Tower of Skulls by Richard B. Frank

Author:Richard B. Frank
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2020-01-23T16:00:00+00:00

Bali and Timor

One of the intended beneficiaries of Nagumo’s Darwin raid was a Japanese force bound for Bali in two transports lugging a battalion from the 48th Division escorted by four destroyers. Light cruiser Nagara and three destroyers covered this modest contingent. At 0200, 19 February the troops commenced landing at Bali, meeting little resistance ashore, but attacks by Allied aircraft damaged both transports, delaying unloading.

News of the Bali landing found Doorman’s Striking Force much depleted by escort duties and damage repairs. These circumstances prompted Doorman to sacrifice coordination for speed. He hurried away his available vessels in three separate waves—each attended by a fiasco. The first wave comprised Dutch cruisers DeRuyter and Java, with one Dutch and two American destroyers. The second wave numbered four American destroyers followed by Dutch light cruiser Tromp. Eight Dutch torpedo boats formed the third wave. The four defending Japanese destroyers, at a cost of heavy damage to Michishio and the loss of sixty-four killed, managed to sink Dutch destroyer Piet Hein (with an equal fatality list) and damage Tromp and an American destroyer. It was a decided victory for the outmatched Japanese.

The island of Timor sits east of Java, like a planned stepping stone for short-range aircraft of 1942 vintage winging from Australia to Java. An Australian officer described the interior, particularly to the northeast, as a “lunatic, contorted, tangled mass of mountains.” Dutch colonial authorities administered the southwestern part, including the key port of Koepang (now Kupang), with its nearby air base and seaplane anchorages. About 400,000 Timorese and roughly 4,000 to 5,000 others of Dutch, Chinese, and Arabic descent populated Dutch Timor. The Portuguese claimed the northeast half of the island. Their capital at Dili featured a nearby airfield. About 500,000 Timorese plus roughly 300 Portuguese, 2,000 Chinese, and a handful of Japanese and Arabs inhabited Portuguese Timor.

The Dutch and Portuguese each deployed about six hundred men in Timor, mostly locals. The importance of Timor for the defense of Java prompted the Australians to deploy “Sparrow Force” to Dutch Timor. The heart of this 1,400-man unit was the 2/40th Infantry Battalion, the 2/2nd Independent (Commando) Company, and a coastal battery. The Australians faced the conundrum that Timor’s security required the defense of its Portuguese half, but the presence of Australian defenders in Portuguese territory might incite a Japanese attack. Indeed, Japanese plans called for avoiding Portuguese Timor unless Allied forces entered it first. Over Portuguese protest, most of the 2/2nd Independent Company and about two hundred Dutch troops occupied Dili and vicinity. This preemptive violation of Portuguese neutrality provided the Japanese with a warrant to invade. On 16 February, Japanese aircraft turned back a convoy bearing an additional Australian battalion and an American artillery battalion. Tôjô pressed to have the Japanese withdraw from Portuguese Timor once Allied forces were expelled. The Imperial Navy insisted this territory was too valuable for operations against Australia to be surrendered. The upshot was a decision to propose withdrawing from Portuguese Timor once Allied forces were

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