The Whole Sad Story: The Battle for West Timor, February 20-22, 1942

The Japanese attack on the Island of West Timor, in the Dutch East Indies, was anticipated by the Allies as early as late December 1941. Soon after the start of the war, Sparrow Force, comprised mostly of Australian troops as well as some from the Dutch East Indies and Great Britain, occupied West Timor and began preparing defensive works. This would allow a defensive island fortress between the expanding Japanese Empire and Australia.

To assault and secure the island, especially the airfield at Penful, the Japanese planned an amphibious assault supported by an ambitious paratrooper air-assault by the 1st and 3rd SNLF (Special Naval Landing Force) Battalions. The resulting fight for West Timor resulted in a confused and bitterly fought battle that ultimately resulted in the destruction and capture of the majority of Sparrow Force, one of the largest and most tragic defeats in Australia’s military history. The Japanese paratrooper force was also savaged in the fighting, with nearly half of their number killed, seriously wounded, or missing. Those surviving paratroopers were dispersed throughout the Pacific in different commands and never performed another combat jump in the war.

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