In early 1942, the Japanese forces were rapidly advancing across the Pacific,
conquering island after island and defeating the Allied troops at every step.
It became so bad that primary resistance fell to the locals, and Australian forces
were sent to the small island of Timor to provide support and defend the territory.
The battalion tasked with protecting the island was given the code-name Sparrow Force,
and was made up of 70 officers and 1,330 men.
When Sparrow Force saw a massive shipment arriving at the island, they thought they
would be reinforcements, but to their dismay, they turned out to be the invading Japanese.
The Australians were outnumbered, surrounded, and heavily engaged,
so they retreated to the mountains while suffering many casualties.
The military command in mainland Australia and the Japanese forces
thought that Sparrow Force had been eradicated, but to their astonishment,
the remaining soldiers in Timor had actually built a headquarters deep in the jungle.
A 10-month guerrilla operation against the occupying Japanese ensued
as the battalion sniped patrols, destroyed bridges, liberated towns,
and disrupted communications, becoming much more than a headache for the invaders.
However, there was no way to reach the Australian command,
and with little ammunition and resources left, time was running out for the renegades. It
would take remarkable wits and unparalleled endurance to make it out of the island alive…
The Island of Timor
When assessing how to best defend Timor, the Allied forces were confronted by a
particularly complicated issue. On the one hand,
the Australian military had minimal numbers to spare for the protection of the island,
and on the other, the political division in the region made deployment a nightmare.
The western section of the island was officially part of the Netherlands East Indies,
an ally of Australia. However, the eastern half
plus a community at Ocussi on the north coast were neutral Portuguese regions.
Portugal, wishing to remain neutral in the global conflict, opposed the deployment of
Dutch or Australian forces as it felt that this was unnecessarily aggressive toward the Japanese
and could lead to the Empire attacking more of its settlements.
To try to remedy the situation as best as possible, the battalion sent to Timor,
Sparrow Force, was divided between west and east, but the groups were unable to cooperate
with each other beyond a superficial level due to the political climate.
Sparrow Force arrived on the island on December 12, 1941, and immediately took up defensive
positions across Koepang, the capital of West Timor, and the airbase at Penfui.
This section of the Force was composed of the Tasmanian 2/40th Battalion AIF
supported by artillery, signals, medical and headquarters personnel.
In addition, Sparrow Force’s anti-aircraft support was supplied by a British unit,
79th Anti-Aircraft Battery RA, all veterans of the Battle of Britain.
They were joined by one of Australia’s newly formed Independent Companies,
the Australian No. 2, or the 2/2nd Independent Company, who were positioned on the Portuguese
side of the island. The Sparrow Force totaled 70 officers and 1,330 men.
Soon, Australian intelligence learned of an incoming attack on Timor.
The men stationed there wouldn’t be able to hold back such a significant force,
so Sparrow Force was instructed to await reinforcements.
However, the incoming support was turned back at the last minute
as Allied commanders realized they were at a tremendous risk of a Japanese air attack.
Unfortunately, the troops on the ground were not informed of this sudden contingency,
and they were left expecting to receive significant reinforcements in the following days.
The Invasion
Moments before midnight on the night of February 19, the Japanese 228th Regiment landed in Dili,
the capital of Timor. The units from Sparrow Force in the area had anticipated being relieved
by Portuguese colonial troops arriving from Africa and presumed that the incoming troops
were their replacements. However, they were in for the surprise of their lives.
The bulk of the surprised Sparrow Force troops belonged to the Dutch No. 2,
from the 2/2 Independent Company, and was stationed at Dili’s aerodrome.
When they finally realized that the inbound troops were not friendly, the Dutch sent just
enough resistance to allow them to conduct an orderly but unimpeded retreat to the south.
At the airfield, Lieutenant McKenzie and 18 men from No. 2 were suspicious of a large number of
unidentified soldiers moving calmly toward them in the dark. They were almost upon the Allies
when Private Mervyn Ryan recognized them as Japanese and opened fire with his Bren gun.
The small number of Allied soldiers inflicted several casualties on the approaching Japanese
troops until they began to use grenades, and the Dutch soldiers were forced to retreat.
