World War II

On December 17, 1941 the Australian 2/2 Independent Company landed in Portuguese Timor, later joined by the 2/4 Company, in all about 700 Commandos.  This action by Australia was designed to resist the possible use of Timor as an invasion base by the Japanese.  It was an action undertaken against the wishes of the Portuguese administration in a clear breach of Portugal’s neutrality.

The Australian presence on Timor ensured a large and brutal Japanese invasion. The Australians used successful hit and run guerrilla tactics in the following months and the Japanese responded by boosting their numbers, with 20,000 men on the ground before the Australians left in 1943.  Had such an enormous number of Japanese not been occupied in Timor, they would have been available to go to nearby Papua-New Guinea, where the Australian campaign may have had a very different outcome. 

Out of radio contact with Australia for months on end, the men of the Independent Companies often joked that they should be called the Dependent Companies,  such was their reliance on the assistance of the Timorese and Portuguese locals.  Young East Timorese men became guides and helpers, or criados of the Australian soldiers, proving themselves invaluable in the bitter fighting with the Japanese. Local people also provided shelter, hid the Australians from the Japanese, provided intelligence for ambushes and locations of the enemy, carried guns and helped to look after the wounded.  Some fought alongside the Australians.  This support persisted despite intensive Allied bombing of Japanese-held areas including the capital, Dili, which suffered major damage.

Some East Timorese obtained the essential parts for the rebuilding of the radio (called Winnie the War Winner), with which the Australians were able to re-contact Darwin, finding to their joy that Australia had not been invaded, as Japanese propaganda had led them to believe.  Darwin was similarly amazed to find them alive and active, as their families had been notified that they were missing in action.  With radio contact renewed, the news of their successful resistance was a great morale booster to an Australian people still in shock at the seemingly unstoppable Japanese advance through Southeast Asia.

The friendship between Australians and Timorese was not lost on the Japanese who were soon taking reprisals against locals in Australian-held areas.  If an ambush occurred close to a village, it would be assumed that the local people were helping the Australians, and revenge would be taken.  The same would occur if an Australian size and shaped boot print was found, or a cigarette butt.  The Australians may not always  have seen the impact that their military successes were having on the people.

The actions of the people in East Timor were in direct contrast with those of West Timor, where Australians were given up readily to the Japanese and killed or taken prisoner.  For their loyalty, hundreds of East Timorese were imprisoned, tortured or killed, and their means of livelihood were destroyed if they were suspected of helping the Australians.

Casualties inflicted on the Japanese were about 1,500, while 40 Australians were lost. It is estimated that at least 40,000 Timorese died during World War 11, and the only theatre of war they were involved in was that of helping Australians.  No other nation has lost so many civilians as a direct result of assisting Australian soldiers.