Independent Company - The Australian Army in Portuguese Timor 1941 - 43
Publisher: William Heinemann Australia
Published: 1989
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 235
Description: "In February 1942, the Japanese landed 6000 experienced troops in Portuguese Timor, only 600 kilometers north of Darwin. They were opposed by 300 civilian-soldier Australians comprising the 2/2 Independent Company. Forced back into the mountains, the Australians organised a guerrilla war, living off the country and carrying their wounded with them. They refused offers of surrender, and became the only Allied force between India and New Guinea which defied the enemy. These few Australians, with the help of some Timor natives, immobilized, at a very crucial time in the war for the Allies, over 30,000 Japanese troops, of whom they took heavy toll. This living narrative, written from personal experience of the difficulties and privations encountered by the 2/2 and 2/4 Independent Companies, can be read as a splendid adventure story; periods of intense excitement follow in quick succession throughout the constant planning and execution of guerrilla attacks upon the always numerically superior enemy. An extraordinary account of commando-type units and their successful campaign." --Jacket flap.