STARS, STRIPES and AN IRON CROSS 2016 2016 JUNE | Page 17

Remembering Australia's first Commandos: The men who stopped the Japanese in Timor
By The Australian's Paul Cleary

The morning after the Japanese landed, 20-yearold Mr. Hayes was one of 15 men who drove
down to Dili in a truck to pick up supplies.
Even though his mountain base was only 11 kilometers from Dili, a heavy fog had prevented a
signaler from getting a message through.
Signaler Bryant Gannon died in vain as he flashed
a Lucas lamp to alert the base.

Photo: Nearly all of these men were captured in a Japanese ambush near Dili in
Timor on the 20th of February 1942 and then executed. (Supplied)

They are known as the second-second, but the men of the 2nd Independent Company were Australia's first commandos, and in 1942
They became our first troops to stop the Japanese juggernaut.

The fifteen Australians fell into an ambush and
Keith Hayes in uniform during World War II (supplied) were captured.
Surviving an execution
Mr. Hayes was one of four men lined up for execution. Eleven other commandos were executed later
that day.
But the bullet and a subsequent bayonet did not kill him.
"I don't know how long I lay there but when I went out they were turning blue, they were gone, the others," Mr. Hayes said.

With the support of Timorese villagers, they tied down thousands of
Japanese troops in a year-long guerrilla war on the island of Timor,
diverting the enemy from New Guinea.

He somehow survived and managed to make it to
the edge of the jungle.
"I saw two little kids. They took me up to dear old
Berta (Martins), and from then on she was in
charge," he said. Ms. Martins knew a thing or two
about traditional medicine, and she knew how to
hide him from the Japanese.

Only a few members of the unit are alive today, and one of them,
95-year-old Keith Hayes, tells an incredible story of survival thanks
to the aid of Timorese woman.
Twelve hours after the Japanese bombed Darwin, they landed 5,000
troops on the island of Timor.
The Australian commandos, who were already in Timor based in the
mountains outside Dili, had no idea the Japanese troops had arrived.

Berta Martins nursed Keith Hayes back to health under the
noses of Japanese soldiers on Timor.

The morning after the Japanese landed, 20-year-old Mr. Hayes was
one of 15 men who drove down to Dili in a truck to pick up supplies.
Even though his mountain base was only 11 kilometers from Dili, a
heavy fog had prevented a signaler from getting a message through.
Signaler Bryant Gannon died in vain as he flashed a Lucas lamp to
alert the base.
The fifteen Australians fell into an ambush and were captured.
Only a few members of the unit are alive today, and one of them,
95-year-old Keith Hayes, tells an incredible story of survival thanks
to the aid of Timorese woman.
Twelve hours after the Japanese bombed Darwin, they landed 5,000
troops on the island of Timor.
The Australian commandos, who were already in Timor based in the
mountains outside Dili, had no idea the Japanese troops had arrived.

Fred Otway says the Australian soldiers in Timor had no
choice; they had to fight or die.

"She made up some paste to stop the bleeding, a
green mixture, some herbs crushed up. She did that
every day, even fed me, every day I went down a
tunnel, stayed down there all day," Mr. Hayes said.
"At night-time if there was any noise she'd wrap me
up in a cane mat.
"People in the village must have known, but not a
word was said about it.
"Anyone wanting a spare bob could have put me in."
MR Hayes was being hidden just a few hundred metres from the Japanese, who were guarding the airfield.
Ms. Martins lived in a village next to the Dili mosque,
which the commandos called the Arab village.
After about a week, she arranged for two men to put
Mr. Hayes on a pony and take him back to his unit in
the mountains.

As a parting gesture, Ms. Martins gave Mr. Hayes a
pink handkerchief and a big hug.
When the company doctor saw the way she had treated Mr. Hayes's wounds, he said he could not have
done a better job.