Portugal in the Pacific in WWII

On the Subject of lesser known and under reported parts of WWII, here is a great site on the East Indies and Portugal.


Portugal in War


During the Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy occupied, after several months of heavy battles with Australian and Dutch troops, the Portuguese colonial possession East Timor Island, in order to take a strategically important airfield at Dili and to destroy all Australian-Dutch troops deployed on the island. Although Portugal was officially neutral during the war 1939-1945, it was in those months when several of its citizens tasted the smell and horror of World War II ...




Macau (Ao-men)


According to the 1940 census Macau (Colónia Portuguesa de Macau) had a population of 340,260 inhabitants, of which 4,322 were Portuguese and 335,938 were members of other nationalities, of which by far the most numerous were Chinese. The Portuguese Governor and Commander-in-Chief in Macau in 1941 was Navy Commander Gabriel Mauricio Teixeira.
In 1936-1937 the Portuguese military colonial garrison in Macau (Portuguese colony in China) numbered exactly 497 men - 22 Portuguese officers, 35 Portuguese NCO's and 440 soldiers, including 224 native soldiers, assembled in
• 1 European infantry company
• 1 European artillery company
• 1 heavy machine-gun company
• 2 native companies
• 1 depot section


The Portuguese military garrison in Macau consisted during the war (1941-1945) from the following units;
Commander: Navy Commander Gabriel Mauricio Teixeira (Comandante)
Headquarters, Chief of Staff: Major Carlos da Silva Carvalho (Chefe de Estado-Maior)
• two native light rifle companies, recruited in Mozambique (companhias indígenas de caçadores)
• one machine-gun company (companhia de metralhadoras)
• one artillery company (companhia de artilharia)
• military detachment at Taipa (Destacamento militar na Taipa)
• military detachment at Ilha Verde (Destacamento militar na Ilha Verde)
and supposedly there were 4 Hawker Osprey seaplanes in Macao in 1940.


Following the surrender of Hong Kong in December 1941, the Japanese decided not to formally occupy Macao. One reason may have been that the Japanese wished to respect Portuguese neutrality. The fact remains that Japanese troops went in and out of Macao at will with little protest from Portuguese authorities. However, in spite of this situation, the Allied flags (USA, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France) were allowed to be displayed in Macao at their respective embassies.


After August 1943, Japanese influence in Macao increased after they attacked and captured a British cargo ship, the Sian (or X'ian), off the coast of Macao after killing 20 of its crew. Perhaps it was carrying contraband war supplies for Nationalist Chinese Forces. It was after this incident that Japan ordered the government of Macao to accept Japanese "Advisors" as an alternative to complete military occupation. Later, Japan became even more aggressive in ordering the Governor of Macao, Commander Gabriel Mauricio Teixeira, to recognize Japanese authority in South China. Furthermore, Japanese authorities ordered Portuguese troops to leave their barracks on Lappa Island, an island adjacent to Macao and occupied by the Portuguese troops. The Japanese also were given the authority to conduct house-to-house searches in Macao.


Macau remained almost isolated from the outside world but was never occupied by the Japanese forces during World War II. It remained neutral during the war, but was essentially out of contact with the government in Lisboa (Portugal), isolated and out of touch. This prevented either reinforcement or withdrawal. Apparently the biggest problems were caused by Chinese civilians taking refuge from the Japanese. However, the Portuguese gunboat at Macau (river gunboat Macau??) was seized by the Japanese and renamed Maiko. This event happened shortly after Portugal made the Azores available to Allied aircraft. At the end of World War II, after the Japonese surrender, Macau returned to his normal situation.



Portuguese East Timor


According to the 1936 census Portuguese East Timor island (Colónia Portuguesa de Timor) had 463,796 inhabitants of all nationalities. The Portuguese Governor of the East Timor Island and Commander-in-Chief in 1941 was Captain Manuel de Abreu Ferreira de Carvalha.


In 1936-1937 the Portuguese military colonial garrison in East Timor island numbered exactly 375 men - 7 Portuguese officers, 23 Portuguese NCO's and 345 soldiers, including 298 native soldiers, assembled in:
• 1 mixed military police company, comprising an artillery and machine-gun section
• 1 native cavalry platoon


The Portuguese military garrison of Timor Island at the time of the Japanese invasion (February 1942) was;
• one Native Light Infantry Company (Companhia de Caçadores Indígena). It consisted of captain (commander), two white lieutenants, three white sergeants, 15 white or mestico (mixed-blood - mestiços) corporals, 10 Timorese corporals and 240 Timorese privates. Apparently, this unit had numerous administrative and guard duties because the effective field strength was about 170 privates
• the Oekussi Detachment (Destacamento de Oekussi) of one white sergeant (commander), 4 white or mestico privates, and 10 Timorese privates, garrisoning in the Portuguese enclave Oekussi.
• the Frontier Cavalry Platoon (Pelotâo de Polícia de Frontiera) consisting of a white sergeant (commander), two Timorese sergeants, 6 Timorese corporals, and 60 Timorese privates.


