Sparrow Force was a detachment based on the 2/40th Australian Infantry Battalion and other Dutch, British, US and Australian 8th Division units during World War II. The force was formed to defend the island of Timor from invasion by the Empire of Japan. It formed the main part of the Allied units in the Battle of Timor.
The force began deploying in late 1941, and following Japan's entry into the war, it was drawn into the fighting in response to the Japanese invasion of Portuguese and Dutch Timor in February 1942. After heavy fighting around Irekum, the main element of the force – the 2/40th – were forced to surrender on 23 February 1942; however, elements of the force, specifically commandos from the 2/2nd Independent Company, supported by the local population, continued a guerrilla campaign and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese until August, when the Japanese launched a counter-offensive. Despite reinforcements from the 2/4th Independent Company arriving in September 1942, the Japanese offensive eventually resulted in the withdrawal of Allied troops over the period December 1942 to January 1943, with the commandos being withdrawn by sea. Sparrow Force personnel who were captured during the fighting were sent to Japanese labour camps across Southeast Asia, and between 1942 and 1945, many died in captivity.
Background In December 1941, due to concerns about a Japanese invasion, the Dutch requested that Australian forces be sent to both Koepang and Ambon under provisions that had been agreed to in a conference at Singapore earlier in the year. That plan, entitled "Plans for the employment of naval and air forces of the associated powers in the eastern theatre in the event of war with Japan" (Plenaps), had already resulted in the disposition of forces, including some U.S. fleet movements, as early as November 1941. Initially, Australian plans were to send forces only to Koepang with the resulting order to embark the force at Darwin, designated "Sparrow," on 7 December 1941 using the transport and the armed cruiser HMAS Westralia, which were available in the port. The decision to exclude Ambon was quickly changed with 1,090 troops designated "Gull Force" sent to Ambon from Darwin on 14 December using three Dutch merchant ships.
In January 1942, the Allied forces on Timor became a key link in the so-called "Malay Barrier", defended by the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command under the overall command of General Sir Archibald Wavell. Additional Australian support staff arrived at Kupang on 12 February, including Brigadier William Veale, who had been made the Allied commanding officer on Timor. By this time, many members of Sparrow Force—most of whom were unprepared for tropical conditions—were suffering from malaria and other illnesses.Henning 1995, p. 45 The airfield at Penfui in Dutch Timor also became a key air link between Australia and American forces fighting in the Philippines under General Douglas MacArthur.Dennis 2008, p. 529 Penfui came under attack from Japanese aircraft on 26 and 30 January 1942, but the raids were hampered by the British anti-aircraft gunners and, to a lesser degree, by P-40 fighters of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron, United States Army Air Forces, 11 of which were based in Darwin.
Composition The majority of Sparrow Force personnel were from the 2/40th Infantry Battalion, which had been formed in Tasmania and was part of the 23rd Australian Infantry Brigade. The force was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Leggatt, although later command was taken over by Brigadier William VealeBrowne 2000, pp. 77–79. before being passed on to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Spence. A commando unit—the 2/2nd Independent Company (recruited mostly in Western Australia)—was also part of Sparrow Force. With the other forces from the 23rd Brigade, it shared contingents from 18 Anti-Tank Battery, the 2/12th Field Ambulance, 23rd Brigade Signals and the 2/11th Field Company. Zealandia departed Darwin on the morning of 10 December 1941 with 957 troops escorted by HMAS Westralia with another 445 troops reaching Koepang on 12 December.Frame & Baker 2000, p. 158
Rabaul fell to the Japanese on 23 January, followed by Ambon on 3 February, and both Gull Force and Lark Force were destroyed.Dennis 2008, p. 529. Sparrow Force was reinforced on 16 February 1942 with 189 British anti-aircraft gunners, from A & C Troops of the 79th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery of the Royal Artillery, most of whom were veterans of the Battle of Britain. They were attacked by Japanese bombers as their ship anchored at Tenau.Paley 1991, p. 85 Later that day, an Allied convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies to Kupang—escorted by the heavy cruiser , the destroyer , and the sloops and —came under intense Japanese air attack and was forced to return to Darwin without landing. The reinforcements had included an Australian pioneer battalion—the 2/4th Pioneer Battalion—and the US 49th Artillery Battalion. Sparrow Force could not be reinforced further and as the Japanese moved to complete their envelopment of the Netherlands East Indies, Timor was seemingly the next logical target.Dennis 2008, p. 25 and 529.
The 2/40th and most Sparrow Force units were based at Penfui Airfield, outside the capital of Netherlands Timor, Kupang. The 2/2nd Independent Company was based across the border, at Dili in Portuguese Timor.
Sparrow Force units The following units formed Sparrow Force: HQ Sparrow Force – 20 troops. 2/40th Infantry Battalion – 944 troops. 2/2nd Independent Company – 282 commandos (joined by 152 from West Timor.) 2/1st Heavy Battery RAA – 132 gunners. A & C Troops, 79th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, (British Royal Artillery) – 189 gunners. 75th Light Aid Detachment – 14 troops. 2/1st Fortress Engineers – 56 sappers. 2/1st Fortress Signals – 39 signallers. B Troop, 18th Anti-Tank Battery RAA – 27 gunners. No.2 Section, 2/11th Field Company RAE – 66 sappers. 23rd Brigade Signals RASC – 8 signallers. 2/12th Field Ambulance RAAMC – 50 medics. 22nd Dental Unit RAAMC – 5 medics. Australian Army Service Corps – 20 servicemen.
