Description
Title: Never Meant to be Heroes – The Story of Sparrow Force & SX 13229 Sgt. Frederick Sydney Brown
Author: Noakes, Major Neville
Condition: Near Mint Plus
Edition: 2nd Edition
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: N/A
Cover: Soft Cover without Dust Jacket – 116 pages
Comments: The story of Sparrow Force and the experiences of SX 13229 Sergeant Frederick Sydney Brown of the 2/1st Heavy Battery.
Sparrow Force was a detachment based on the 2/40th Australian Infantry Battalion and other Dutch, British, US and Australian 8th Division units during World War II. The force was formed to defend the island of Timor from invasion by the Empire of Japan. It formed the main part of the Allied units in the Battle of Timor.
The force began deploying in late 1941, and following Japan’s entry into the war, it was drawn into the fighting in response to the Japanese invasion of Portuguese and Dutch Timor in February 1942. After heavy fighting around Irekum, the main element of the force – the 2/40th – were forced to surrender on 23 February 1942; however, elements of the force, specifically commandos from the 2/2nd Independent Company, supported by the local population, continued a guerrilla campaign and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese until August, when the Japanese launched a counter-offensive. Despite reinforcements from the 2/4th Independent Company arriving in September 1942, the Japanese offensive eventually resulted in the withdrawal of Allied troops over the period December 1942 to January 1943, with the commandos being withdrawn by sea. Sparrow Force personnel who were captured during the fighting were sent to Japanese labour camps across south-east Asia, and between 1942 and 1945, many died in captivity.
Includes Nominal Roll and Honour Roll.