The island of Timor is located in the Lesser Sunda Islands and it is the closest to Australia among them. Its western part belonged to the Netherlands and the eastern part to Portugal. This put Timor Island between the powerful colony of Dutch East Indies and the British domain of Australia and also not so far from New Guinea. The closest Portuguese territory was Macau, a small Chinese town controlled by the Portuguese since 1557, when the first Portuguese settlement was established there.


With limited resources of all kinds and difficult communication with the outside world, especially with the metropolis [continental Portugual] plus adding the problems with sea navigation in the middle of a world war, the Army mantained on the island only a tiny garrison with a military value enough to maintain the internal order, but completely hopeless against any possible foreign attack. However, Timor had a strategic meaning because it could act a potential base to any military country that desired to control the neighbour territories, especially New Guinea and Australia.


The biggest nucleus of Europeans was made up of approximately 90 deported criminals. There was also about a dozen settlers, who were mainly old soldiers or retired public servants. Further, there were 5 or 6 employees of the Agricultural Company "Pátria e Trabalho" plus 2 traders (ex-convicted) that were almost bankrupt. Among the active non-military public servants there were around three dozens of Europeans.


When the war broke up in the Far East (December 1941), there were 13 Japonese nationals living in East Timor, working at the "Sociedade Agrícola Pátria e Trabalho" (an agricultural firm), at the Japonese consulate in Dili and at the air company "Dai Nippon Airways". The whole native population on the island was around 450,000 inhabitants.


Farming was the Timor´s main economic activity. It was controlled by a group of the Agricultural Companies: Timor Agricultural Company Ltd. (Empresa Agrícola de Timor Ltda.), Perserverança Agricultural Company (Empresa Agrícola Perseverança) and, the most important of them, the Agricultural Company Pátria e Trabalho (Sociedade Agrícola Pátria e Trabalho), founded in 1897.


A manager of this group of Companies looked for financing suport to make them grow. He found this suport through a Japonese company called Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha. This company made its registration in Timor in 1936 and began to import a lot of goods from Japan. Soon, the Japonese were arriving to Timor through the commecial interests that they now had it.


Timor Island had in 1939, as combat units, the 1st Native Light Infantry Company and the 1st Cavalry Native Platoon (of the Border Police). The Light Infantry Company was stationed in the military barracks in Taibessi, approximately 3 km's outside Dili. Its instalations were very poor, and the soldiers lived in shacks with their wives and children. However, as early as 1939, the company already moved to a new headquarters in the countryside, in a small town of Maubisse, where the new soldiers-recruits were trained. The personal weapons were the Kropatschek rifles, four light machine gun Lewis and six heavy machine guns Vickers.


The Cavalry Platoon, which was also called Border´s Police, was stationed in Bobonaro. A part of these force was spread along the border between the two territories - Portuguese East Timor and Dutch West Timor. The Cavarly Platoon rode the small, but very resistent Timorese horses, called "cudas" (cavalos cudas). The men of this unit were armed with obsolete Winchesters carbines that were at least forty years old and swords. There was also a small military defence detachment, located in Oekussi, that was dettached from the Native Light Infantry Company.


Fulfilling these forces, there were second line units that, which had played in the past a very important role during the fights to control the territory and against inssurection movements.


In 1939, existed on the island also so-called Volunteer´s forces that, with a lot of banners, bizarre uniforms, old guns and riding the "cudas", took part at various parades and ceremonies, playing drums and having their own rules. However, they were a potential force that could not be underestimated.


The Portuguese Army in East Timor in 1942 consisted of some 500 officers, NCOs and other ranks, armed mainly with obsolete weapons. The troops were East Timorese commanded by Portuguese colonial officers. There also were no Portuguese ships or planes on East Timor Island. Portugal never declared war on Japan, the garrison was to be reinforced by February 1942 by approximately 800 Mozambique soldiers from Portuguese East Africa, 6,000 miles away, and the troop ship turned back halfway when the Japanese refused safe conduct.

In February 1942, the Japanese troops landed at Dili and at some other places on the East Timor Island, and quickly gained control over all important ports and airfields on the island. The Japonese Invasion Force, under the command of Colonel Sadashichi Doi, was divided in three main groups:
- Comando das tropas de choque - Infantaria [Shock troops Command - infantry]
- Comando de artilharia [Artillery Command]
- Comando das tropas de Marinha e Aviaçao [Navy and Air Force Command]
The Japonese engineers quickly improved and enlarged the airfield near Dili where they had stationed then 12 fighter planes, which together with infantry units took part in the forthcoming battles against the Australian guerillas on the island.




