Mervyn Lindsay Wheatley as a rifleman 2/2nd Australian Independent Company, Timor 1941-1942, interviewed by Brad Manera

Wheatley speaks of his family background; enlistment in the AIF; selection for 2/2nd Australian Independent Company; deployment to Koepang, Timor; 'Doc' as his nickname; how being a kangaroo shooter before the war helped him develop his skill as a sniper; guerrilla operations against the Japanese and dependence on the local Timorese for survival; the loyalty of the 'creados'; comparisons between their help and that given the Australians by the natives in New Guinea; discord between the East and West Timorese, each offering varying degrees of assistance to the Australians; his experience of a Japanese ambush; becoming separated from his group during a patrol in the Maubisse area and the use of booby traps against the enemy; his comparison between the tactics of the Japanese in New Guinea and those used on Timor; being nicknamed 'Doc' for helping casualties in his unit in New Guinea; his apprehension and fear of patrolling in the jungles of Timor; witnessing the torture and execution of a fellow soldier by the Japanese; his view of the Japanese soldier; target practice to maintain rifle skills; eventual evacuation from Timor; regret at having to leave his weapons and 'creado' behind.
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