Lat
8° 33' 0S Long 125° 34' 0E Pronounced Dil-e. Part of Portuguese Timor.
History
Allied forces arrived at Díli
in December the 17th of 1941. The sector assigned to 7th Section
of C Platoon of the 2/2nd Australian Independent Company, the Double
Reds, was the aerodrome at Dili. It comprised of 18 men, the unit
was led by Lt. Archie Campbell.
Japanese Occupation
The Japanese invasion of Díli, began
in February 20, 1942. A Japanese invading force had landed unknowingly
during the night. Shortly after daybreak, the enemy ambushed, captured
and executed 12 of Campbell's men and two others. One commando escaped
death by playing dead and was rescued by a Timorese native. Another,
spared for interrogation, became a prisoner of war. The rest of
C Platoon dispersed into the mountains and regrouped. Díli
was then violently sacked by the Japanese, who found the city almost
uninhabited. Later Allied bombing further reduced the city to rubble.
American Missions Against Dili
June 30, 1942 - August 17, 1944
Harry Nelson
"I
was a photo-gunner on a B-26 with the 408th Bomb Sq., 22nd BG
on a mission to bomb Dilli in 1942. I believe the mission was
sometime in July. We were told that the target was a hospital
with a large red cross painted on the roof which the Aussie troops
still on the island had informed headquarters in Australia was
actually an ammunition dump."