February 25, 2020 • 24 mins
After narrowly avoiding Japanese paratroopers on the mad drive towards the mountainous jungle, the airmen hike to Timor’s remote north-west coast in the hope of a seaborne evacuation. They have very limited supplies, just some tinned food and a handful of quinine to treat malaria. Time and the harsh conditions are against them. The group’s survival hinges on re-establishing communication with RAAF Station Darwin on an untested 180kg radio transceiver.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The following episode contains violent themes and occasional
strong language.
Listener discretion is advised.
With a native population of 700,000, ruled
prior to February 1942 by Dutch and Portuguese,
Timor is today ostensibly Japanese.
(00:23):
On the morning of February 20, 1942, a
rear party of 23 airmen and six officers,
under the command of my grandfather, Flight Lieutenant
Brian Rofe, awaits evacuation by two Hudson aircraft
being sent from Darwin, ahead of a massive
Japanese invasion of Timor.
Repeated attempts to hail Darwin go unanswered.
(00:45):
Suspecting the evacuation is off, Brian decides to
quit the aerodrome where his men are stationed.
He splits the party in two.
Before dawn, one truck carrying half the party
drives east towards the village of Champlong, the
location of the Australian Imperial Forces Sparrow Force
Headquarters in Dutch Timor.
Brian and 12 men, meanwhile, wait on the
(01:06):
aerodrome until the very last minute, in case
Darwin signals an update.
But with Japanese shelling of the drone intensifying,
Brian elects to take his remaining men to
Champlong in a GMC truck.
Zero fighter aircraft strafe the truck along a
dried out floodplain some 10 kilometres east of
the aerodrome.
As the airmen take cover, a large formation
(01:27):
of aircraft approaches their position from an altitude
of 400 feet.
I'm Tom Trumbull, and this is Trapped.
The story of one of the greatest escapes
(01:47):
of the Pacific War.
The Japanese naval and air forces launched an
unprovoked attack.
The state of war exists between Australia and
Japan.
Chapter 2.
Escape.
For three and a half hours, the Japanese
(02:09):
naval paratroopers had sat face to face on
two wooden rows that ran the length of
the fuselage.
They're crammed into a Mitsubishi G3M Type 96
transport, a converted long-range bomber equipped to
carry a crew of seven.
This aircraft carries 11 paratroopers, three crewmen and
two cargo containers loaded with supplies.
(02:30):
Sitting nearest the exit, 24-year-old Lieutenant
Yamabe Masao checks his watch.
They're nearly at the drop zone.
Yamabe is company commander of one company of
the Yokosuka 3rd Special Naval Landing Force.
As the lead plane in the formation, Yamabe
will have the honour of being the first
paratrooper out.
(03:09):
Yamabe stands up.
At 5 foot 4, he's shorter than average,
and even he has to crouch.
He shouts above the sound of the aircraft's
engines to proceed with the gear check.
The paratroopers shuffle in their seats, checking the
static cable, pack opening elastics, harness fittings and
connector links.
Yamabe moves into position.
(03:30):
His right hand finds the outside handle and
he leans forward.
He waits for the two-second signal before
jumping.
A wall of air blasts into his face
as the hook catches the end of the
static line and the cord pulls back the
eyelets of his parachute pack.
His feet sweep underneath him and his sword
tears off the release strap and dangles at
the end of the cord.
(03:52):
Yamabe will touch down on Timorese soil within
30 seconds.
Not far from where he and the other
paratroopers are descending, a group of Royal Australian
Air Force personnel scramble into a truck.
The driver of the truck is desperately trying
to start the engine.
(04:12):
On the outskirts of the village of Champlong,
the location of Sparrow Force Headquarters in Dutch
Timor, flying officer Jock Birchall and a group
of Australian airmen are watching hundreds of paratroopers
leaping out of planes near the village of
Babau.
Jock starts mentally preparing a report.
These paratroopers were dressed in green uniforms, very
(04:33):
difficult to distinguish from those habitually worn by
the Dutch.
The paratroops appeared to carry two bandoliers, holding
some 100 rounds each, hung around their neck.
For their light automatics, rather like the Bren
gun in appearance and performance, they carried four
magazines, as well as one on the gun
itself.
(04:53):
The steady stream of propaganda that depicted the
Japanese soldiers as cowardly and sneaky without a
shred of military mouse does not tally with
what they are witnessing.
In 1942, Japan was one of the few
countries to have developed light airborne infantry units.
To the airmen, it's evidence of Japan's superior
capacity to wage war.
(05:14):
They stand in shock silence.
Flying officer Arthur Cole is the first to
speak.
The rest of our chaps will be lucky
to escape that lot.
If the other half of the rear party
is caught under that drop, or on the
wrong side of it, there's no hope.
And if they get caught, so does the
transceiver.
