TIMORESE RESISTANCE IN THE AINARO AREA – OCTOBER 1942 – MAY 1943 - Dom Aleixo Corte-Real, the liurai of Suro - WWII IN EAST TIMOR - AN AUSTRALIAN ARMY SITE AND TRAVEL GUIDE

[Edward Willis]

TIMORESE RESISTANCE IN THE AINARO AREA – OCTOBER 1942 – MAY 1943 - Dom Aleixo Corte-Real, the liurai of Suro

It deserves to be better acknowledged that a Timorese community in Ainaro, led by Dom Aleixo Corte-Real, the liurai of Suro, resisted Japanese rule until May 1943.  As a consequence of his actions, Corte-Real was enshrined as a post-war Portuguese national hero in Timor.  The following narrative of Dom Aleixo’s people’s resistance to the Japanese led assault on his domain was prepared by a Portuguese colonial-era historian Humberto Leitao in 1970 and smacks of patriotic fervour but it still conveys the large scale extent and ferocity of the fighting that continued in 1943 in the Ainaro – Suro – Hatu-Udo area after the departure of Lancer Force in January 1943. [1]

Luirai Dom Alexio Corte Real of Ainaro and WWII hero (Centre) with Local Chiefs and Antonio Magno (far right).  Aileu, Portuguese Timor 1938

“On September 2, 1939, WWII broke out.  Portugal as well as neighboring Spain manage to remain neutral.

In Portuguese Timor, since 1936, there were some Japanese officers who, in order to be able to travel around the island, disguised themselves as farmers and traders.  However, unless you were familiar with the processes used by Japanese people in the preparations for the war against Russia could take those smiling and measurable subjects for harmless and peaceful people, who, after all, were taking advantage of every opportunity to carry out expeditious topographical surveys, take note of the main terrestrial communication routes and collect the more necessary and convenient elements for future war operations.  Until the moment arrived, they wore the uniforms of modest officers.

Because the island was so far away from the operations fields and we remained neutral, life there went on without much care.

On December 8, 1941, however, news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in Honolulu, was captured in Dili.

Dutch and Australian Occupation of Dili

Japan's entry into the war came with a clear threat of Japanese attacks on the Dutch East Indies and Australia.  A few days later, on December 17th of the same year 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Stressman of the Dutch Army disembarked in Dili and, in an audience requested from the Governor, announced that it would become necessary for them to disembark in our territory that same day, Dutch and Australian forces in order to protect the island against an imminent Japanese attack.

Shortly afterwards, disembarkation began at the mouth of the Comoro river, located to the west and close to the capital.  Surprised, the Governor, after listening to the service chiefs and the commander of a unit stationed a short distance from Dili - made up of indigenous people, for the most part, poorly armed and poorly equipped, decided, due to lack of resources, not to offer resistance. to invaders; but, in order to mark his protest against what had happened, he became a prisoner, entering the Government palace.  A few days later, in order to avoid any incidents between personnel from that unit and those from foreign forces, he ordered them to be transferred to Maubisse [2], a post located in the interior of the island, close to Suro.

The Dutch [led] force consisted of around 1200 men, many of whom are Javanese; the Australian, for 380, specially trained for guerrilla warfare.  They entered the city in the best order and then, it must be said, they proceeded with full respect for Portuguese sovereignty.

And yet, it is surprising that there was anyone who could conceive the possibility of, with such meagre forces, preventing the Japanese landing in Dili or at any other point on the island's vast coast, and that, necessarily, it had to be carried out the shadow of warship artillery, against which the Allied forces could not respond effectively.

That operation, whose purpose was doomed to complete failure, was, in the end, an act of arrogance that served as justification for the Japanese to also disembark on the island, where they began to commit the most heinous crimes.

The Japanese Assault on Dili

As was natural, his landing did not take long, as it occurred in the early hours of February 20th of the following year - 1942 -, preceded by a heavy bombardment of Dili.

