Japan's reluctant decision to occupy Portuguese Timor, 1 January 1942 ‐ 20 February 1942∗

∗ I wish to thank David Scott AO. founding director of Community Aid Abroad, for his many valuable comments and for giving permission to draw freely from chapter 2 of his manuscript. Twice in a Lifetime: Australia's Betrayals of East Timor.

Abstract

Japan occupied Portuguese (East) Timor in February 1942, not to incorporate the neutral territory into the Greater East Asia Co‐Prosperity Sphere but to expel Australian troops who had occupied the colony two months earlier on the assumption that Japan would invade. Both invasions proved disastrous for the Portuguese Timorese. Tens of thousands lost their lives during the Pacific War. The underlying question of this paper is whether these losses were necessary. The belief has persisted in official Allied war histories that Japan was going to invade neutral Portuguese Timor. Yet, Portuguese Timor and the matter of its invasion were questions of some dispute in Japan's highest military and political councils. This paper looks at Australia's reach for Portuguese Timor, the debates in Japan whether to follow suit and violate Portuguese neutrality, and the Japanese government's subsequent quandary over what to do with neutral Portuguese Timor once Allied troops were expelled.

Notes

∗ I wish to thank David Scott AO. founding director of Community Aid Abroad, for his many valuable comments and for giving permission to draw freely from chapter 2 of his manuscript. Twice in a Lifetime: Australia's Betrayals of East Timor.