Alexander Spence ( soldier ) Alexander Spence DSO ( born 5 February 1906 , in Bundaberg , Queensland ) was an Australian soldier during World War II . Between 24 May and 11 November 1942 , Spence commanded Allied forces , during their guerilla campaign in Timor . Spence , who had been a journalist and had served in the Militia before the war , volunteered for overseas duty with the Second Australian Imperial Force on 25 June 1940 , at Miowera , Queensland . A major , he was originally posted to the 2 / 26th Battalion , but was posted away from the unit to the commandos before the battalion embarked on its ill - fated deployment to Singapore . He was later appointed commander of the 2 / 2nd Independent Company , a commando unit , and went with it as part of Sparrow Force to Dutch Timor in 1941 . The 2 / 2nd and Dutch forces were despatched to occupy Portuguese Timor in December 1941 , when it was anticipated that Japanese forces would invade . Spence and his men enjoyed good relations with most of the local population , and prepared for a prolonged guerilla campaign . Timor campaign . Although the Japanese had the element of surprise , when they invaded on 19 February 1942 , the Allied garrison began an orderly retreat , covered by an 18 - strong Australian section stationed at Dili airfield . The section managed to kill an estimated 200 Japanese in the first hours of the battle . Another section was less fortunate , driving by chance into a Japanese roadblock . Although they surrendered , it is believed that all but one were massacred . Spence and his men succeeded in evading the Japanese in the mountains of Timor . The 2 / 2nd commenced raids on the Japanese . Allied forces were scattered in various areas of Timor , but were able to use the local telephone system to communicate among themselves and to gather intelligence on Japanese movements . However , they could not contact the outside world , due to a lack of functioning radio equipment . This situation would not be rectified until 18 April after signallers from the company managed to build a wireless transmitter and were subsequently able to contact Darwin . The Japanese commander , Colonel Sadashichi Doi , sent the Australian honorary consul in Dili , David Ross ( who was also the local Qantas agent ) , to find the commandos and pass on a demand to surrender . Spence is reputed to have responded incredulously , stating that the company was still a formed unit and would continue to fight . Ross then gave the commandos information on the disposition of Japanese forces and also provided a note in Portuguese , stating that anyone supplying them would be later reimbursed by the Australian government . On 8 March 1942 , Spence was reunited with his immediate commander , Brigadier William Veale , who had retreated on foot from West Timor . When Veale was evacuated in May , Spence was appointed an acting lieutenant colonel , and became Allied commander . Doi sent Ross with another message , complimenting Sparrow Force on its campaign , and again asking that it surrender . The Japanese commander said that he realised it would take a force 10 times that of the Allies to win , that he was receiving reinforcements , and would eventually assemble the necessary units . This time Ross did not return to Dili , and he was evacuated to Australia on 16 July . During August , Japanese forces began to burn and / or bomb villages believed to have assisted the Allies , with huge civilian casualties . The commander of the Japanese 48th Division , Lieutenant General Yuitsu Tsuchihashi arrived , to assume control of operations on Timor . Strong Japanese columns moved south — two from Dili and one from Manatuto on the north - east coast . Another moved eastward from Netherlands Timor to attack Dutch positions in the central south of the island . The offensive ended on 19 August , having secured the central town of Maubisse and the southern port of Beco . In late August , matters were complicated when a rebellion against the Portuguese broke among the indigenous population , and a parallel conflict began . The Japanese were also recruiting significant numbers of Timorese civilians , who provided intelligence on Allied movements . During September the main body of the Japanese 48th Division began arriving to take over the campaign . The Australians also sent reinforcements , in the form of the 450 - strong 2 / 4th Independent Company — to be known as Lancer Force — on 23 September . By October , the Japanese had succeeded in recruiting significant numbers of Timorese civilians , who suffered severe casualties when used in frontal assaults against the Allies . The Portuguese were also being pressured to assist the Japanese , and at least 26 Portuguese civilians were killed in the first six months of the occupation , including local officials and a Catholic priest . On 1 November , the Allied high command approved the issuing of weapons to Portuguese officials , a policy which had previously been carried out on an informal basis . At around the same time , the Japanese ordered all Portuguese civilians to move to a " neutral zone " by 15 November . Those who failed to comply were to be considered accomplices of the Allies . This succeeded only in encouraging the Portuguese to cooperate with the Allies , whom they lobbied to evacuate some women and children . Spence was evacuated to Australia on 11 November , handing over command to Major Bernard Callinan . He was later re - united with the 2 / 2nd Independent Company , and remained with them until later in the war when he became the commanding officer of the 2 / 12th Commando Squadron and then later the 2 / 9th Cavalry Commando Regiment in 1944 – 45 . Spence was discharged from the army on 28 February 1945 .