The operation was carried out at the mouth of the Comoro river and then, directing it on land, there were in uniform the peaceful Japanese who a few years earlier had settled on the island under the guise of farmers and traders.

The Dutch, who were entrusted with the defense of the city, offered little resistance, except those defending the aerodrome.

At the time, the Australians were in the interior of the island reconnaissance of the terrain and preparing for guerrilla warfare.  Some Portuguese joined them.

Contrary to the way the Australian and Dutch troops behaved, the Japanese soon showed themselves to be arrogant, incorrect and provocative.  They did not respect other people's property.  They indulged in looting commercial establishments and private homes and destroying everything that was of no use to them.  They released the criminals imprisoned in the Dili jail and associated them with the looting.

They had vexatious demands.  Thus, a sergeant, head of the police, was tasked with finding women for a lupanar (prostitution) [3].  They presented themselves to the indigenous people as their liberators and tried to incite them to revolt.  With indigenous people from Dutch Timor and neighboring islands, they formed columns, later known as “black columns”, which grew larger with people from our territory, mainly from Manufai, Maubisse and border kingdoms.  By this means, gangs of jackals were released, incited to commit heinous crimes - devastation of cultures and towns, murders of men, women and children, ill-treatment, mutilation and torture.  They served as cover when, in difficult interior regions, they intended to advance. For the “saviours of Asia” the lives of those people - the vast majority of whom were brutish people - did not count.  They also used them to carry out crimes that they intended not to be accused of.

In the early days, the guerrillas caused great damage to these columns, as well as to the Japanese troops.  They caused hundreds of deaths.

In this distressing situation, the Portuguese from the Metropolis sought to explain to the Timorese chiefs the reasons for the struggles that were taking place in our territory and assured them that, after the war ended, Timor would continue to be Portuguese.

Meanwhile, in Ainaro, D. Aleixo, accompanied by highly trusted leaders, was getting news of everything that was happening and any “black column” that wanted to disturb the peace near his Tranqueira [territory] was chased away.

Dom Aleixo Moves to Suro-Lau

In mid-1942, seeing the direction events were taking, he decided to leave Ainaro to settle in Suro-Lau, whose altitude is 1800 m.

As happened at that post, the guerrillas went there from time to time to acquire the living they needed most.  Because they fought the Japanese - the “matan bubo” (swollen eyes), as the Timorese called them, D. Aleixo considered the Australians as friends.  In return for the favours received, they gave him weapons and ammunition, which were later used in the heroic defense of Suro-Lau.

In August of the same year, a revolt broke out in Maubisse.  From the Commander of the Companhia de Caçadores, then stationed in Aileu, D. Aleixo was telephoned for men to help quell the revolt.  The reguloimmediately ordered 350 men to be presented to that Command under the orders of his son Alexandre [4].

In mid-September, the town of Ainaro was visited by one of the so-called “black columns”.  As there, if the leader was not found, the leaders went to the Mission, where Fr. Norberto de Oliveira Barros and Fr. Antonio Manuel Pires.  That time they limited themselves to demanding different foods from them and taking possession of several animals that the missionaries were raising for their sustenance.

The Black Columns Attack

Shortly afterwards, with Maubisse's revolt having already been suppressed, as, according to their intentions, the Japanese wanted to maintain free movement in Aileu, where the Command of the Companhia de Caçadores was located - which, although made up of a small number of men, it could well withstand the attack of a “black column” and even put it into disorganized flight - on the night of October 1st of the same year 1942, they bombarded the commander's residence with mortars and the barracks of that Company, an operation immediately followed by a ferocious assault by bandits from the “column”, largely armed with rifles and hand grenades.  The bombing made the officers and soldiers of the Portuguese unit believe that it was an irresistible attack by Japanese forces, which would be followed by the usual horrors.  Of this false judgment gave rise to confusion.  Most of the soldiers fled.  Commander Freire da Costa and his wife, unwilling to fall alive into the hands of the cruel enemy, committed suicide.  At least some of the Europeans who were at the commander's residence did the same thing.  If there were anyone who did not follow their example, they were murdered, with the exception of one who managed to save himself by hiding under a bed and behind a corpse that he pulled towards him, in order to remain more hidden.  However, he was injured by a bullet fired at the deceased, with the suspicion that there might still be a breath of life in him.

