An Australian Airman’s Story

Colin Humphris arrived in Kupang from Darwin on December 7 1941 as part of N Bomber/ Reconnaissance Squadron. Over Christmas all was quiet at the Penfui Airbase until Australia Day when Japanese Zero fighters began daily strafing raids. 

On the night of February 18, as a large Japanese Navy convoy headed towards Timor, the airbase was evacuated. Only a skeleton team remained to refuel the Hudson bombers and destroy the ammunition dumps and equipment useful to the enemy.

The next day everything was destroyed, and the following day they drove up to Camplong.  From Camplong they watched as 1000 Japanese paratroopers dropped to the ground, where only ten minutes earlier some of their men had been driving!  After consulting with the Brigadier the 31 men decided to hike over the mountains to the coast, where they hoped they would be rescued.

Carrying full packs, .303 rifles and ammunition, side-arms, an aircraft compass, radio gear and batteries, they set out in the stifling humid heat. The radio equipment was extremely heavy, but absolutely vital to their survival.  They carried it on bamboo poles between two men. After the first day of walking they found they had only done a huge circle and were one kilometre from their starting point!

For ten days the men trooped through the jungle. Many came down with malaria as most nights they slept in the open. They thought they had anti-malaria tablets, but found when they opened the tin it had money inside instead. Using an old kerosene tin as a pot, everything they gathered during the day was thrown in for dinner. Sometimes they were able to buy a chicken or some bananas to put with the jungle leaves and rice.

Colin and the men arrived exhausted at the coast in time for the rescue set on 1st March. They were informed that the rescue would be delayed one day, so one group tried to build a raft from reeds and bamboo. They had hoped to use it to float the sick men out to the plane, but it sunk!

Thinking it was their last day on Timor they ate most of their food. That evening they went down to wait at the beach. As the night wore on disappointment increased as they realised that nothing was coming to pick them up. Finally they received a message from Darwin that Broome had been raided that night, all the flying boats had been destroyed, and there was no possible way Darwin could rescue them. They were stranded on enemy occupied Timor.

Over the following weeks Darwin continued to tell them that there was ‘no further help this end’.  The men set up camp at the Kapsali River mouth. Every now and then they were able to shoot deer with the help of a Timorese village man. A number of times they requested malaria medicine, food and batteries from Darwin. Every time the plane dropped them they were lost, floated away or actually didn’t release properly from the plane.

Fighting discouragement, malaria, hunger and dysentery, the men, now joined by four escaped Australian soldiers, continued to radio Darwin and inform them of the Japanese movements and the weather. In this way Darwin was able to make numerous successful bombing raids.  Hoping for rescue the men located a solid beach that aircraft could land on. Forty days after leaving Penfui airbase the first man died of fever. After digging the grave with tin hats they moved camp down the coast.

Again they waited for rescue, to be told on Easter Sunday that no plane could rescue them, but supplies would be dropped. The supplies were not dropped, this was the fourth unsuccessful attempt. The new camp had less mosquitoes, but the men were plagued with sickness and radio malfunctions. One night after one of their men died from snake bite, a village headman came running into the camp warning them of 300 Japanese heading towards them.

Abandoning camp next morning they headed back into the jungle to a place beside a cliff and stream which the villager said was safe. For three days there was no contact with Darwin due to schedule mix-ups. On the fourth day they were told the Japanese had stopped their search, and so they headed back to the beach. The next day (April 15) they listened to the radio and received a top secret coded message. With no paper handy they wrote it on corn husks. There was an American submarine off the coast waiting to rescue them! For five days between April 13 to 17, it would come into the bay at 9pm and signal.

That night Colin and the men (five healthy and the rest sick) went down to the beach to wait. At 9pm no signal came, and frustration set in. April 16 listening to the radio they were told how the sub had come in two nights before, thought there was a trap and had set course for Darwin. They were turned around again, and all was set for rescue on the night of April 17. 

During that day two Australian Air Force men came into the camp. They had been flying a plane on a bombing mission over Kupang harbour five days previously. They were hit by Zero bombers. Two of their crew were badly injured. They left them in care of villagers, and then these two had hiked quickly to the camp as they knew of the coming rescue. It was only because of their health and strength that it was possible to load all the sick men onto the small boat that was used to ferry the men to the submarine.

On the night of the 17th the submarine signalled. Several men came in on a boat. The breakers at the beach were so huge that only those who could swim were taken in the first load. The second load took two hours to fight through the rough surf. Once all 33 men were on the submarine they headed for Perth. Six days into their return there was a major fire on the sub which resulted in them being towed for the last few days journey. On April 26, after more than two months of frustration, anxiety and sickness, since the airbase evacuation, they were home!

Today the Penfui Airbase is used as a Special Government Airport. It is alongside the El Tari Airport at Kupang. Miltary emplacements from WW2 are still visible.

Activities

1. Write your own newspaper article about Humphris’ ordeal. 2. List your own survival kit items  if you were to  survive for 58 days in a tropical rain-forest. 3. Draw a time line of Colin’s time on Timor.

Extra Activities, Discussion and Research Questions

1. Go to the beach and dig bunkers and defences. Organise teams with various tasks for defence and attack. Using water balloons have a mock invasion!

2. Visit your local museum and find out what people did in your area for the defence of Australia in World War Two.

3. Watch Bridge Over the River Kwai or  read Miracle on the River Kwai or Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s The Vanquished to learn about life under the Japanese.

4. Have a WW2 veteran or East Timor Peace Keeper talk to the class about his or her experiences.

5. Read xx for a description of life under the Japanese in concentration camps.

6. What URLs can you find regarding Australian involvement in Timor and Indonesia?

7. Watch videos about Australian troops on Timor. A number exist.

8. How was life under the Japanese? [See the activities section].

9. What was the role of Sparrow Force on Timor in 1942?

10. What are the nutritional and water requirements of an adult per day? What foods should one eat to reach those?

11. List the different types of malaria and it’s symptoms.

12. Do a comparative study of the Hudson bomber and it’s Japanese equivalent.

13. What Australian command units were in Timor in WW2?