Francis, Ernest Dudley ED MID (Major, b.1908 - d.1997)

The collection comprises papers held by Major Dudley Francis relating to Timor under the Japanese occupation and particularly the operations of Sparrow Force, of which he was a member, over 1941-42. The papers are divided as follows: (i) a folder marked "Timor" containing two carbon copy versions of a typescript report by Brigadier W. Veale, the commander of Sparrow Force, on its operations in Timor over February-May 1942, and Dudley's related correspondence with Veale, Tom Morrison of the Official History team and, in 1992, with Admiral Thomas Moorer (US Navy). The folder also includes notes on Timor and Amboina appended to an Operational Instruction and a report marked "Secret" on communications in Timor. (ii) A paper titled "Fragments of a Tempestuous Life..." by Antonio de Sousa Santos, an Administrator in the Portuguese Colonial Service in Portuguese Timor, which provides an account of Portuguese Timor over 1936-44, focussing on the period of the Japanese occupation. (iii) Correspondence between Francis (and others) and Santos over 1943-48 following the latter's evacuation to Australia and subsequent return to Portugal. It includes news clippings and a typed extract from a news magazine on the Portuguese dictator Salazar.