Australian involvement in war and conflict
Photo essay - Fighting in Timor 1942
Timor, November 1942. Soon after the Japanese moved into
Timor, a young Australian technician, Signalman Joe Loveless,
built a radio set powerful enough to reach the Australian mainland.
When the Australians finally made contact with Australia, their
identification was challenged. The signal officer receiving asked
the name of the wife of Sergeant Jack Sargent. Fortuitously,
the signaller who had first transmitted was Jack Sargent, and
he was able to answer "Kathleen". Three of the Australian
signallers are shown deep in the Timorese mountains with a radio
set, "Winnie the War Winner". L to R: Signaller Keith
Richards, Corporal John Donovan, Sergeant Jack Sargent. All belonged
to 2/2nd Independent Company – part of Sparrow Force.
Damien Parer
AWM 013764
Timor, November 1942. Timorese greatly assisted Australians
of Sparrow Force, regularly supplying food, giving directions
and providing information on the Japanese. They carried equipment
for the Australians and helped the wounded.
Damien
Parer
AWM 013793
Timor, 9 December 1942. Men of Sparrow Force at the headquarters
at Ailalec.
Damien Parer
AWM 013778
Timor, 9 December 1942. Australian guerrillas. Eric Herd
of Sydney enjoys a meal of water buffalo and rice.
Damien Parer
AWM 013770
Timor, 9 December 1942. Australian guerrilla Lieutenant Gerry
McKenzie.
Damien Parer
AWM 013777
Timor, 9 December 1942. Australian soldier with his creado or
local helper.
Damien Parer
AWM 013792
Timor, 9 December 1942. An Australian patrol.
Damien Parer
AWM 013772
Timor, 9 December 1942. Australian soldiers with local Timorese
leading a pack pony.
Damien Parer
AWM 013771
Timor, 9 December 1942. Locals bring in fresh fruit for Australian
soldiers.
Damien Parer
AWM 013799
October 1942. A Lockheed Hudson bomber of the RAAF over the
Timor Sea prior to an attack on enemy positions in Dili, Timor.
AWM 027624
Timor, 12 December 1942. Australian sniper in action.
Damien Parer
AWM 013827
Timor, 12 December 1942. Australian troops. This is typical
of the country over which the Australians fought.
Damien Parer
AWM 013826
Timor, 12 December 1942. Australians in the Timorese
village of Mindello. The Australians burned the village to prevent
its use as a base by the Japanese.
Damien Parer
AWM 013829
Coomalie Creek, Northern Territory, 20 January 1943. Crew
members of 31 (Beaufighter) Squadron RAAF after returning from
a mission over Timor.
AWM NWA0045
At sea, en route to Timor, 8 September 1945. Captain A.D.
Stevenson, officer in charge of the Services Reconnaissance Section,
Timforce, with troopers Francesca da Silva and Celestino dos
Anjos, and Alexandre da Silva. Francesca da Silva and Celestino
dos Anjos were important figures during the 1942 resistance against
the Japanese and were evacuated to Australia for training with
Z Special Unit. They are on board the minesweeper HMAS Parkes as
part of Timforce, which supervised the transition from Japanese
occupation.
AWM 115663
Koepang, Timor, 2 October 1945. Twenty-six Javanese women
liberated from Japanese brothels. Just prior to their release,
the Japanese issued the women with Red Cross armbands in an attempt
to cover up the manner in which these women had been used. The
young woman pictured is holding a doll she kept throughout her
ordeal.
AWM 120083
Mape, Timor, 12 December 1945. Mautasi, seen here with chef
de posto Jose Garrido (chief of Mape Administrative
Centre), was shot and wounded by the Japanese because he had
assisted Australians. He owed his survival to the efforts of
Captain C.R. Dunkley, medical officer of the 2/2nd Independent
Company.
AWM 121436
Timor, 10 November 1945. This boy, called Fernando, was bayoneted
by the Japanese during their occupation of Timor. When the Australians
returned in 1945, they kitted him out with a slouch hat, rifle
and webbing.
AWM 121423
Dili, Timor, 12 January 1945. Sergeant Milsom had served
with Sparrow Force in 1942 and returned to the island in 1945
with the Military History Section field team. Milsom is seen
reunited with Manuberi, his creado from
1942.
AWM 125263
Dili, Timor, 9 December 1945. Lequi assisted the Australians
first as creado to Lieutenant
Ellwood, 2/2nd Independent Company, and then as a carrier of
a radio set for Z Special Unit operatives. Lequi was wounded
by the Japanese at Bacau in September 1942.
AWM 121401
Dili, Timor, 9 December 1945. Jose Eduardo de
Abreu de Silva Marques (“Joe”), seen with Sergeant Milson, Military
History Section field team, reminisce over a map drawn by Milson
in 1942 when he was serving with the 2/2nd Independent Company. “Joe”,
as he was known to Australian troops, had assisted Milson in
recording the positions of Japanese troops.
AWM 121403
Betano, Timor, 15 December 1945. With the wreck of HMAS Voyager in
the background, Sergeant Milsom, Military History Section field
team, and Jacob, who had assisted the Australians against the
Japanese, discuss the location of the evacuation of the 2/2nd
Independent Company in 1942.
AWM 121479
Betano, Timor, 15 December 1945. These two men, Sergeant
K. Davis, photographer with the Military History Section, and
Lieutenant C. Bush, official war artist, came to Timor in 1945
to record the war efforts of the Australians and the Timorese.
Behind lies the wreck of HMAS Voyager.
AWM 121486
Darwin, Northern Territory, 3 March 1946. A member of the
Japanese garrison on Timor, now in captivity, repairs part of
the compound built to intern suspected war criminals.
AWM NWA1056
More about the Second World War
%7Cutmccn%3D(direct)%7Cutmcmd%3D(none)%3B){kind=small}