Operation Lagarto was an Australian military operation in

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1943. It was run by the Services Reconnaissance Department. The Naval component of the mission was named Operation Mosquito. The operation was ambushed and captured. Japanese intelligence used information from the mission to lure other Australian commandos to Timor where they were captured and killed, notably Operation Cobra (Timor), Operation Sunlag and Operation Suncob.

Background

The mission was led by Lt M de J. Pires, a Portuguese army pilot who had been the administrator of a large Timorese province and who had been evacuated from Timor. In 1943 he was placed in charge of a four-man team under the SRD to go back to Timor and evacuate over 100 refugees, establish an informant net to cover enemy movements, and report on enemy activities. He was accompanied by: *radio operator - a civilian who had run the Dili radio station before the war, Patricio Luz. *two Portuguese NCS

Actions

The team landed by American submarine on 1 July 1943 at the mouth of the Luca River. Radio contact was maintained. A month later 87 refugees were taken out. Sgt Ellwood joined the team as an Australian liaison officer. The team suffered constant attacks from the Japanese. The team grew to 34 including Pires' mistress. He eventually got the team down to eight. On 29 September 1943 the company was captured by locals who handed them over tho the Japanese. Luz manage to escape. Ellwood was captured along with the others. The Japanese beat Ellwood and managed to get him to operate his set, giving messages to SRD. He gave false messages to SRD who did not seem to notice anything strange.

Rescue attempts

*Operation Lagartout was sent to rescue them but was abandoned. *

Operation Cobra Operation Cobra was the codename for an Offensive (military), offensive launched by the United States First United States Army, First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Invasion of Norman ...

was sent to rescue the men and was captured; Ellwood tried to escape to warn them but was captured. A third team was later captured as well. Ellwood and the leader of Cobra, Lt Cashman, were flown to Singapore.

Background

Actions

Rescue attempts

References

Further reading