This attack carried out by the “black column” with invaluable cooperation from the Japanese, resulted in the loss of 9 European lives and several indigenous soldiers. [5]

Perhaps it was this column that D. Aleixo, on the following day, October 2nd, saw heading towards Ainaro. As soon as he noticed this, he sent a messenger ordering him to quickly warn the Mission priests that they should flee without delay, as the column, which was not far away, was heading that way.

Back in Suro-Lau, the messenger still managed to say that the priests refused to abandon the Mission, as their consciences were clear.  Moments later, he fell lifeless because he had demanded greater efforts from his heart than he could take it.  The sacrifice of the helpful Timorese was, therefore, useless and all the more so because Fr. Norberto de Oliveira Barros and Antonio Manuel Pires, and also the deportado Ferreira da Silva, who had remained with them, were savagely murdered, their bodies taken behind the church and there covered with straw to which the fire was placed [6].

At the time of this horrible event, the people of Suro, on the advice of their rulers, had already taken refuge in the mountains.

Should D. Aleixo, after this and other nefarious crimes, have no doubt that, soon, he would be the target of Japanese attacks and the “black columns”, where there were people from Manufai who hated him to death.

On February 11, 1943, the Australians who were still fighting in Timor withdrew to Australia because they were needed to defend New Guinea, which was being attacked by the Japanese.

Dom Aleixo’s Defensive Dispositions Near Ainaro

Dom Aleixo’s defensive dispositions near Ainaro

Aware of the increasing danger in which he and his people found themselves, D. Aleixo decided to man some difficult-to-access positions that surrounded part of the Ainaro plain and dominated the roads that led to Suro.  At the time, the group formed by the head of the Atsabe post, second sergeant José Estevão Alexandrino, by the Atsabe D. Cipriano regiment, was already taking refuge in Suro-Lau, accompanied by his son-in-law Jose dos Reis and the latter's brother, from name Alarico Fernandes; by the deportado Felnes Duarte, by the two mestiços José Cachaço and Romualdo Aniceto and by Talu Bere, chief of Maliana.  This group, which had been busy fighting against the Atsabe's rebels, finding themselves harassed by Japanese forces, managed to escape from them and take refuge in Suro-Lau.  Sergeant Alexandrino, when Lieutenant Liberato ordered him to join the detachment operating on the border, in order to go to the Liquica concentration camp, did not obey and, when in Suro-Lau, he was invited to join the other Portuguese to be evacuated to Australia, he refused the invitation, preferring to stay at D. Aleixo's side. [7]

He, as he had planned, distributed his companions and people from the camps in the following positions:

(1) In Suro-Lau [8] he stayed with 4 children - Benjamin, Adriano, Alexandre and Afonso -, his beloved friend Francisco Costa, known as Nai-Chico, from Hato-Udo, and people from this village and from Ainaro;

(2) The defense of the second position, which was also in Suro-Lau and very close to that occupied by D. Aleixo, was handed over to Cipriano do Carmo Verdial, head of Suro-Craic, and his brother Jaime Verdial da Silva.  It was garrisoned with people from Ainaro.

These Verdial brothers were 3.0 degree cousins of D. Aleixo, as they were sons of Nai-Pusso, brother of Nai-Cau, of whom we already talked about it [9].

(3) The stronghold of Leo-Moa was entrusted to Sergeant Alexandrino, who had with him those who accompanied him in the fights in Atsabe and also Professor Araujo, his son Vasco and indigenous warriors. [10]

(4) The city of Fato-Mera, which dominated the road from Atsabe to Ainaro, was handed over to Antonio Magno and the people of his jurisdiction - this Antonio Magno, also a son of Nai-Pusso, was, therefore, the brother of Cipriano and Jaime Verdial.