Note For more information about fightings in the Portuguese East Timor check the website's section about Timor !


Note The main source: The History of the Portuguese Army, Volume III; ( Histôria do Exército Portugues, 1910-1945, Volume III )


Note Information about Portuguese troops in Southeast Asia are from League of Nations Armaments Year-Book 1937


Note Please note that no special flags have been used to represent "Portuguese Macao"; officially only the Portugese national flag was in use.


Note At sea, en route to Timor, 8 September 1945. Captain A.D. Stevenson, officer in charge of the Services Reconnaissance Section, Timforce, with troopers Francesca da Silva and Celestino dos Anjos, and Alexandre da Silva. Francesca da Silva and Celestino dos Anjos were important figures during the 1942 resistance against the Japanese and were evacuated to Australia for training with Z Special Unit. They are on board the minesweeper HMAS Parkes as part of Timforce, which supervised the transition from Japanese occupation back to Dutch colonial rule.


Note The Portuguese operatives were trained at Darwin under Major C. Brandao. The Lagarto operation was led by Captain Santos, Portuguese Forces, accompanied by Lieutenant Pires and AIF Sergeant Ellwood, all were captured east of Dili.


http://www.geocities.com/dutcheastindies/portugal.html

 

Thanks a lot, I hadn't noticed this before !

 

My pleasure LOL . Like I said I am the finder of some lesser known info LOL.

 

Thanks for sharing this info. East Timor still hasn't recovered from this tragedy. It still lacks the respectability it deserves.

 

Unfortunately that is so very true. Repercussions still today.

 

"General MacArthur's observations on Timor read to the Advisory War Council, 25 January 1943:
1. MacArthur viewed the increase in Japanese strength in Timor as purely defensive to secure themselves against attack from Australia and to suppress the continuation of the successful commando tactics, which has been pursued by Australian and Dutch, forces.
2. The C-in-C added he did not posses the resources to retake Timor. Further more the Japanese control of the seas in this region and a force from Australia could not land by air or supplied by air in sufficient strength for recapture of this island.
3. Any plans for retaking Timor were a long distant project. Appendix (of course after he returned to the Philippines first)."

I would like to find more on why MacArthur didnt feel like taking back Timor. And how much imput there was on trying an invasion. Was MacArthur that fixated on returning to the Phillipines?

 

Don´t know how much this has to do with MacArthur´s fixation with the Philippines....

http://www.ww2f.com/information-requests/14207-macarthur-secret-payment.html#post171084

 

Interesting whether true or not I don't know. anyway better be rewarded for defending the Filipinos than not, or been bought off by the Japanese. I doesn't bother me and MacArthur will always be a hero for me. He was on the field.

 

During World War II, the Portuguese had:

[edit] Army

• 1 Portuguese infantry company - pre-WWII
• infantry company - 1st Light Mozambique (Moambique Cacadores) and 2nd Light Mozambique (Moambique Cacadores) - particpated in WWII
• 1 Portuguese artillery company (companhia de artilharia)
• 1 heavy machine gun infantry (companhia de metralhadoras)
• 2 native companies
• 1 depot section
• 1 gunboat
• 497 men - 22 officers, 35 NCO's and 440 soldiers, including 224 native soldiers

Other installations included:

• Fortress of St. Paul of Monte or Monte Fort 1616-1762
• Barra Fort - once had 22 cannons
• San Francisco Barracks 1864
• Fort Mong Ha 1864-1960s
• military detachment in Taipa (Destacamento militar na Taipa)
• military detachment at Ilha Verde (Destacamento militar na Ilha Verde)

[edit] Navy

The Macau Naval Aviation Centre was created in 1927 as a seaplane base to combat submarine activity in and around Macau. It was decommissioned in 1933, but re-activated from 1937 to 1940. The naval station was later moved to the Outer port in 1940 and de-commissioned after 1942.
The naval station in Macau was part of the Far East Fleet.
Portuguese naval ships stationed in Macau:

• cruiser Rainha De Amelia - stationed early 1900s
• cruiser Vasco da Gama - stationed early 1900s
• gunboat Patria
• small shallow-draught gunboat Macau - built in Scotland; later as gunboat Maiko and Chinese Nationalist Navy (later in PLAN) boat Wu Fang

A naval air station was established in 1927 with limited equipment.

