Timor

Timor. In 1941 this island 450 km. (280 mi.) long, which lies only 800 km. (500 mi.) from northern Australia, was half-Portuguese and half-Dutch. The Japanese had planned, after occupying the whole island, to station troops in the Portuguese eastern half while allowing the Portuguese to continue ruling. It was a method they had already followed in Thailand and French Indo-China, but in December 1941, 1,320 Australian troops reinforced local Dutch troops at Koepang in Dutch Timor which was part of the Netherlands East Indies. Some of this joint garrison then occupied Portuguese Timor until Portuguese reinforcements were able to arrive from Portuguese East Africa. However, the Japanese successfully isolated this garrison, firstly by forcing a reinforcement to return to Australia and then mounting a devastating raid on Darwin.

The day after the Japanese air attack on Darwin, 20 February 1942, Maj-General Ito Takeo, commanding 38th Infantry Group, mounted the ‘First classic combined amphibious assault and vertical envelopment (a parachute drop) in history’ ( M. Bartlett (ed.), Assault from the Sea, Annapolis, Md., 1983, p. 202) against the Allied forces holding Koepang, and within three days the defenders had been forced to surrender. Some escaped into the island's rugged interior and, along with those in Portuguese Timor, began a successful guerrilla campaign. Their activities tied down an increasing number of Japanese who were convinced that continued resistance indicated that an attack from Australia was imminent. In September 1942 the guerrillas' numbers rose to about 300 when an Australian Independent Company (see Australia, 5(e)) was landed. But overwhelming Japanese superiority, sickness, and the diminishing loyalty of the local people, forced the Australians' withdrawal by January 1943.