Location
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."

Dili Airfield
Locate at Dili