Men Who Came Out of the Ground: Timor 1942 - Australia's First Commandoes

By February 1942, the Japanese had invaded the Dutch East Indies as part of their push south. All that stood in the way of their moving significant resources to take part in the main fighting in Papua New Guinea was a force of 700 Australian commandos and a few hundred Dutch soldiers. After months of skirmishes and attacks on Japanese forces, the Australians faced a major offensive and despite the best efforts of the individual Australian soldiers, Australian forces were withdrawn at the end of 1942. But by then an entire Japanese division had been prevented from taking part in the Papua New Guinea campaign. This account covers their heroic fighting against a superior force, courage and ingenuity in the face of supply and equipment problems, and the support and friendship of the locals. It's the story of Australia's Special Forces in action and achieving what they set out to do.