(5) The last position was that of Manu-Tassi [11], overlooking the road from Maubisse to Ainaro and the paths that lead to Hatu-Builico and defended by chief Marcos, from Nunamogue, by his son Ananias and by people from the same Manu-Tassi, Soro and Nunamogue.

Once these positions were occupied, criminals from “black columns” who came within firing range were harshly punished.  Aware of D. Aleixo's firm attitude, the Japanese decided to send emissaries to invite him, with tempting proposals, to cooperate with them.  To such proposals, the regulo haughtily replied that he was Portuguese and, therefore, he would only serve the Portuguese.

Hatu Udo, Portuguese Timor 1945-12-14.  Sergeant G. Milsom talks with Jamie Verdial of Ainaro who had helped the Australians in the Hatu Udo area.  Sergeant Milsom, formerly of the 2/2nd Independent Company, accompanied the Military History Section Field Team attached to TIMFORCE and acted as a guide. (Photographer Sgt K. Davis) [12]

Initial Successful Defense of the High Ground

Seeing that it is not possible to lay hands on him due to stupidity and mildly means, they decided to attack the strong positions in which he and his companions were perched.

Certain that in the fight they were going to fight they would lose many lives, they tried to reinforce the “black columns” with people gathered in various lands, especially in Manufai, nearby, and the border - at the time completely unmanned by Portuguese troops.  According to estimates, around 15,000 men were gathered.

As was customary, the indigenous forces were tasked with carrying out the attack, as the certain death of many hundreds of those poor people, deceived by false promises and incited to crime, would not weigh on the conscience of the “liberators of the Timorese people”.

With a huge shout, the “black columns” launched the assault.  They received very harsh punishment.  To this assault others they followed, but, in all cases, the assailants were repelled.  The losses he suffered were enormous.

Seeing the “black columns” being decimated in such a way by those obstinate people, the Japanese, enraged by so many failures, decided to reorganize the forces at their disposal and resume the fight, successively attacking position by position.

Fall of the High Ground Defences

It was Manu-Tai which was the first to be captured, but it only fell into their hands after a very hard fight.  Chief Marcos, his son Ananias and many of the warriors who fought with them lost their lives there.

The attack on the stronghold of Fato-Mera followed, which, despite having been bravely defended, fell into their hands.  Chief Antonio Magno was imprisoned there, who managed to survive until the end of that war.

After Fato-Mera, Leo-Moa's position was attacked.  In this case, the defenders still managed to hold out for a day, but then the lack of ammunition and supplies forced them to surrender.  There, the enemy captured alive the Sergeant Alexandrino, D. Cipriano, a regulo of Atsabe, the mestiços Romualdo Aniceto and José Cachaço, the chief Talo-Bere, as well as several indigenous warriors.

Sergeant Alexandrino and the mestiços were taken to Ermera, where a Japanese officer killed him with a pistol shot.

His two fellow prisoners were killed by firing squad.

As for D. Cipriano, a ruler of Atsabe, and the chief Talo-Bere, before the fight for the conquest of Suro-Lau began, they were savagely murdered by people from the “black columns”, who threw them from the bridge from Mau-Mali to the rocks between which the river runs.

What now remained was to conquer the position where D. Aleixo found himself.  To achieve this more easily, the Japanese preceded the assaults by bombarding them with mortars and three planes, which, at the same time, tried to strafe the defenders, believing that this would reduce their morale.  They were wrong, as it seems to have given them renewed courage to fight fiercely and repel all the assaults carried out that day, causing considerable losses to the opponent.  That day, the Japanese also suffered the disappointment of the besieged having hit a plane that crashed in Ainaro, near the Mission. [13]

The following day, the fighting continued with enormous ferocity.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese flag remained, exposed to the wind, in Suro-Lau, defended by a heroic group of Portuguese from Timor.

When the third day arrived, the assaults continued, which the defenders, with unwavering bravery, repelled.

