Timor-Leste in World War II: Battle of Timor (1942

Yes, Japan occupied East Timor: Japanese troops landed at Dili on the night of 19–20 February 1942 and stayed until Japan surrendered in September 1945, even though Portugal, which ruled the territory, was neutral. Australian and Dutch troops had landed in Dili in December 1941, and a small Australian force then fought a guerrilla campaign in the mountains for almost a year, kept alive by Timorese helpers. Timorese civilians paid by far the heaviest price.

This page covers the war years in detail. For the wider story see our Timor-Leste history timeline and Portuguese Timor history.

Quick answers

Question	Answer
Was Portuguese Timor neutral?	Yes. Portugal stayed neutral in World War II and protested the Allied landing
Allied landing in Dili	17 December 1941 (Australian 2/2nd Independent Company and Dutch troops)
Japanese invasion	Night of 19–20 February 1942 (Dili); Kupang in West Timor attacked on 20 February
Australian guerrilla campaign	February 1942 to February 1943
Australian withdrawal	2/2nd: December 1942; 2/4th: 9–10 January 1943; last observer party about a month later
Japanese surrender	11 September 1945, aboard HMAS Moresby off Kupang; ceremony in Dili on 24 September 1945
Timorese deaths	Estimates range from about 40,000 to 70,000; a 2024 study suggests the toll may have been higher
WWII sites to visit	Dare Memorial (above Dili), Japanese-era tunnels near Venilale, a Japanese war memorial listed in Aileu

Portuguese Timor’s neutrality

Portugal, under Salazar’s Estado Novo, decided to stay neutral during the war. The eastern half of Timor was a Portuguese colony; the western half (around Kupang, then spelled Koepang) belonged to the Netherlands East Indies. The Australian War Memorial notes that the Portuguese administration expected Japan to respect its neutrality, and that the Allies did not have Portugal’s agreement to occupy the colony.

The Allied landing in Dili (December 1941)

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Malaya on 7–8 December 1941, Australia sent “Sparrow Force” to Timor. Its main body, the Tasmanian 2/40th Battalion with a British anti-aircraft battery, went to Dutch West Timor around Kupang. The bulk arrived on 12 December 1941.

On 17 December 1941, elements of the Australian 2/2nd Independent Company (a new commando-style unit, largely from Western Australia) and Dutch troops landed near Dili to guard the airfield against a Japanese attack. The rest of the company followed on 22 December. Portugal protested strongly but its small garrison did not resist.

The Japanese invasion (19–20 February 1942)

On 19 February 1942 Japanese aircraft bombed Darwin. Just before midnight that night, Japanese troops of the 228th Regiment landed at Dili. The 22 Australians defending the airfield fought for about six hours, blew up the airstrip and withdrew into the hills. The next morning Japanese forces attacked Kupang in West Timor, including with paratroops. The 2/40th Battalion group fought for several days and surrendered on 23 February 1942; the Australian War Memorial notes that more of its men died later as prisoners than were killed in the fighting.

Sparrow Force and the guerrilla campaign

The 2/2nd Independent Company, about 250 men in Portuguese Timor, did not surrender. It moved into the mountains and fought a guerrilla war, ambushing Japanese columns and watching Dili from observation posts.

Contact with Australia: in April 1942 the company re-established radio contact using makeshift equipment. Supplies then came by small Royal Australian Navy ships and air drops.
The August push: in August 1942 the Japanese sent about 2,500 troops to destroy the company. The Australians ambushed the columns while falling back; the Japanese attack units were then withdrawn for Guadalcanal.
Reinforcement: the 2/4th Independent Company landed at Betano on the south coast on 23 September 1942, bringing Australian strength on the island to about 700.
Scorched earth: to cut off local support, Japanese forces burned villages and rice fields and looted food. They also used Timorese auxiliaries from West Timor, known as the “black columns”.

Timorese criados and civilians

The campaign would have been impossible without Timorese help. Villagers gave the Australians food, shelter, ponies, porters, guides and intelligence, and some fought alongside them.

Most Australian soldiers were paired with a criado, a Timorese boy, on average about 13 years old and sometimes as young as nine. Criados carried equipment, found and cooked food, nursed the sick, guided patrols and scouted villages for Japanese troops. Western Australian Museum displays quote veterans who said they owed their lives to their criados.

The Japanese executed many Timorese for helping the guerrillas. The Western Australian Museum records that criados and anyone who supported the Allies were tortured and executed if caught, and that a liurai (traditional ruler) of Ainaro and his three sons were killed for helping Sparrow Force.

The Australian withdrawal and evacuation (December 1942 – February 1943)

By late 1942 the 2/2nd was sick and exhausted, food was scarce, and the Japanese garrison had grown. A phased withdrawal was planned:

1 December 1942: HMAS Kuru, Castlemaine and Armidale evacuated Dutch and Portuguese civilians, mostly women and children. HMAS Armidale, carrying Dutch reinforcements, was sunk; 98 of the 149 on board were lost.
Early December 1942: about 190 Dutch troops and 150 Portuguese civilians were evacuated to Australia.
11 and 15 December 1942: the Dutch destroyer Tjerk Hiddes evacuated the 2/2nd from near Betano, with more civilians and a group of Portuguese nuns.
9–10 January 1943: HMAS Arunta evacuated most of the 2/4th. An observer party of 10 stayed behind and was taken out about a month later.