Without that radio, there's no way Birchall's group
(05:35):
will be able to re-establish communication with
Darwin.
The airmen look to the road, willing their
comrades to appear around the bend.
A green GMC truck appears.
The rear party is reformed.
Brian confers with Birchall and Cole, explaining how
(05:57):
close they came to capture.
That was cutting it very fine.
Had they remained at the aerodrome for even
a few moments longer, they'd have ended up
on the wrong side of the paratrooper drop.
If we'd stayed at the drop for another
minute, those paratroopers would have got us.
Leading aircraftman Len Burke was in the truck
at the moment the paratroopers started leaping out
of the transports.
Here's Len recalling the moment, 70 years after
(06:18):
it happened.
(06:50):
Back in Champlong, Brian disappears inside the nearby
army headquarters to update the Sparrow Force commander,
Brigadier William Veal, on the airmen's movements.
Found Veal in Champlong.
He was scared stiff about the whole situation.
Brigadier Veal is the commanding officer of Sparrow
Force, and Veal was driving back to Champlong
(07:11):
ahead of Brian's truck and had also just
missed the paratrooper drop.
Before his eyes, the Japanese had cut him
off from the bulk of his forces.
He's understandably scared, but he's also furious.
Sparrow Force had been sent to Timor to
garrison the aerodrome, the very military installation that
makes Timor strategically relevant.
(07:32):
On the dawn of battle, the air force
pulls out, denying his men air support.
It's a terrible betrayal, and perhaps with anger
clouding his judgment, Veal tells Brian to hold
the Dili Road.
Army and Japanese, 30 men have never been
thrown.
Well, I want you to hold the Dili
Road.
We've never held the Dili Road against 500
(07:53):
paratroopers that just landed.
It's a suicide mission.
Brian has to talk Veal out of it.
...are to hold the Dili Road.
Brigadier Veal, with respect, sir.
There's no record of what Brian says to
Veal.
Maybe he tells him that less than half
the airmen in the group are armed with
rifles.
Or maybe he tells him that the knowledge
his men possess around aircraft design, as well
(08:14):
as important intelligence known to the officers, could
not fall into enemy hands.
Whatever he says, it works.
In his official report of his interaction with
Veal, Brian plays the incident down.
At Champlong, I contacted Brigadier Veal.
He asked if I could spare him any
men.
I told him that our men were all
(08:34):
technical.
He agreed that we should carry on and
try to escape.
Despite the official account, the airmen know that
Brian has just stared down a 47-year
-old brigadier and effectively saved their lives.
All right, fellas, settle down.
I've spoken with Brigadier Veal and he's approved
the plan.
Brian steps out of that meeting with Veal.
(08:55):
He's authority assured.
He gathers the men together and then drops
the bombshell.
He's going to take them north.
Heading north is heading into the unknown.
It's rugged, mountainous terrain.
The only Europeans to venture into those parts
at this time are missionaries.
There are rumours that headhunting is still practiced
(09:15):
throughout the region.
But for Brian, the remoteness of the north
adds to its appeal.
A region unknown to the Australians will be
unknown to the Japanese.
They'll go north.
Before they set off, Private Clem Clements, the
army signalman, asked Brian his orders.
(09:37):
Whether it was through cunning or forgetfulness, Brian
hadn't told Veal that Clem was with their
party.
So rather than leave him in Champlong to
defend the Dilley Road, Brian decides to take
Clem along.
As an army signalman with knowledge of cipher,
Clem could prove useful.
We left trucks about three miles from Champlong
and proceeded up a steep hill on foot.
Each man was carrying a full pack and
(09:59):
in addition, we had the 400-pound transceiver
with batteries and extra food.
The men were doing a superhuman task.
In the afternoon, ran into a small village
where I met David, a native who had
been in Champlong.
David is young, only in his mid-teens.
He speaks broken English, which made him useful
to the army in Champlong.
(10:21):
Brian, who was left 4,000 Dutch guilders
by Wing Commander Frank Hedlum, offers the boy
50 guilders to be a guide.
50 guilders is a small fortune in Dutch
Timor.
With that kind of money, David could buy
his village five goats and a huge supply
of vegetables and fruits.
David gratefully accepts and asks where they want
to go.
(10:41):
Brian consults his map.
All two squadron pilots are issued a map
of Dutch Timor and Pilot Officer Peter Thompson
has lent his map to Brian.
It's now one of the rear party's most
valuable possessions.
Brian points to the village of Nyfalo, about
eight kilometres north.
He instructs David to keep them off paths
and tracks to reduce the likelihood of being
(11:03):
caught by the Japanese.
David heads to the front of the column
and takes them into the jungle.
Those very early stages of their journey are
some of the most challenging for the airmen.
An eight-kilometre hike might not seem strenuous,
but they are climbing up the slope of
a mountain called Fatu Laul, which translates to
(11:23):
Forbidden Rock.
