, assisted by Timorese guides, native carriers and mountain ponies.[3]
In relatively small operations such as these, military
Although Portuguese officials—under Governor Manuel Ferreira de Carvalho—remained officially neutral and in charge of civil affairs, both the European Portuguese and the indigenous East Timorese were usually sympathetic to the Allies, who were able to use the local telephone system to communicate among themselves and to gather intelligence on Japanese movements. However, the Allies initially did not have functioning radio equipment and were unable to contact Australia to inform them of their continued resistance.[15]
Doi sent the Australian honorary consul, David Ross, also the local Qantas agent, to find the commandos and pass on a demand to surrender. Spence responded: "Surrender? Surrender be fucked!" Ross gave the commandos information on the disposition of Japanese forces and also provided a note in Portuguese, stating that anyone supplying them would be later reimbursed by the Australian government.[16] In early March, Veale and Van Straten's forces linked up with the 2/2nd Company. A replacement radio—nicknamed "Winnie the War Winner"—was cobbled together and contact was made with Darwin.[4] By May, Australian aircraft were dropping supplies to the commandos and their allies.[17]
The Japanese high command sent a highly regarded veteran of the
In June, General Douglas MacArthur—now the Supreme Allied Commander in the South West Pacific Area—was advised by General Thomas Blamey—Allied land force commander—that a full-scale Allied offensive in Timor would require a major amphibious assault, including at least one infantry division (at least 10,000 personnel). Because of this requirement and the overall Allied strategy of recapturing areas to the east, in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Blamey recommended that the campaign in Timor should be sustained for as long as possible, but not expanded. This suggestion was ultimately adopted.[17]
Relations between Ferreira de Carvalho and the Japanese deteriorated. His telegraph link with the Portuguese Government in Lisbon was cut. In June 1942, a Japanese official complained that the Governor had rejected Japanese demands to punish Portuguese officials and Timorese civilians who had assisted the "invading army" (the Australians). On 24 June, the Japanese formally complained to Lisbon but did not take any action against Ferreira de Carvalho.
Japanese counter-offensive, August 1942
In August, the
During September the main body of the Japanese 48th Division began arriving to take over the campaign. The Australians also sent reinforcements, in the form of the 450-strong 2/4th Independent Company—known as "Lancer Force"—which arrived on 23 September. The destroyer HMAS Voyager ran aground at the southern port of Betano while landing the 2/4th, and had to be abandoned after it came under air attack. The ship's crew was safely evacuated by HMAS Kalgoorlie and Warrnambool on 25 September 1942 and the ship destroyed by demolition charges.[23] On 27 September, the Japanese mounted a thrust from Dili towards the wreck of Voyager, but without any significant success.[17]
By October, the Japanese had succeeded in recruiting significant numbers of Timorese civilians, who suffered severe casualties when used in frontal assaults against the Allies. The Portuguese were also being pressured to assist the Japanese, and at least 26 Portuguese civilians were killed in the first six months of the occupation, including local officials and a Catholic priest. On 1 November, the Allied high command approved the issuing of weapons to Portuguese officials, a policy which had previously been carried out on an informal basis. At around the same time, the Japanese ordered all Portuguese civilians to move to a "neutral zone" by 15 November. Those who failed to comply were to be considered accomplices of the Allies. This succeeded only in encouraging the Portuguese to cooperate with the Allies, whom they lobbied to evacuate some 300 women and children.[17]
Spence was evacuated to Australia on 11 November, and the 2/2nd commander, Major Bernard Callinan was appointed Allied commander in Timor. On the night of 30 November / 1 December, the Royal Australian Navy mounted a major operation to land fresh Dutch troops at Betano, while evacuating 190 Dutch soldiers and 150 Portuguese civilians. The launch HMAS Kuru was used to ferry the passengers between the shore and two corvettes, HMAS Armidale and Castlemaine. However, Armidale—carrying the Dutch reinforcements—was sunk by Japanese aircraft and almost all of those on board were lost.[17] Also during November, the Australian Army's public relations branch arranged to send the Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Damien Parer, and a war correspondent named Bill Marien, to Timor. Parer's film, Men of Timor, was later greeted with enthusiasm by audiences in Allied countries.[24]
Australian withdrawal, December 1942 – February 1943
By the end of 1942, the chances of the Allies re-taking Timor were remote, as there were now 12,000 Japanese troops on the island and the commandos were coming into increasing contact with the enemy. The Australian chiefs of staff estimated that it would take at least three Allied divisions, with strong air and naval support to recapture the island.[17] Indeed, as the Japanese efforts to wear down the Australians and to separate them from their native support became more effective, the commandos had found their operations becoming increasingly untenable. Likewise, with the Australian Army fighting a number of costly battles against the Japanese beachheads around Buna in New Guinea, there were currently insufficient resources to continue operations in Timor. As such, from early December Australian operations on Timor would be progressively wound down.[21]
On 11–12 December, the remainder of the original Sparrow Force—except for a few officers—was evacuated with Portuguese civilians, by the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes.[25] Meanwhile, in the first week of January, the decision was made to withdraw Lancer Force. On the night of 9/10 January 1943, the bulk of the 2/4th and 50 Portuguese were evacuated by the destroyer HMAS Arunta. A small intelligence team known as S Force was left behind, but its presence was soon detected by the Japanese. Aided by folboats, with the remnants of Lancer Force, S Force made its way to the eastern tip of Timor, where the Australian-British Z Special Unit was also operating. They were evacuated by the American submarine USS Gudgeon on 10 February.[17][26] Forty Australian commandos were killed during this phase of the fighting, while 1,500 Japanese were believed to have died.[15]