Despite the successes achieved, the besieged found themselves in a very precarious situation, as the continued fighting during those three days had almost exhausted their ammunition, and the ammunition they had in reserve was already very few.  It became urgent to make a resolution.  D. Aleixo took it, sending a message to Jaime Verdial so that, during the night, with his companions, he would try to break the siege and head to the plains to seek refuge.  He would however try the same, following other paths.

Dom Aleixo Captured and Executed

According to what was established, those, in the dead of night, because they were not present, saved themselves from martyrdom and certain death.  Less fortunate, D. Aleixo and his companions did not escape the surveillance of the enemy, who managed to imprison them in the vicinity of Hato-Udo. [14]

Taken to the old posto in this location, D. Aleixo, his main companions, as well as family members, and also the nurse João da Costa Tilman, were locked up there under Japanese surveillance.  The remaining prisoners were placed, with a sentry in sight, in nearby barracks.

At the beginning of the afternoon, they heard the prisoners discussing, in the yard, about the fate that would be given to them and, among other things, they realized that they intended to tie them up.  Hearing this, D. Aleixo, angry, not accepting humiliation or dishonourable death, broke down the door and threw himself, although unarmed, at the first Japanese man who came across him, but, after a brief struggle, he fell with his chest pierced by a bayonet.

Of his companions, those who imitated him, it was not long before they were shot or killed with a bladed weapon.  Two managed to escape through a window and escape, getting into the dense vegetation.  They were D. Aleixo's grandson, Joao Cesar Corte-Real, then a boy of about 19 years old, and Fausto Corte-Real, the governor's brother-in-law.  Nurse Tilman, due to his bulk, not being able to use that exit easily, remained in the office where, found by the Japanese, he was murdered. [15]

This was followed by another no less horrible tragedy - the death of those brave people who had been placed in the hut.  It is possible that this woman, although unarmed, had also fought hand to hand with her tormentors and did not allow herself to remain inert and receive death.

This time, the Japanese, with a few remnants of humanity, ordered the women and children to be spared from the slaughter.  The Hato-Udo yard was covered in corpses and they remained there unburied for more than two years, until, after the surrender of the Japanese in Timor, on September 11, 1945, it was possible to collect their remaining bones.

Portuguese colonial era school book depiction of the assassination of Dom Alexio by Japanese soldier [16]

NOTE: Shortly after their recovery, the skulls of Dom Aleixo and his three sons, Alfonso, Francisco, and Alveira, were placed on public display, in Ainaro and were photographed there on 24 January 1945 by Sergeant K.B. Davis of the visiting Australian Military History Section team.  The remains were subsequently re-interred in a new monument in Ainaro honouring the Memory of Dom Aleixo.

Ainaro, Portuguese Timor.  1946-01-24.  Skulls of the King Alexio and his three sons, Alfonso, Francisco and Aliveira displayed in the sepulchre of the royal family.  The four were killed by the Japanese because they had been of great help to the Australians of Sparrow Force.  (Photographer Sgt K.B. Davis) [17]

Portuguese Honour the Memory of Dom Aleixo

To honour the memory of D. Aleixo, there is a tapestry of Portalegre on display in the Noble Hall of the Palácio das Repartições, in Dili, where he is depicted with the Flag of Quinas wrapping his belt, his muscles tensed, with his sword raised in a position to deliver a blow capable of annihilating any opponent.  On the right, in the bottom corner, there is the following caption:

WRAPPED IN THE FLAG OF THE MOTHERLAND

THE REGULO OF TIMOR D. ALEIXO CORTE-REAL PREFERS TO DIE

NOT YIELDING TO THE INVADERS.

The Tapestry (from the Portalegre Factory) that disappeared in the maelstrom of the Indonesian occupation and which recalled, in the Noble Hall of the Palácio das Repartições, the heroic act of Dom Aleixo Corte Real

In Ainaro a monument was erected to him.  It is an arch with sober but elegant shapes, set on a platform, to which six steps give access.  At the opening of the arch, supported by a metal frame made of curved pieces, an Avis cross stands out.