It's misshapen, covered with shale, loose earth and
boulders.
The ground is treacherous, with false paths leading
off cliff edges.
But they make it to the campsite near
a creek and all fall asleep at dusk.
They've made it through the first day of
their entrapment, but only barely.
(11:45):
February 21.
The party's medical orderly accidentally left the stash
of quinine back at the aerodrome, and Brian
is livid.
Quinine is used as a treatment for malaria.
Men are starting to show symptoms.
Here's Len Burke talking about the experience of
getting malaria in a tropical jungle.
It starts off, you start to get the
shivers.
(12:05):
You shiver and you shake and you get
so cold.
In the middle of the tropical sun, lying
out in the middle of the heat, it
is shivering, shivering, shivering, shivering.
Your body's oscillating.
You can't keep still, you can't keep still.
Your legs are gone.
And then that settles down and you get
this massive headache.
Oh boy.
Headache which lasts, you know, for a day
(12:26):
or two.
And some chaps used to vomit also.
Peter Thompson is one of those men who
vomits.
On the third day of their jungle trek,
Peter collapses.
With the help of several men, Brian lifts
him into a nearby hut local team Rees
make available for a fistful of gilders.
Peter's got malaria.
That much is obvious.
(12:47):
But it's not until they lay him down
and he cries out in pain that Brian
realises just how sick he is.
At the back of Peter's leg is a
black abscess about the size of a palm.
It's gone septic.
As the most popular member of the rear
party, news of Peter's condition is devastating on
morale.
Brian knows that the airmen are in need
(13:08):
of some good news.
They need to hear from Darwin.
Most of the wireless operators have serious doubts
that they will.
But not Brian's most senior wireless operator, a
man by the name of Corporal Ron Bell.
I'm quite peppered by the noise of the
radio.
I'm sorry to drop all the way.
But Ron Bell, god, my man.
It's just as well he was a ham
(13:29):
operator.
We weren't experts on that sort of thing.
Ron Bell, the radio operator, absolutely outstanding.
For Ron, the radio gear is a constant
source of stress and anxiety.
The transceiver weighs 180 kilograms and has four
batteries, each weighing approximately 20 kilograms.
(13:50):
The equipment is suspended beneath rifles using leather
straps and hoisted between two men.
And the airmen took shifts on the radio
gear, cursing their way over the mountain.
Every step a huge effort.
Ron shadows the transceiver every step of the
way, making certain it isn't damaged during transport.
He's also worried about battery power.
(14:10):
The batteries may be heavy, but that doesn't
mean they'll last forever.
He plans to use the radio's transmitter, the
major drain on the batteries, as sparingly as
possible in case of a longer than expected
delay.
On February 23, Brian decides it's time to
attempt to hail Darwin.
He stops the group on the slope of
(14:31):
the mountain and Ron sets up the gear.
He sits at the base of a tree
with his legs crossed, earphones around his neck
and the radio gear stacked alongside.
At the top of a tree, another wireless
operator holds an aerial connected to a lead
that connects to the transceiver below.
He points the aerial southeast towards Darwin.
(14:53):
Ron taps out a signal.
The message includes the exact whereabouts of the
rear party and a request for rescue by
flying boat.
Ron quickly detaches the leads from the transmitter
and hooks them up to the receiver.
Pencil poised over paper, he waits.
Darwin is answering.
(15:15):
The message they receive confirms their worst fears.
Darwin has been raided.
But the request for flying boat rescue is
confirmed.
Darwin had given us a rendezvous near Capsali
for March 1, stating that a flying boat
was to try to take us off.
The airmen are exhausted, hungry, many stricken with
illness.
(15:36):
It's at least a five-day march to
Capsali and they're all fading fast.
It's late afternoon, February 27, as the men
are led by local guides into a village
called Mosu.
(15:56):
It's been an arduous seven-day march.
The last two days have been a journey
into hell.
Coming out of the hills, the airmen had
to handle swampy and totally unforgiving terrain.
Men have lost their boots in thick mud
that comes up to their knees.
And the mosquitoes are horrific.
And there's still a day's march from the
mouth of the Capsali River.
(16:17):
The party is welcomed by a group of
young Timorese who run off at the sight
of the white men.
They return with two men.
One is tall and wears the white gown
of a missionary.
His name is Alexander Karel Sahatian and he
greets the men in perfect English.
He introduces the other man as the Temulkung,
or chief, of the village.
(16:43):
Sahatian puts on a feast for the airmen.
They are treated to coconuts and ripe bananas
and have fowl for dinner.
While they feast, Sahatian tells the airmen that
Capsali is 20 kilometers away, over rivers and
streams and through the thickest jungle imaginable.
He suggests allowing for two days.
(17:04):
But Brian is adamant.
The men will not be allowed to eat.
He wants to be prepared for the unlikely
possibility that the rendezvous is brought forward.
