' Here was little group of Australians that stopped them '
At the time of his return , Mr . Hayes ' company was embroiled in an effective guerilla war against the Japanese , even though they lacked supplies and radio contact with Australia . But Joe Loveless , an ABC radio technician from Hobart , led a small team that worked day and night to build a radio set out of bits and pieces to reach Australia after 10 weeks of isolation .
Post script :
Following the publication of this story , 7.30 was contacted by the family of Jack Hanson , who is another survivor of the 2nd Independent Company in Timor . This is his story . WWII veteran Jack Hanson says he and his brother were continuing a family tradition when they enlisted in Australia ' s first special forces units . As Australia ' s first commandos , Jack and his brother Lesley started with the rank of trooper , which is the same rank their father John was given when he joined the Australian Light Horse Regiment . John Hanson fought at Gallipoli , including the battle of the Nek , and then afterwards at the battle of Beersheba . When WWII started , John told Jack to join the air force rather than the army , but Jack defied the advice and joined the 2 nd Independent Company , or the secondsecond , in 1941 . Hanson suffered from malaria throughout his year of fighting in Timor and was seriously unwell when he came back to Australia in December 1942 . He was so unwell that he left the second-second and worked as an instructor at the new jungle warfare centre at Canungra . Later in the war , he joined another commando unit , the 2 / 12 , and served overseas again . His brother Lesley joined the 2 / 9 Commando Squadron .
World War II veteran Keith Hayes talks about his time battling the Japanese in Timor .
The other surviving second-second member , Fred Otway , said the news about his company ' s guerilla war provided a huge morale boost to Australia during its darkest hour . " When we made contact they didn ' t believe it , they thought we were all wiped out ," he said . "[ US General Douglas ] MacArthur made us an object of morale to the rest of Australia . " This Japanese juggernaut had come through Hong Kong , Singapore , Ambon , they were unstoppable — here was a little group of Australians that stopped them . " We were the only ones that stopped them . " Why were we so successful was we made friends with the natives ." In August 1942 , the Japanese launched an all-out offensive to wipe out the Australians but they took just three casualties . " We had to fight or die . They had us pretty well surrounded ," Mr . Otway said . " We only had 275 fighting men , the rest were sick , malaria , dysentery . We killed about 700-800 of them . " The reason the Japs pulled out [ of the offensive was ] because of so many casualties ."
' You could never repay them '
Mr . Hayes tracked down Ms . Martins after the war and the two exchanged letters . She wanted nothing for having saved his life . Mr . Hayes said all the men in the second-second believed they owed their lives to the Timorese . " You could never repay them ," he said . " If it hadn ' t been for them none of them would have come back . " At any moment , if they had turned , we would not have lasted a week up there . " They were so much with us , we had a unit to come back with . " If they ' d have really wanted to , none would have come back ."
WWII veteran Jack Hanson is one of the few survivors of the fight against the Japanese in Timor
Now aged 95 , Mr . Hanson recently completed a memoir about his time in Timor , and he is now working on another one about his service with the 2 / 12 unit . Mr . Hanson called his memoir The White Ghost , a name that refers to the way the Australian commandos would appear from nowhere , and then disappear , when they engaged the Japanese . The memoir was written by former Fairfax journalist , the late Toni McRae , and Mr . Hanson ' s nephew Martin Morris . " The Timorese used to say now you see them , they ' re here , they talk to you , then they ' re gone ," Mr . Hanson said in the memoir . Hanson admits that despite the incredible experience in Timor , he lost contact with his mates in the second-second . He drifted around for the first three decades after the war , working in all sorts of jobs , and didn ' t marry until late in life . " I drifted away from the unit . I wanted to put my head down and get on with my life ," he said . The memoir says that the second-second , which was later renamed the 2 / 2 Commando Squadron , " spent longer in contact with the enemy than any other unit in the Australian Army and their success and much of their training was later used as a model for our SAS training ".