A few Allied soldiers perished during the skirmish. Still,
the Japanese suffered most of the damage,
with Portuguese sources claiming that there were 200 Japanese casualties at the airstrip.
While the men from No. 2 Section were battling for their lives as they tried to flee from the
airbase, the unsuspecting men from No. 7 Section were moving on trucks in the nearby hills.
However, they drove into a Japanese barricade and
were taken prisoners to be escorted in pairs and executed in the wilderness.
As the days passed and the Japanese took control of the island, the remaining Sparrow
Force members moved to the mountains and established a makeshift headquarters.
Despite being wounded, significantly outnumbered, and low in supplies,
the soldiers decided to reorganize and fight back.
Not even they could imagine that their furtive operation would last close to a year.
A Resistance
Sheltered deep within the mountainous center of the island, what was left of Sparrow Force
found itself isolated, uncommunicated, and mostly depleted of life-sustaining supplies.
Back home, reports circulated about the Island falling entirely to Japanese control.
As the week passed and no communications were received from Sparrow Force,
it was assumed that they had been either eliminated or captured during the takeover.
Still, even when facing overwhelming hardships,
the members of Sparrow Force decided that instead of disbanding, they would continue
fighting and offer all the resistance they could muster against the Japanese occupation.
In the words of Corporal Jones, one of the officers stranded on the Island:
(QUOTE) “They would stay until they were told, “pack up your gear, you’re not needed here,
this island has run out of Japs.”
Still, that determination was not enough if they wished to survive more than a few weeks.
Their accomplishments would have been impossible if it wasn’t for the valiant effort of the local
native tribes, who decided to help the Australians even when it meant endangering their own people.
The primary means of support initially provided by the natives was food, as Sparrow Force was
dangerously low on rations. However, their food supplies soon stopped being a cause of
concern when the residents brought everything from essential grocery items to exotic local
dishes like buffalo and baby crocodiles. The natives went far and beyond to help,
providing intelligence about the region and even sanctuary to the Australian units.
With their basic needs covered, Sparrow Force was able to begin their new self-appointed
mission: the total disruption of the Japanese occupation of the island.
Guerilla Warfare
The members of Sparrow Force divided themselves into small tactical strike teams and began
interrupting supply lines, blowing up bridges, setting fire to warehouses, and snipping patrols,
all while ensuring they could always escape back into the jungle in true guerrilla fashion.
When they carried out more extensive operations to liberate specific villages,
they received the support of the locals, who used spears and fire torches
to help the Australians drive the Japanese out of their homes.
Months passed, and although highly successful, the guerilla operations of Sparrow Force
were losing steam, mainly because of the increasingly problematic lack of ammunition.
Sparrow Force continued to be isolated and unable to communicate with any Allied forces in the
region. So when the lack of ammunition forced them to stop their operations,
they decided to use the same wit and resourcefulness to solve that predicament.
They then snuck into an enemy camp and stole a generator and battery out of a Japanese
car. Using recycled wire, tin cans, and melted gear, they then repaired the old
radio unit that had become useless for the last 9 months on the island.
After tinkering for several days, the soldiers were able to reach the Australian military.
Their comrades first received the news with palpable excitement but then became suspicious;
after all, it was a typical Japanese tactic to lure Allied troops into a trap.
The Australian command then asked one question to confirm the identity of the callers; they had
to immediately respond with the first name of the wife of one of the missing Sparrow Force officers.
The soldiers responded with one word, “JOAN,” and the entire Australian military became ecstatic:
they were alive!
In the following days, the Australian military organized a series of coordinated
airdrops to supply members of the Sparrow Force, who continued their
furtive operations for some time until they were finally rescued by Australian troops.
In total, the Force stayed 10 months on the island with no one realizing they were still alive,
inflicting over 200 casualties on the enemy while only losing 17 men.
The Timor population recognizes the courage and bravery of Sparrow Force to this day.
Thank you for watching our video! What are your thoughts on the experience
Sparrow Force had to go through while stranded on the island?
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