There's also the constant worry that a Japanese
patrol will appear.
Had Brian known the ancient haven into which
the men had entered, he may have been
a little less worried.
(17:34):
It's no accident Brian and his men have
been led here.
Mosu is no conventional village.
It's kind of a gateway into a region
that is otherwise almost impenetrable.
From here to the coast, high cliff faces,
steep hills, bamboo forests and three rivers create
a natural barrier.
The Sumbayi people, whose realm once covered much
(17:56):
of the mountainous interior of Dutch Timor, have
long used the region as a perfect hideaway
for Timorese leaders who had fallen out of
favor with the colonial authorities.
The Sumbayi all know that when a leader
is in hiding within the realm, a decree
is passed from village to village.
Nobody sees and nobody hears anything.
As a Christian missionary, Sahatin might not have
(18:18):
been bound to these traditions, but he knew
the old ways of the people he was
evangelising.
That night, without the Australians ever realising, the
missionary sends word to the villagers of the
safe haven.
The ancient Sumbayi decree had been enacted once
more.
Hear nothing, see nothing.
(18:42):
March the 2nd in Kapsali on the northwest
coast of Timor.
Ten days after they fled the aerodrome and
the airmen are a night away from being
rescued.
The rescue will be staged out of the
port town of Broome, the location of a
large flying boat base.
The airmen endured a horrific hike from Mosu
to Kapsali that included crossing the Kapsali River
(19:03):
14 times.
After finally making it to the rendezvous point,
Darwin delayed the rescue to March the 3rd.
Brian occupied the men with jobs, including the
construction of a raft out of bamboo so
that the sickest men would not have to
swim the 300 metres to the flying boat.
And now, after two anxious nights, the airmen
(19:25):
gather for a photo on the beach.
They are beginning their last day on Timor.
I found a copy of this photograph in
an old family album and when I look
at it, the subtle gestures of each airman
give voice to their resilience and courage.
Leading aircraftman Clyde Pappin grins more broadly than
anyone, the eternal optimist.
Corporal Roy Andrews casually smokes a cigarette, not
(19:47):
a care in the world.
Flying officer Jock Burchill looks distractedly towards the
setting sun, lost in his own world.
Best mates, leading aircraftman Len Burke and Jim
Graham, sit side by side, laughing exuberantly.
Flying officer Arthur Cole looks ahead with a
steely, unflappable gaze.
Pilot officer Peter Thompson fights fever and creeping
(20:09):
infection to keep his eyes open and his
head upright.
And Brian Rofe, my grandfather, has a look
of pride on his face.
The young leader who has met all the
challenges of an arduous command.
And now, it's only a matter of time
before they will be saved.
Well done, lads.
I think this calls for a bit of
light refreshment.
(20:31):
After the photo is taken, Brian fetches a
bottle of Bell's Scotch whisky, the tagline on
the bottle seems appropriate for the moment.
A four-year go.
We had some amazing meals today.
I found that we had tins of oysters,
scallops, American corn, sausages and veg, cocktail sausages
and asparagus.
(20:52):
Brian even permits a tin of the bully
beef to be shared among two, with biscuits
and cheese for supper.
They eat tinned salmon kedgeree for dinner, tinned
Christmas pudding for dessert and half a pound
of dried apricots.
A campfire is built.
The men gather around and start singing tunes.
One man observes that they might have been
(21:12):
on the bank of the Murray River.
A group of mates eating and drinking, cracking
jokes, singing songs.
The men were in great spirits.
Even men who in all probability could swim
10 yards were confident of doing half a
mile if necessary.
The night stretches on and the mood gets
reflective.
They've struggled through a terrible ordeal but they've
(21:33):
all made it through alive and within hours
they'll be on a flying boat heading for
home.
A few hours later at the Penfoe Aerodrome,
(21:54):
nine Japanese Zeros and a reconnaissance aircraft run
up their engines and make their way across
the repaired coral strips.
The Japanese are planning an attack on the
Australian mainland.
The target is an important stopping off point
for Dutch nationals fleeing Java before the expected
Japanese invasion.
One by one, they fly off into the
(22:19):
night sky and set a course for Broome.
(22:46):
Next time on Trapped.
All of my ambitions, my hopes, my small
successes, my laughter and my tears, my solace
in failure, my strength for every day, my
love and enthusiasm and even my life itself
would have as the basis of each, this
lovely girl.
Completely at sea in this exciting co-ed
(23:07):
world and there sits this dynamo lounging back
with his feet on the desk, teasing me
with all these idiotic questions over sports fee.
Oh, I'd like to be on the spot.
Weren't they marvellous times?
Snatched eternities of happiness in a world peopled
by just you and me and away from
the world of families, trams, clocks and trains.
(23:33):
What happened to Hedlam?
Not a bloody word from Darwin because we're
expendable.
Get over here, all of you.
