The battles on Timor, 20-23 February, 1942

Sparrow Force Christmas card

Christmas card, 1944, from "Sparrow Force" to Lieutenant Colonel F. G. Galleghan, while in Changi as prisoners of war. The inside of the card shows the colour patches of the units that made up "Sparrow Force", many members of which surrendered to the Japanese on Timor on 23 February 1942.

RC00794 (200Kb PDF File), Greeting card collection.

Maps of Timor

Two sketch maps of Timor used by Lieutenant Colonel W. W. Leggatt in his report, written in October 1945, of the actions of Sparrow Force on Timor. Leggatt went into captivity, and was sent to Changi on 26 July 1942.

From AWM 54 571/4/56 [Timor (1941-1942) - (Sparrow Force and Lancer Force) - Operations:] Sparrow Force (Timor) Account of action by Lieut Col W W Leggett, Part 1 - Organisation; Part 2 - Arms and equipment; Part 3 - Health and morale; Part 4 - Events, 10 Dec 1941 to 18 Feb 1942; Part 5 - Events 19 Feb 1942 to 24 Feb 1942; Part 6 - Appendices

Timor 1942 - 1943

An overview of operations in Timor for the year 12 December 1941 - 12 December 1942. The bulk of the report covers the activities of the 2/2 Australian Independent Company, the 2/4 Australian Independent Company, and a small group of Dutch soldiers. This group of allied troops were not captured with the main force, but carried out a guerilla campaign with the help of the local people against the Japanese in the mountainous country around Dili.

From AWM54 571/4/45 (775Kb PDF File) [Timor (1941-1942) - (Sparrow Force and Lancer Force) - Operations:] Important file containing Sparrow Force reports on Timor. Intelligence, appreciations, Chronological history of events. Reports by Mr W D Ross, Australian Consul at Dilli - Dutch Reports on fighting

Encyclopedia

Fighting in Timor 1942 encyclopedia entry