Trek across Timor/ The Retreat in Timor

Throughout that night attempts were made without success to contact Darwin by wireless. All petrol stocks on the aerodrome were burned and such things as codes and ciphers destroyed, in preparation for the evacuation that came early next morning. Fl Lt Rofe, who was in charge of the RAAF party throughout, decided to split his men into two detachments, one of which, under FO Birchall, moved off to Babaoe with arrangements for a rendezvous on the south coast in a month's time. They took one of the two portable wireless sets, leaving the other with the party under Fl Lt Rofe, which moved off for Babaoe five hours later after news had come through of the Japanese two-pronged landing at Dili and the south coast.

They left to the noise of exploding bomb dumps, with shells from the convoy dropping on the aerodrome, and were only a few minutes march along the road when waves of bombers passed overhead after dropping 500 paratroops three miles to the rear.

This altered plans entirely, so the men continued post haste for military headquarters at Tjamplong, where authority was given for the party to take to the hills.

From the start it was a hard trip, for each man had a full pack of equipment and there was nearly 400 pounds of wireless equipment to take along. The first objective, Naontaoes, was reached on Wednesday, 25 February, after a trip through thickly wooded mountainous country, but since arrangements had been made with Darwin for a flying boat to pick up the men at the Kapsali rendezvous on the evening of 1 March, they pushed steadily forward. On the last day the trek was 15 miles, most of it spent wading in the Kapsali River, so that when the men reached the beach some were showing the effects of the ordeal. These were afterwards to become more evident since malaria mosquitoes were thick in the river area and had infected many of the men. In particular PO Cole, who had started the trip in poor physical condition and developed a large leg abscess on route, was showing signs of the trek.

Here, too, the men met the first of the several disappointments that lay ahead. Although they watched throughout the night, tortured by the thousands of sand flies on the beach, there was no sign of the expected flying boat, and when wireless communication was established with Darwin eventually, the authorities reported that they were unable to provide any means of rescue at the moment.

As the days passed, with food running short and tropical ulcers making their appearance generally, it was decided that one detachment, under Fl Lt Rofe should head north to Naiklioe in search of supplies, while another group under FO Arthur waited for the food parcels that Darwin had promised to drop on 13 March.

Bureau of Meteorology