Unless you're sick or dead, get on your
bloody feet.
Who did it?
Who stole the tinned food?
The next man who steals any food will
(23:54):
be shot.
I will bloody shoot him.
No!
No!
Oh no!
The following episode contains violent themes and occasional
strong language.
Listener discretion is advised.
With a native population of 700,000, ruled
prior to February 1942 by Dutch and Portuguese,
Timor is today ostensibly Japanese.
(00:23):
On the morning of February 20, 1942, a
rear party of 23 airmen and six officers,
under the command of my grandfather, Flight Lieutenant
Brian Rofe, awaits evacuation by two Hudson aircraft
being sent from Darwin, ahead of a massive
Japanese invasion of Timor.
Repeated attempts to hail Darwin go unanswered.
(00:45):
Suspecting the evacuation is off, Brian decides to
quit the aerodrome where his men are stationed.
He splits the party in two.
Before dawn, one truck carrying half the party
drives east towards the village of Champlong, the
location of the Australian Imperial Forces Sparrow Force
Headquarters in Dutch Timor.
Brian and 12 men, meanwhile, wait on the
(01:06):
aerodrome until the very last minute, in case
Darwin signals an update.
But with Japanese shelling of the drone intensifying,
Brian elects to take his remaining men to
Champlong in a GMC truck.
Zero fighter aircraft strafe the truck along a
dried out floodplain some 10 kilometres east of
the aerodrome.
As the airmen take cover, a large formation
(01:27):
of aircraft approaches their position from an altitude
of 400 feet.
I'm Tom Trumbull, and this is Trapped.
The story of one of the greatest escapes
(01:47):
of the Pacific War.
The Japanese naval and air forces launched an
unprovoked attack.
The state of war exists between Australia and
Japan.
Chapter 2.
Escape.
For three and a half hours, the Japanese
(02:09):
naval paratroopers had sat face to face on
two wooden rows that ran the length of
the fuselage.
They're crammed into a Mitsubishi G3M Type 96
transport, a converted long-range bomber equipped to
carry a crew of seven.
This aircraft carries 11 paratroopers, three crewmen and
two cargo containers loaded with supplies.
(02:30):
Sitting nearest the exit, 24-year-old Lieutenant
Yamabe Masao checks his watch.
They're nearly at the drop zone.
Yamabe is company commander of one company of
the Yokosuka 3rd Special Naval Landing Force.
As the lead plane in the formation, Yamabe
will have the honour of being the first
paratrooper out.
(03:09):
Yamabe stands up.
At 5 foot 4, he's shorter than average,
and even he has to crouch.
He shouts above the sound of the aircraft's
engines to proceed with the gear check.
The paratroopers shuffle in their seats, checking the
static cable, pack opening elastics, harness fittings and
connector links.
Yamabe moves into position.
(03:30):
His right hand finds the outside handle and
he leans forward.
He waits for the two-second signal before
jumping.
A wall of air blasts into his face
as the hook catches the end of the
static line and the cord pulls back the
eyelets of his parachute pack.
His feet sweep underneath him and his sword
tears off the release strap and dangles at
the end of the cord.
(03:52):
Yamabe will touch down on Timorese soil within
30 seconds.
Not far from where he and the other
paratroopers are descending, a group of Royal Australian
Air Force personnel scramble into a truck.
The driver of the truck is desperately trying
to start the engine.
(04:12):
On the outskirts of the village of Champlong,
the location of Sparrow Force Headquarters in Dutch
Timor, flying officer Jock Birchall and a group
of Australian airmen are watching hundreds of paratroopers
leaping out of planes near the village of
Babau.
Jock starts mentally preparing a report.
These paratroopers were dressed in green uniforms, very
(04:33):
difficult to distinguish from those habitually worn by
the Dutch.
The paratroops appeared to carry two bandoliers, holding
some 100 rounds each, hung around their neck.
For their light automatics, rather like the Bren
gun in appearance and performance, they carried four
magazines, as well as one on the gun
itself.
(04:53):
The steady stream of propaganda that depicted the
Japanese soldiers as cowardly and sneaky without a
shred of military mouse does not tally with
what they are witnessing.
In 1942, Japan was one of the few
countries to have developed light airborne infantry units.
To the airmen, it's evidence of Japan's superior
capacity to wage war.
(05:14):
They stand in shock silence.
Flying officer Arthur Cole is the first to
speak.
The rest of our chaps will be lucky
to escape that lot.
If the other half of the rear party
is caught under that drop, or on the
wrong side of it, there's no hope.
And if they get caught, so does the
transceiver.
Without that radio, there's no way Birchall's group
(05:35):
will be able to re-establish communication with
Darwin.
The airmen look to the road, willing their
comrades to appear around the bend.
A green GMC truck appears.
The rear party is reformed.
Brian confers with Birchall and Cole, explaining how
(05:57):
close they came to capture.