[edit] Air Force

From 1956 to 1974, Macau was under the 3rd Aerial Region (3ª Região Aérea) with its headquarters in Lourenço Marques.
A list of some aircraft stationed in Macau prior to 1974:

• 3 Fairey IIID - recon bi-plane - sent in 1927
• 4 Hawker Osprey floatplanes naval biplane light-bomber (sent before or around 1940)
• Avro 626 bi-plane trainer
• Grumman G-21B amphibious monoplane

Commanders in Macau

• Navy Commander Gabriel Mauricio Teixeira 1941-1945
• Chief of Staff: Major Carlos da Silva Carvalho

Military of Macau under Portuguese rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
Australia's 'invasion' of Portuguese East Timor (now Timor Luru Sae) on December 16, 1941, was the first time in history that Australia violated another country's neutrality. Aussie troops (Sparrow Force) invaded Dutch West Timor and the 2/2nd Independent Company landed on the shore near Dili, the capital of Portuguese East Timor and so pre-empt a Japanese takeover. They proceeded immediately to surround the airport. Well armed, and expecting to do battle with the Portuguese military, they approached the administration building, guns at the ready.
Suddenly the main door opened and out stepped a civilian Portuguese official who tipped his hat and in perfect English said "Good afternoon". Dumbfounded, the troops stared at each other in disbelief. Not a shot had been fired. Unknown to Sparrow Force , the Australian and Portuguese governments had previously agreed to a peaceful 'invasion' of the island to help protect the inhabitants from a possible Japanese invasion which did in fact take place two months later, on February 20, 1942.

Lesser Known Facts of WWII 1941

 

Minor countries bump.

 

What for? Nothing happened there

 

LOL.

 

"During world war two (WWII) East Timor was invaded by the Japanese after having been "invaded" first by Australia. Australian commandoes, numbering around 400 soldiers landed in Timor in anticipation of an eminent Japanese invasion from south via Timor. But the landing prompted the Japanese (who had apprently no plans for an invasion of Timor) to invade the island, and the Timorese, especially the East Timorese, were caught in between. The East Timorese ultimately chose to help the Australians after learning that the Australians were much friendlier. Some of the Australian commandoes who landed in Timor during WWII in their later accounts told of great sacrifice and comradery of the Timorese (see Michelle Turner "Teling East timor: Personal Testimonies 1942-1992"). Especially intriguing are the differences in the attitudes between the East and the West Timorese people towards Australian soldiers, or the "white men." The West Timorese were more hostile to the Australian soldiers where as the East Timorese proved to be in extreme opposition to their western counterpart. One of the commandoes in his account said, his group was suffering from a heavy casualty inflicted by the Japanese in West Timor and pleaded for help in a West Timorese village. However, they were rejected and were thrown out of the town. They continued to march east, and as soon as they hit the border between West and East Timor, they were received immediately by the first village in the east of the border. They were taken in, cared for and supplied with plenty of food.
Many East Timorese also volunteered for the war helping the Australian troops to combat the Japanese. The volunteers, called "creados," helped the Australian soldiers by carrying their ammunitions and spare back packs, and cooked for them. They were the personal assistant of these soldiers, their serfs. Others were used as trackers and informers. The East Timorese helped the Australians and stuck by them to the bitter end, even well after the Australians retreated from the island. All possible contacts with East Timorese were lost. The only contact the East Timorese had with the Australians were the "I owe you" leaflets dropped from high flying Australian war planes.
Meanwhile, the Japanese retaliated. People found collaborating with the Australians were tortured, then shot, beheaded or burned. Sometimes, a whole population was massacred, leaving only the life stock for the Japanese soldiers to loot and young women were taken by the Japanese soldiers to be used as sex slaves. An East Timorese lady told me that during the Japanese occupation, her mother made her look as unattractive as possible. She was not allowed to have baths and her clothes covered with filth. Nevertheless, when the Japanese campaign intensified, her mother hid her in a tree house for more than a year! She was twelve then.
As a result of the unfortunate and avoidable involvement of East Timor in the second world war, more than 45,000 East Timorese were dead. Most died for assisting the 400 Australian soldiers of whom only a few tens were killed. The rest returned home safely leaving their "creados" and the East Timorese population on their own, at the mercy of the Japanese soldiers. The remnants of the tragic experience of WWII still be found in many East Timorese. They shed tears, sadness and frustration every time they tell their own WWII experiences. It was an horrific experience tattooed in the minds of every East Timorese, perhaps for generations to come. WWII came to close anyway. But as it drew to an end, all that was left of East Timor was uncertainty, desperation and devastation.
During WWII, the allies bombed East Timor frequently, Dili the capital of East Timor was reduced to rubble. However, the rebuilding started again with the return of the Portuguese government. "

A brief history of East Timor: before 1975

 

http://www.ww2f.com/war-pacific/21719-portuguese-east-timor-island-1942-a.html