Allan
enlisted in the Australian Army on 5 Dec 1940 at Rosebery
Tasmania and travelled from there to Launceston. The 2/40
Infantry Battalion was the only Battalion in the Australian
Imperial Force (AIF) that recruited almost entirely from
Tasmania. Initially it was planned that it would consist of 3
rifle companies from Victoria and one Headquarters company from
Tasmania, but public and political pressure led by the Tasmanian
Premier resulted in the battalion being formed from the island
state.
The 2/40th
assembled at Brighton Camp Victoria in July 1940 where it spent
the rest of the year training. On 7th Jan 1941 it went to
Bonegilla Camp near Wodonga on the Victorian/New South Wales
border to join its parent Brigade – the 23rd, part of the 8th
Division. In Feb 1941 the 2/40 was earmarked for deployment to
Dutch West Timor to protect the airfields in the event of a
Japanese attack. However it was thought premature deployment
might provoke Japanese action so the Battalion left Bonegilla
Camp at the end of March and began arriving in Katherine in the
Northern Territory on April 16. The next move to Noonamah just
south of Darwin occurred during June and July.
Japan made
its intentions obvious with simultaneous attacks throughout the
Asia- Pacific region on 7 – 8 Dec 1941. The 2/40th, the bulk
of SPARROW FORCE was rushed to Timor. They, 70 Officers and 1330
men departed Darwin Dec 10 on the ships HMAS Westralia and SS
Zealandia (Later to be bombed and sunk in Darwin Harbour) and
arrived in Koepang 2 days later. They were to defend the
airfields at Penful, the operational base for the Hudson Bombers
of the under strength 2 squadron RAAF. Sparrow Force was ill
equipped and most suffered from malaria and dysentery. The
commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel William Leggett’s repeated
requests for greater reinforcements, artillery, and supplies
were never met. Sparrow Force was reinforced on 16 Feb with
189 British anti-aircraft Gunners mostly veterans of the Battle
of Britain. Further reinforcements, an Australian Infantry
Battalion and an American artillery regiment, were attacked
en-route to Timor and returned to Darwin.
WATSON.-Killed
in action in Timor, TX5113 Pte. A. R. T. Watson, 2/40th
Battalion A.I.F., dearly loved eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. T.
Watson, Rosebery, and loving brother of Max; aged 27 years.
Photo
Courtesy of
Rita Stephensen
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