That was cutting it very fine.
Had they remained at the aerodrome for even
a few moments longer, they'd have ended up
on the wrong side of the paratrooper drop.
If we'd stayed at the drop for another
minute, those paratroopers would have got us.
Leading aircraftman Len Burke was in the truck
at the moment the paratroopers started leaping out
of the transports.
Here's Len recalling the moment, 70 years after
(06:18):
it happened.
(06:50):
Back in Champlong, Brian disappears inside the nearby
army headquarters to update the Sparrow Force commander,
Brigadier William Veal, on the airmen's movements.
Found Veal in Champlong.
He was scared stiff about the whole situation.
Brigadier Veal is the commanding officer of Sparrow
Force, and Veal was driving back to Champlong
(07:11):
ahead of Brian's truck and had also just
missed the paratrooper drop.
Before his eyes, the Japanese had cut him
off from the bulk of his forces.
He's understandably scared, but he's also furious.
Sparrow Force had been sent to Timor to
garrison the aerodrome, the very military installation that
makes Timor strategically relevant.
(07:32):
On the dawn of battle, the air force
pulls out, denying his men air support.
It's a terrible betrayal, and perhaps with anger
clouding his judgment, Veal tells Brian to hold
the Dili Road.
Army and Japanese, 30 men have never been
thrown.
Well, I want you to hold the Dili
Road.
We've never held the Dili Road against 500
(07:53):
paratroopers that just landed.
It's a suicide mission.
Brian has to talk Veal out of it.
...are to hold the Dili Road.
Brigadier Veal, with respect, sir.
There's no record of what Brian says to
Veal.
Maybe he tells him that less than half
the airmen in the group are armed with
rifles.
Or maybe he tells him that the knowledge
his men possess around aircraft design, as well
(08:14):
as important intelligence known to the officers, could
not fall into enemy hands.
Whatever he says, it works.
In his official report of his interaction with
Veal, Brian plays the incident down.
At Champlong, I contacted Brigadier Veal.
He asked if I could spare him any
men.
I told him that our men were all
(08:34):
technical.
He agreed that we should carry on and
try to escape.
Despite the official account, the airmen know that
Brian has just stared down a 47-year
-old brigadier and effectively saved their lives.
All right, fellas, settle down.
I've spoken with Brigadier Veal and he's approved
the plan.
Brian steps out of that meeting with Veal.
(08:55):
He's authority assured.
He gathers the men together and then drops
the bombshell.
He's going to take them north.
Heading north is heading into the unknown.
It's rugged, mountainous terrain.
The only Europeans to venture into those parts
at this time are missionaries.
There are rumours that headhunting is still practiced
(09:15):
throughout the region.
But for Brian, the remoteness of the north
adds to its appeal.
A region unknown to the Australians will be
unknown to the Japanese.
They'll go north.
Before they set off, Private Clem Clements, the
army signalman, asked Brian his orders.
(09:37):
Whether it was through cunning or forgetfulness, Brian
hadn't told Veal that Clem was with their
party.
So rather than leave him in Champlong to
defend the Dilley Road, Brian decides to take
Clem along.
As an army signalman with knowledge of cipher,
Clem could prove useful.
We left trucks about three miles from Champlong
and proceeded up a steep hill on foot.
Each man was carrying a full pack and
(09:59):
in addition, we had the 400-pound transceiver
with batteries and extra food.
The men were doing a superhuman task.
In the afternoon, ran into a small village
where I met David, a native who had
been in Champlong.
David is young, only in his mid-teens.
He speaks broken English, which made him useful
to the army in Champlong.
(10:21):
Brian, who was left 4,000 Dutch guilders
by Wing Commander Frank Hedlum, offers the boy
50 guilders to be a guide.
50 guilders is a small fortune in Dutch
Timor.
With that kind of money, David could buy
his village five goats and a huge supply
of vegetables and fruits.
David gratefully accepts and asks where they want
to go.
(10:41):
Brian consults his map.
All two squadron pilots are issued a map
of Dutch Timor and Pilot Officer Peter Thompson
has lent his map to Brian.
It's now one of the rear party's most
valuable possessions.
Brian points to the village of Nyfalo, about
eight kilometres north.
He instructs David to keep them off paths
and tracks to reduce the likelihood of being
(11:03):
caught by the Japanese.
David heads to the front of the column
and takes them into the jungle.
Those very early stages of their journey are
some of the most challenging for the airmen.
An eight-kilometre hike might not seem strenuous,
but they are climbing up the slope of
a mountain called Fatu Laul, which translates to
(11:23):
Forbidden Rock.
It's misshapen, covered with shale, loose earth and
boulders.
The ground is treacherous, with false paths leading
off cliff edges.
But they make it to the campsite near
a creek and all fall asleep at dusk.
They've made it through the first day of
their entrapment, but only barely.
