Sparrow Force

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Badge of the Sparrow Force

The Sparrow Force ( German  sparrow armed forces ) was a military unit under Australian leadership, made up of troops from the 2 / 40th Australian Infantry Battalion and other units of the Australian 8th Division , which were used in the Battle of Timor during the Pacific War . Your task was initially to defend the island of Timor against the invasion of the Japanese Empire , and later to tie up Japanese forces on the island through guerrilla tactics.

history

In late 1941, Dutch, British and Australian troops were preparing for the expected Japanese invasion of Timor. Troops were concentrated in Kupang , the Netherlands, in West Timor . Further units were stationed in Dili , the capital of Portuguese Timor , against the protests of the Portuguese government, because the country was neutral during World War II.

The Japanese invasion of Kupang and Dili began on the night of February 19-20. The remnants of the Sparrow Force had to retreat to the mountains of Portuguese Timor. With a guerrilla war, the Allied commandos, with the help of the local population (criados) , were able to tie up the forces of an entire Japanese division with 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers by the end of 1942. Then the last Australian soldiers had to be withdrawn. The operations on Timor, in contrast to those on Java , Ambon and Rabaul, were to be assessed as successful. The Allies had to count around 450 dead in the course of the fighting for Timor. Japan's losses are said to be 2,000 men. The victims of the Timorese population are estimated at 40,000 to 70,000.

After the deployment to Timor, the 2 / 2nd Independent Company was renamed the 2/2 Commando Squadron and fought in New Guinea and New Britain . At the end of the war she was in Rabaul. No other unit of the Australian Army was in enemy contact as long as the 2/2 Commando Squadron . From the 2 / 40th Infantry Battalion , many soldiers in Tasmania and Queensland , 2 / 12th Infantry Battalion of the Australian 7th Division, were deployed to New Guinea and Borneo.

composition

The majority of the Sparrow Force was the 2 / 40th Battalion (Australia) | 2 / 40th Infantry Battalion, which was established in Tasmania and was part of the 23rd Australian Infantry Brigade. Commander was initially Lieutenant Colonel William Leggatt, later Brigadier William Veale and finally Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Spence took over. Another part was formed by the Australian command of the 2 / 2nd Independent Company, which was mainly raised in Western Australia . In addition there were parts of the 18th anti-tank battery with anti-tank guns , the 2 / 12th Field Ambulance, the 23rd Brigade Signals and the 2 / 11th Field Company. On February 16, the Sparrow Force was reinforced again with 189 British anti-aircraft men from the A&C Troops of the 79th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery (Royal Artillery). In addition, Dutch colonial troops fought . The soldiers received support from local boys who were around 13 years old. These criados were guides, porters and scouts for the Allied soldiers at the same time.

Telecommunications officer Keith Richards, Sergeant John Donovan and Sergeant Frank Press (from left to right), of the Australian 2 / 2nd Independent Company, during radio communications on a mountain top in Japanese-occupied Timor, around November 1942

equipment

Abandoned coastal artillery of the Dutch in Dili (1946)
Akiu, a young Chinese Timorese, was one of the local helpers for the Sparrow Force

Armament:

Vehicles:

  • 8 × Chevrolet 5 ton trucks
  • 20 × Chevrolet 3 ton trucks
  • 10 × LP1 Universal Carriers plus 4 × Dutch armored cars
  • 8 × Chevrolet 1.5 ton trucks
  • 3 × Chevrolet sedans
  • 4 × motorcycles with carts
  • 6 × motorcycles

The 2 / 2nd Ind. Coy. in Portuguese Timor was heavily armed, for example with Brens cannons and Thompson submachine guns.

Web links

supporting documents

  • Geoff Browne: Leggatt, Sir William Watt (Bill) (1894-1968) . In: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15 . Melbourne University Press, 2000, pp. 77-79.
  • Peter Dennis, et al: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History , Second. 2nd edition, Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand, Melbourne 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2 .
  • Tom Frame, Baker, Kevin: Mutiny! Naval Insurrections in Australia and New Zealand . Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, New South Wales 2000, ISBN 1-86508-351-8 , OCLC 46882022 .
  • G. Hermon Gill: Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942  (= Australia in the War of 1939-1945. Series 2 - Navy), Volume 1. Australian War Memorial, Canberra 1957, OCLC 848228 . Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
  • Mac Grant: Reserve Commandos Inherit a Remarkable Legacy  (= Defense Reserves Yearbook 2004-2005). Defense Reserves Support Council, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2005, pp. 24-30, OCLC 223674990 .
  • Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor. Technical University of Lisbon (PDF file; 805 kB)
  • William Bradley Horton: Through the Eyes of Australians: The Timor Area in the Early Postwar Period . In: Ajitaiheiyotokyu . 12, 2009, pp. 251-277.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ L Klemen: The Fighting on the Portuguese East Timor Island, 1942 . 2000. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  2. ↑ Dennis 2008, pp. 529-530.
  3. ^ A Short History of East Timor . Department of Defense. 2002. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Grant 2005, pp. 24-30.
  5. ↑ Browne 2000, pp. 77-79.
  6. ↑ Gill 1957, p. 487
  7. ^ Frame & Baker 2000, p. 158
  8. ↑ ABC: Akiu was a criado of Chinese and Timorese descent. , accessed on April 23, 2020.
  9. ↑ Skennerton, Ian: Footsteps of Sparrow Force . 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.