Japanese invasion of Portuguese Timor, 19–20 February 1942 , Portuguese Timor On the night of 19/20 February 1,500 troops from the
Imperial Japanese Army's 228th Infantry Regiment,
38th Division,
XVI Army, under the command of Colonel
Sadashichi Doi, began landing in Dili. Initially, the Japanese ships were mistaken for vessels carrying the foreseen Portuguese reinforcements, and the Allies were caught by surprise. Nevertheless, they were well-prepared, and the garrison began an orderly withdrawal, covered by the 18-strong Australian Commando No. 2 Section stationed at the airfield. According to Portuguese sources the Commandos killed an estimated 200 Japanese in the first hours of the battle; while the Japanese Army recorded its casualties in the landing as 67 dead and 56 wounded, along with 7 more dead or wounded in the ensuing capture of Dili. 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, in an event known as the
Ration truck massacre. The 2/40th Battalion had suffered 84 killed and 132 wounded in the fighting, while more than twice that number would die as
prisoners of war during the next two-and-a-half years. 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. 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. 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. On 24 May, Veale and Van Straten were evacuated from the southeast coast by an RAAF
Catalina and Spence was appointed commanding officer, after being promoted to lieutenant colonel. On 27 May,
Royal Australian Navy (RAN) launches successfully completed the first supply and evacuation missions to Timor. complimenting Sparrow Force on its campaign so far, and again asking that it surrender. The Japanese commander drew a parallel with the efforts of
Afrikaner commandos of the
Second Boer War and said that he realized it would take a force 10 times that of the Allies to win. Nevertheless, Doi said he was receiving reinforcements, and would eventually assemble the necessary units. This time Ross did not return to Dili, and he was evacuated to Australia on 16 July. Tsuchihashi then launched a major counter-offensive in an attempt to push the Australians into a corner on the south coast of the island. Strong Japanese columns moved south—two from Dili and one from
Manatuto on the northeast coast. Another moved eastward from Dutch Timor to attack Dutch positions in the central south of the island. The offensive ended on 19 August when the main Japanese force was withdrawn to Rabaul, but not before they secured the central town of
Maubisse and the southern port of Beco. The Japanese were also recruiting significant numbers of Timorese civilians, who provided intelligence on Allied movements. 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 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 and on 25 September 1942 and the ship destroyed by demolition charges. On 27 September, the Japanese mounted a thrust from Dili towards the wreck of
Voyager, but without any significant success.
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. On 9, 15 and 18 December, the remainder of the original Sparrow Force—except for a few officers—was evacuated with Portuguese civilians, by the Dutch destroyer , under the command of
W. J. Kruys. 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 . 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 on 10 February. Forty Australian commandos were killed during this phase of the fighting, while 1,500 Japanese were believed to have died. == Aftermath ==