(11:45):
February 21.
The party's medical orderly accidentally left the stash
of quinine back at the aerodrome, and Brian
is livid.
Quinine is used as a treatment for malaria.
Men are starting to show symptoms.
Here's Len Burke talking about the experience of
getting malaria in a tropical jungle.
It starts off, you start to get the
shivers.
(12:05):
You shiver and you shake and you get
so cold.
In the middle of the tropical sun, lying
out in the middle of the heat, it
is shivering, shivering, shivering, shivering.
Your body's oscillating.
You can't keep still, you can't keep still.
Your legs are gone.
And then that settles down and you get
this massive headache.
Oh boy.
Headache which lasts, you know, for a day
(12:26):
or two.
And some chaps used to vomit also.
Peter Thompson is one of those men who
vomits.
On the third day of their jungle trek,
Peter collapses.
With the help of several men, Brian lifts
him into a nearby hut local team Rees
make available for a fistful of gilders.
Peter's got malaria.
That much is obvious.
(12:47):
But it's not until they lay him down
and he cries out in pain that Brian
realises just how sick he is.
At the back of Peter's leg is a
black abscess about the size of a palm.
It's gone septic.
As the most popular member of the rear
party, news of Peter's condition is devastating on
morale.
Brian knows that the airmen are in need
(13:08):
of some good news.
They need to hear from Darwin.
Most of the wireless operators have serious doubts
that they will.
But not Brian's most senior wireless operator, a
man by the name of Corporal Ron Bell.
I'm quite peppered by the noise of the
radio.
I'm sorry to drop all the way.
But Ron Bell, god, my man.
It's just as well he was a ham
(13:29):
operator.
We weren't experts on that sort of thing.
Ron Bell, the radio operator, absolutely outstanding.
For Ron, the radio gear is a constant
source of stress and anxiety.
The transceiver weighs 180 kilograms and has four
batteries, each weighing approximately 20 kilograms.
(13:50):
The equipment is suspended beneath rifles using leather
straps and hoisted between two men.
And the airmen took shifts on the radio
gear, cursing their way over the mountain.
Every step a huge effort.
Ron shadows the transceiver every step of the
way, making certain it isn't damaged during transport.
He's also worried about battery power.
(14:10):
The batteries may be heavy, but that doesn't
mean they'll last forever.
He plans to use the radio's transmitter, the
major drain on the batteries, as sparingly as
possible in case of a longer than expected
delay.
On February 23, Brian decides it's time to
attempt to hail Darwin.
He stops the group on the slope of
(14:31):
the mountain and Ron sets up the gear.
He sits at the base of a tree
with his legs crossed, earphones around his neck
and the radio gear stacked alongside.
At the top of a tree, another wireless
operator holds an aerial connected to a lead
that connects to the transceiver below.
He points the aerial southeast towards Darwin.
(14:53):
Ron taps out a signal.
The message includes the exact whereabouts of the
rear party and a request for rescue by
flying boat.
Ron quickly detaches the leads from the transmitter
and hooks them up to the receiver.
Pencil poised over paper, he waits.
Darwin is answering.
(15:15):
The message they receive confirms their worst fears.
Darwin has been raided.
But the request for flying boat rescue is
confirmed.
Darwin had given us a rendezvous near Capsali
for March 1, stating that a flying boat
was to try to take us off.
The airmen are exhausted, hungry, many stricken with
illness.
(15:36):
It's at least a five-day march to
Capsali and they're all fading fast.
It's late afternoon, February 27, as the men
are led by local guides into a village
called Mosu.
(15:56):
It's been an arduous seven-day march.
The last two days have been a journey
into hell.
Coming out of the hills, the airmen had
to handle swampy and totally unforgiving terrain.
Men have lost their boots in thick mud
that comes up to their knees.
And the mosquitoes are horrific.
And there's still a day's march from the
mouth of the Capsali River.
(16:17):
The party is welcomed by a group of
young Timorese who run off at the sight
of the white men.
They return with two men.
One is tall and wears the white gown
of a missionary.
His name is Alexander Karel Sahatian and he
greets the men in perfect English.
He introduces the other man as the Temulkung,
or chief, of the village.
(16:43):
Sahatian puts on a feast for the airmen.
They are treated to coconuts and ripe bananas
and have fowl for dinner.
While they feast, Sahatian tells the airmen that
Capsali is 20 kilometers away, over rivers and
streams and through the thickest jungle imaginable.
He suggests allowing for two days.
(17:04):
But Brian is adamant.
The men will not be allowed to eat.
He wants to be prepared for the unlikely
possibility that the rendezvous is brought forward.
There's also the constant worry that a Japanese
patrol will appear.
Had Brian known the ancient haven into which
the men had entered, he may have been
a little less worried.
(17:34):
It's no accident Brian and his men have
been led here.