Aftermath
Overall, while the campaign on Timor had little strategic value, the Australian commandos had prevented an entire Japanese division from being used in the earlier phases of the New Guinea campaign[17] while at the same time inflicting a disproportionate level of casualties on them. In contrast to those in Java, Ambon or Rabaul, Australian operations in Timor had been far more successful, even if it was also largely a token effort in the face of overwhelming Japanese strength. Likewise, they had proved that in favourable circumstances, unconventional operations could be both versatile and more economic than conventional operations, for which the resources were not available to the Allies at that time.[27] Most civilian deaths were caused by Japanese reprisals against the civilian population. The civilian death toll is estimated at 40,000 to 70,000.[1][28]
Ultimately, Japanese forces remained in control of Timor until their surrender in September 1945,[1] following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. On 5 September 1945, the Japanese commanding officer met Portuguese Governor Manuel Ferreira de Carvalho, effectively returning power to him and placing the Japanese forces under Portuguese authority. On 11 September, the Australian Timor Force arrived in Kupang harbour and accepted the surrender of all Japanese forces on Timor from the senior Japanese officer on Timor, Colonel Kaida Tatsuichi of the 4th Tank Regiment. The commander of the Timor force, Brigadier Lewis Dyke, a senior diplomat, W. D. Forsyth, and "as many ships as possible" were dispatched to Dili, arriving on 23 September. Ceremonies were then held with Australians, Portuguese and other local residents. Australian troops then supervised the disposal of arms by Japanese work parties before returning to West Timor for the surrender of the commander of the 48th Division, Lieutenant General Yamada Kunitaro.[29] On 27 September, a Portuguese naval and military force of more than 2,000 troops arrived to an impressive ceremony of welcome by the Timorese people. These troops included three engineering companies along with substantial supplies of food and construction materials for the reconstruction of Timor.[30]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "A Short History of East Timor". Department of Defence. 2002. Archived from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
- ^ a b Dennis 2008, p. 528.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dennis 2008, p. 529.
- ^ a b c d e f "Fighting in Timor, 1942". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Fall of Timor". Australian Department of Veteran Affairs. 2005. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Henning 1995, p. 47.
- ^ a b c Klemen, L. and Graham Donaldson. "The Japanese Invasion of Dutch West Timor Island, February 1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Manera, Brad. "Remembering 1942: The Battles on Timor". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 23 September 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Stockings 2010, p. 213.
- ^ Wigmore 1957, p. 475.
- ^ Dennis 2008, p. 25 and 529.
- ^ "2/4th Pioneer Battalion". The Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- ^ 防衛研修所戦史室, 戦史叢書 蘭印攻略作戦, Tokyo:Asagumo-Shimbun, 1967. (Japanese official military history by National Institute for Defense Studies)
- ^ Hoehn 2011, pp. 69,75,77,80,87,91.
- ^ a b Callinan 1953, p. xxviii.
- ^ "David Ross". The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Klemen, L (2000). "The fighting on the Portuguese East Timor Island, 1942". Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Gunn 1999, p.224
- ^ Rottmann 2002, p. 211.
- ^ White 2002, p. 92.
- ^ a b Dennis 2008, p. 530.
- ^ Gunn 1999, p.225.
- ^ "HMAS Voyager (I)". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
- ^ "Damien Peter Parer". The Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- ^ Wheeler 2004, p. 152.
- ^ Hoehn 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Dennis 2008, pp. 529–530.
- ISSN 1961-9898. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ For details about these and other postwar events, see Horton 2009.
- ^ Gunn 1999, p.234
References
- Callinan, Bernard (1953). Independent Company: The Australian Army in Portuguese Timor 1941–43. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-85859-339-8.
- Campbell, Archie (1994). The Double Reds of Timor. Swanbourne: John Burridge Military Antiques. ISBN 978-0-646-25825-6.
- Dennis, Peter; et al. (2008). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (Second ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2.
- Doig, Colin (1986). A History of the 2nd Independent Company and 2/2 Commando Squadron. Perth: Selbstverlag. ISBN 978-0-7316-0668-9.
- Gunn, Geoffrey C. (1999). Timor Loro Sae: 500 Years. Macau: Livros do Oriente. ISBN 978-972-9418-69-3.
- Henning, Peter (1995). Doomed Battalion: The Australian 2/40th Battalion 1940–45. Mateship & Leadership in War & Captivity. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86373-763-0.
- Hoehn, John (2011). Commando Kayak: The Role of the Folboat in the Pacific War. Zurich: Hirsch Books. ISBN 978-3-033-01717-7.
- Horton, William Bradley (2009). "Through the Eyes of Australians: The Timor Area in the Early Postwar Period" Ajitaiheiyotokyu 12: 251–277.
- Rottman, George (2002). World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-Military Study. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-31395-0.
- ISBN 9781742230795.
- Wheeler, Tony (2004). East Timor. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 978-1-74059-644-2.
- White, Ken (2002). Criado: A Story of East Timor. Briar Hill: Indra Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9578735-4-4.
- Wigmore, Lionel (1957). The Japanese Thrust. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 – Army, Volume IV (1st ed.). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3134219.
- Wray, Christopher (1987). Timor 1942: Australian Commandos at War with the Japanese. Hawthorn: Hutchinson Australia. ISBN 978-0-09-157480-2.
Further reading
- Kisho Tsuchiya: Indigenization of the Pacific War in Timor Island: A Multi-language Study of its Contexts and Impact, Journal War & Society, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2018, pp. 1–22.
External links
- Australian Department of Veterans Affairs, 2005, "Fall of Timor" Archived 27 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- The Japan Times, 28 April 2007, East Timor former sex slaves start speaking out
- L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942". Retrieved 28 March 2021.