Last-minute orders from Australia said the criados had to stay behind. Veterans later described leaving them on the beach as a betrayal.

Portuguese administrators and deportados

The Portuguese administration was not removed when the Japanese landed, but by October 1942 its control had largely collapsed, and in November 1942 the Japanese ordered the internment of all Portuguese on the island. Portugal’s community in Timor included officials, settlers and deportados (people exiled to the colony from Portugal). Their responses varied: some stayed under internment, some were evacuated to Australia, and individual Portuguese fought with the Australians. The Australian War Memorial records, for example, Vasco Maria de Marçal, who fought with the 2/2nd’s “A” Platoon and left with the company in December 1942. Portuguese historian Jorge Silva Rocha has studied the internment of Portuguese civilians, who were held in the Liquiçá–Maubara area and moved inland in July 1945.

Occupation, surrender and the return of Portuguese rule (1943–1945)

After the Australians left, the Timorese population lived under a harsh military occupation until the end of the war. According to the Western Australian Museum, people were forced to support up to 20,000 Japanese troops, forced labour was used to build defences, food was seized, and health services disappeared. Allied bombing raids also killed many people and destroyed much of what was left, especially in Dili.

Japan announced its surrender in August 1945. The formal surrender of all Japanese forces in the Timor area was signed on 11 September 1945 aboard HMAS Moresby off Kupang, and accepted by Australian Brigadier L. G. H. Dyke. On 24 September 1945 Australian ships reached Dili, where Brigadier Dyke and Governor Manuel Ferreira de Carvalho attended a formal ceremony marking the end of the occupation. Portugal then resumed its rule, but the colony was in ruins and reconstruction only began slowly in the 1960s.

How many Timorese died?

No exact count exists, and estimates differ:

Older estimates, such as those by journalist Peter Hastings and diplomat James Dunn, start from about 40,000 deaths; Dunn suggested the real figure might be 50% higher.
Historian Geoffrey Gunn estimated 40,000–70,000 unnatural deaths (as cited by Kammen, below).
The Western Australian Museum’s Debt of Honour exhibition says over 40,000 East Timorese, about 10% of the population, died from fighting, famine and disease.
In 2024 historian Douglas Kammen (National University of Singapore) analysed a 1947 Portuguese administrative report and argued, provisionally, that roughly 100,000 people may have died unnatural deaths during the war.

Most deaths came from famine and disease rather than combat. For comparison, the Australian War Memorial says the 2/40th Battalion lost 84 men killed in the three days of fighting at Kupang.

The 2/2nd Commando Association and the Dare Memorial

Veterans of the 2/2nd formed the 2/2nd Commando Association of Australia in 1946 and spent decades trying to repay what they called a “debt of honour”. When Portuguese travel restrictions eased in 1966, some returned to look for their criados.

The association raised $4,000, matched by the Australian Government, to build a memorial at Dare, in the hills above Dili. Designed by Portuguese architects on ideas from the former commanding officer, Bernard Callinan, it was built as a resting place with a wading pool for Timorese walking to and from the Dili markets. It opened in April 1969, attended by 21 association members and some surviving criados.

WWII sites you can visit today

Dare Memorial Museum & Café, Dare, above Dili: a small museum on the 1942–43 campaign and the Timorese who helped the Australians, with a café and views over the city. Nearby is the Dare Fatunaba memorial, listed by Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Displays are dated, so call ahead.
Venilale, Baucau municipality: the official tourism site lists WWII-era Japanese tunnels near the town, dug into the hillside during the occupation.
Aileu: the official tourism site lists a Japanese war memorial among the town’s sights. It does not give further details, so ask locally.
Dili: the city was largely destroyed by bombing in 1942–45, and little wartime fabric survives. The Dare road is the easiest WWII trip from Dili.

Frequently asked questions

Did Japan occupy East Timor in World War II?

Yes. Japanese forces landed at Dili on the night of 19–20 February 1942 and occupied Portuguese Timor until Japan’s surrender. The formal surrender in the Timor area was signed on 11 September 1945, and Portuguese rule resumed.

Why did Japan invade a neutral territory?

Australian and Dutch troops had landed in Dili in December 1941 to stop Japan using Timor’s airfields against Australia. Timor was also the next step south after Japan took the Netherlands East Indies; the invasion began on the same day Darwin was first bombed.

How many Timorese died in World War II?

Estimates range from about 40,000 to 70,000, and a 2024 study suggests it may have been as many as 100,000. Most died from famine and disease caused by the war, as well as Japanese reprisals and Allied bombing.

What was Sparrow Force?

Sparrow Force was the Allied force sent to Timor in December 1941, made up mainly of the Australian 2/40th Battalion, a British anti-aircraft battery and the 2/2nd Independent Company. The 2/40th surrendered at Kupang in February 1942; the 2/2nd, later joined by the 2/4th, fought on as guerrillas in Portuguese Timor until early 1943.

Who were the criados?

Criados were Timorese boys, on average about 13 years old, who attached themselves to Australian soldiers as helpers, guides and scouts. Many were left behind when the Australians withdrew, and those caught helping the Allies faced torture and execution.

Where can I see World War II sites in Timor-Leste?

The easiest is the Dare Memorial Museum & Café in the hills above Dili. Further afield, the official tourism site lists Japanese tunnels near Venilale and a Japanese war memorial in Aileu.

Timor-Leste in World War II: Battle of Timor (1942–45)