From the severity of the highest mountains of Timor, which partly surround Ainaro, the place offers special conditions for meditation and recollection.  Time wastes the importance of events and even causes some, although important, to be forgotten.  It would behove time not to do anything more to the sublime act performed by D. Aleixo.

To prevent this from happening, it seems to us that, annually, on a fixed day in the month of May, the youth of Timor's schools or their representatives would go on a pilgrimage to Ainaro to lay flowers at the base of the monument, giving them this is an occasion to remember the Hero's glorious deed, the nobility of his character and the unyielding patriotism that led him to sacrifice his own life”.

NOTE: “On May 10, 2002, the day of the restoration of Independence in Ainaro, … the inauguration ceremony [was held] of the rehabilitation of the monument promoted on the ground by the late Nuno Franco and coordinated by Dr Rui Fonseca.

The Monument dedicated to Regulo Dom Aleixo, in Ainaro Timor-Leste.

Under the motto "For Portugal" (top of the Arch), the heroic struggle of this Timorese Regulo against the Japanese Invader is remembered.

The monument is also a tomb, and the remains of this Regulo, killed by the Japanese in 1943 during the Second World War, were deposited there.

The Monument is also flanked by two stone graves approximately 5 meters to the right and left in front of the monument, where the remains of two martyred Fathers will be found. [?]

On the left side of this monument are the ruins of the old Regulo Dom Aleixo Residence, which was destroyed in the 70s. [19]

Monument erected in Ainaro in memory of D. Aleixo Corte-Real

References

[1]     Humberto Leitao. - O Regulo Timorense D. Aleixo Corte-Real. – Lisboa: Edição do Grupo de Estudos de História Marítima, 1970: 57-71.

[2]     Liberato, O Caso de Timor: 40.

[3]     Brandão, Funo - guerra em Timor: 60.

[4]     José Simão Martinho, Vida e Morte do Regula Timorense D. Aleixo: 22.

[5]     Liberato, O caso de Timor: 162, 167.

[6]     P.e Martinho da Costa Lopes, “D. Aleixo Corte Real, Um Herói já Lendário do Nosso Seculo, revista” Defesa Nacional n.^os 193-194.

[7]     Ezequiel Enes Pascoal, A alma de Timar na sua fantasia: 94.

[8]     Google Maps - 9°00'58.9"S, 125°32'22.5"E

[9]     Ezequiel Enes Pascoal, A alma de Timar na sua fantasia: 94.  “This post dominated the Ainaro-Cassa-Mape-Bobonaro road”. - Rocha, Timor: ocupação japonesa durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial: 110-112

[10]   P.e Martinho da Costa Lopes: 20.

[11]   8° 59' S, 125° 32'E – ASPT: 83; 8°58'55.6"S 125°32'02.0"E – Google Maps.  “This post dominated the main road Maubisse-Ainaro and the road from Ainaro to the post of Hato-Builico” - Rocha, Timor: ocupação japonesa durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial: 110-112.

[12]   https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C200646.

[13]   There are those who claim that two planes were shot down.

[14]   Os Ultimas Dias de D. Aleixo Corte-Real - version of his grandson João Cesar Corte-Real, who managed to save himself from the Hato-Udo massacre.

[15]   João Cesar Corte-Real.

[16]   https://scontent.fper7-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/31543090_10210566516790335_9091489310774919168_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=4qJBLxuThZwQ7kNvgFHXWnC&_nc_ht=scontent.fper7-1.fna&oh=00_AfBdTkI-oaUTtsTg8Hojt6olIxr5GP1Lowfe8qzrY4IwUg&oe=6662EC13

[17]   https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C221127

[18]   Rui Brito da Fonseca. - Monumentos portugueses em Timor-Leste. - Dili, Timor Leste: [Crocodilo Azul?], 2005: 80-81.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob Crossing]

Love your work, Ed.

Many thanks

Rob

[Edward Willis]

Thanks Rob - another little known aspect of WWII on Timor!