Mosu is no conventional village.
It's kind of a gateway into a region
that is otherwise almost impenetrable.
From here to the coast, high cliff faces,
steep hills, bamboo forests and three rivers create
a natural barrier.
The Sumbayi people, whose realm once covered much
(17:56):
of the mountainous interior of Dutch Timor, have
long used the region as a perfect hideaway
for Timorese leaders who had fallen out of
favor with the colonial authorities.
The Sumbayi all know that when a leader
is in hiding within the realm, a decree
is passed from village to village.
Nobody sees and nobody hears anything.
As a Christian missionary, Sahatin might not have
(18:18):
been bound to these traditions, but he knew
the old ways of the people he was
evangelising.
That night, without the Australians ever realising, the
missionary sends word to the villagers of the
safe haven.
The ancient Sumbayi decree had been enacted once
more.
Hear nothing, see nothing.
(18:42):
March the 2nd in Kapsali on the northwest
coast of Timor.
Ten days after they fled the aerodrome and
the airmen are a night away from being
rescued.
The rescue will be staged out of the
port town of Broome, the location of a
large flying boat base.
The airmen endured a horrific hike from Mosu
to Kapsali that included crossing the Kapsali River
(19:03):
14 times.
After finally making it to the rendezvous point,
Darwin delayed the rescue to March the 3rd.
Brian occupied the men with jobs, including the
construction of a raft out of bamboo so
that the sickest men would not have to
swim the 300 metres to the flying boat.
And now, after two anxious nights, the airmen
(19:25):
gather for a photo on the beach.
They are beginning their last day on Timor.
I found a copy of this photograph in
an old family album and when I look
at it, the subtle gestures of each airman
give voice to their resilience and courage.
Leading aircraftman Clyde Pappin grins more broadly than
anyone, the eternal optimist.
Corporal Roy Andrews casually smokes a cigarette, not
(19:47):
a care in the world.
Flying officer Jock Burchill looks distractedly towards the
setting sun, lost in his own world.
Best mates, leading aircraftman Len Burke and Jim
Graham, sit side by side, laughing exuberantly.
Flying officer Arthur Cole looks ahead with a
steely, unflappable gaze.
Pilot officer Peter Thompson fights fever and creeping
(20:09):
infection to keep his eyes open and his
head upright.
And Brian Rofe, my grandfather, has a look
of pride on his face.
The young leader who has met all the
challenges of an arduous command.
And now, it's only a matter of time
before they will be saved.
Well done, lads.
I think this calls for a bit of
light refreshment.
(20:31):
After the photo is taken, Brian fetches a
bottle of Bell's Scotch whisky, the tagline on
the bottle seems appropriate for the moment.
A four-year go.
We had some amazing meals today.
I found that we had tins of oysters,
scallops, American corn, sausages and veg, cocktail sausages
and asparagus.
(20:52):
Brian even permits a tin of the bully
beef to be shared among two, with biscuits
and cheese for supper.
They eat tinned salmon kedgeree for dinner, tinned
Christmas pudding for dessert and half a pound
of dried apricots.
A campfire is built.
The men gather around and start singing tunes.
One man observes that they might have been
(21:12):
on the bank of the Murray River.
A group of mates eating and drinking, cracking
jokes, singing songs.
The men were in great spirits.
Even men who in all probability could swim
10 yards were confident of doing half a
mile if necessary.
The night stretches on and the mood gets
reflective.
They've struggled through a terrible ordeal but they've
(21:33):
all made it through alive and within hours
they'll be on a flying boat heading for
home.
A few hours later at the Penfoe Aerodrome,
(21:54):
nine Japanese Zeros and a reconnaissance aircraft run
up their engines and make their way across
the repaired coral strips.
The Japanese are planning an attack on the
Australian mainland.
The target is an important stopping off point
for Dutch nationals fleeing Java before the expected
Japanese invasion.
One by one, they fly off into the
(22:19):
night sky and set a course for Broome.
(22:46):
Next time on Trapped.
All of my ambitions, my hopes, my small
successes, my laughter and my tears, my solace
in failure, my strength for every day, my
love and enthusiasm and even my life itself
would have as the basis of each, this
lovely girl.
Completely at sea in this exciting co-ed
(23:07):
world and there sits this dynamo lounging back
with his feet on the desk, teasing me
with all these idiotic questions over sports fee.
Oh, I'd like to be on the spot.
Weren't they marvellous times?
Snatched eternities of happiness in a world peopled
by just you and me and away from
the world of families, trams, clocks and trains.
(23:33):
What happened to Hedlam?
Not a bloody word from Darwin because we're
expendable.
Get over here, all of you.
Unless you're sick or dead, get on your
bloody feet.
Who did it?
Who stole the tinned food?
The next man who steals any food will
(23:54):
be shot.
I will bloody shoot him.
No!
No!
Oh no!
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