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) units The following KNIL units were assigned: Timor and Dependencies Garrison Battalion 3rd Company, VIII Infantry Battalion Reservekorps (RK) Infantry Company Machine-Gun Platoon, XIII Infantry Battalion Artillery battery (4 × 75 mm guns) Engineer platoon Engineer platoon Mobile auxiliary first aid platoon
Battle
Japanese invasion of Portuguese Timor, 19–20 February 1942 On the night of 19/20 February 1942, a force of 1,518 troops from the Imperial Japanese Army's 228th Regimental Group, which formed part of the 38th Division, XVI Army, under the command of Colonel Sadashichi Doi, began landing in Dili. Initially, the Japanese ships were mistaken for vessels carrying Portuguese reinforcements, and the Allies were caught by surprise. Nevertheless, they were well-prepared, and the garrison began an orderly withdrawal, covered by the 18-strong Australian commando No. 2 Section stationed at the airfield. According to Australian accounts of the resistance to the Japanese landings at Dili, the commandos killed an estimated 200 Japanese in the first hours of the battle, although the Japanese army recorded its casualties as including only seven men.防衛研修所戦史室, 戦史叢書 蘭印攻略作戦, Tokyo:Asagumo-Shimbun, 1967. (Japanese official military history by National Institute for Defense Studies) Native accounts of the landings support the Australian claims, however.
Another group of Australian commandos, No. 7 Section, was less fortunate, driving into a Japanese roadblock by chance. According to Brad Manera of the Australian War Memorial, despite surrendering, all but one of their number were executed by the Japanese. Colin Doig provides different figures, though, stating that of the 14 men on the truck, 13 were shot, with one surviving (Keith Hayes) and one (Peter Alexander) being marched away to be a POW for the rest of the war. Both men survived the war.Doig 1986, p. 54 Outnumbered, the surviving Australians then withdrew to the south and to the east, into the mountainous interior. Van Straten and 200 Dutch East Indies troops headed southwest toward the border.
Japanese landings in Dutch Timor, 19–20 February 1942 On the same night, Allied forces in Dutch Timor also came under extremely intense air attacks, which had already caused the small RAAF force to be withdrawn to Australia. The bombing was followed up by the landing of the main body of the 228th Regimental Group—two battalions totalling around 4,000 men—on the undefended southwest side of the island, at the Paha River. Five Type 94 tankettes were landed to support the Japanese infantry, and the force advanced north, cutting off the Dutch positions in the west and attacking the 2/40th Battalion positions at Penfui. A Japanese company thrust north-east to Usua, aiming to cut off the Allied retreat. In response Sparrow Force HQ was immediately moved further east, towards Champlong.
Leggatt ordered the destruction of the airfield, but the Allied line of retreat towards Champlong had been cut off by the dropping of about 500Based on counts by Brigadier Veale’s party, between 470–480 jumped from Japanese transport aircraft Japanese marine paratroopers, from the 3rd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, near Usua, east of Kupang.
After heavy resistance around the village of Babau and a second airdrop of 300 paratroopers, Sparrow Force cleared the village by the night of the 21st with plans to move eastward in the morning. By then, the Japanese had dug in defensive positions on Usua Ridge with a mountain howitzer and heavy machine guns near the road. After an Australian mortar and machine gun barrage, Captain Johnson of A Company, Captain Roff of B Company and Captain Burr of C Company led their platoons in a bayonet charge up the ridge, followed by R Company (Reinforcements). Gunners of the 2/1st Heavy Battery and sappers of the 2/1st Fortress Engineers reinforced the infantry platoons in the action. After the devastating assault on the paratroopers, Sparrow Force had killed all but 78 of the 850 paratroopers. Sparrow Force suffered only a few dozen losses.
Sparrow Force was then attacked from the west by the main Japanese force of about 3,000 men with tanks and artillery units. By destroying the bridges as they advanced east, Sparrow Force achieved only a brief respite.Henning 1995, p. 95. By the morning of 23 February Sparrow Force had been engaged from the rear by the main Japanese force once again. With his men low on ammunition, out of food and water, weary from little sleep, and hopelessly outnumbered, Leggatt surrendered at Irekum on 23 February. Both forces were bombed by Japanese aircraft in two waves at 10:00 am and 10:10 am and more men from both sides were killed. More Japanese then landed at Koepang, which brought their numbers up to about 22,000 in Dutch West Timor.
The 2/40th Battalion had suffered 84 killed and 132 wounded in the fighting, while more than twice that number would die as prisoners of war during the next two and a half years. Veale and the Sparrow Force HQ force who were at Tjamplong and not in the main column at Irekum—including about 290 Australian and Dutch troops—continued eastward across the border, to link up with the 2/2 Independent Company. After months of training, some formed Platoon D of the 2nd Independent Company.
On their own, February – April 1942