cookie
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 5,926
- Location
- Sydney Australia
-
The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.
Fervent champion of Timorese - RIP Paddy Kenneally, 1916-2009
- Thread starter cookie
- Start date
RIP Paddy.
Paddy was part of Sparrow Force, an Australian Independent Coy which fought a tough guerrilla war against Japanese occupying forces in Portuguese Timor. The Aussie commandos were helped mightily by the local Timorese, so it's not a surprise that Paddy Kenneally was an ardent supporter of East Timorese independence.
Aussie army film maker, Damien Parer (of Kokoda Frontline fame) made a newsreel following the exploits of Sparrow Force.
You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nql3fIKZ9BI
Paddy was part of Sparrow Force, an Australian Independent Coy which fought a tough guerrilla war against Japanese occupying forces in Portuguese Timor. The Aussie commandos were helped mightily by the local Timorese, so it's not a surprise that Paddy Kenneally was an ardent supporter of East Timorese independence.
Aussie army film maker, Damien Parer (of Kokoda Frontline fame) made a newsreel following the exploits of Sparrow Force.
You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nql3fIKZ9BI
The Timorese who saved Diggers
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...ho-saved-diggers/story-e6frg6z6-1225902728642
An interesting contrast here -
Corporal Jack Maley was manning an observation post above East Timor's Same valley in late 1942 when he and his mate Tom Foster spotted a distressed girl being chased by an Australian soldier. They were situated about 800m or more from the girl and her pursuer became immediately alarmed.
At 32, Maley was one of the older men in the 2/2 Company, and the tall, square-jawed farmer from the fringe of the wheat belt east of Geraldton in Western Australia was a gentleman through and through.
The soldier from Maley's A Platoon was too far away to be apprehended, nor would he hear Maley if he tried to call out, so Maley exercised the only option he had available.
Armed with a powerful Bren machinegun mounted on a bipod, Maley swung the gun towards the soldier and fired a burst of carefully aimed rounds right over his head.
From the extreme range any ordinary soldier might well have missed and hit the pursuing soldier by accident, but the powerfully built Maley was one of the best marksmen in the 2/2 Company. The bullets passed right over the head of the miscreant, close enough to stop him dead in his tracks. The chase was over.
In saving the girl Maley had ignored an instruction not to open fire in the valley at that time, and he later had to explain his actions to his commanding officer, David Dexter.
By comparison, the conduct of the Japanese could not have been worse.
Shortly after arriving in the colony the Japanese rounded up young girls, many of them as young as 12, and forced them to work in as many as 15 comfort stations around the country. This policy was often aided by village chiefs, who were acting under duress and often found their palatial huts turned into comfort stations.
The Portuguese governor, de Carvalho, who feared that Portuguese women would be targeted by the Japanese, also supplied Timorese women to the Japanese. De Carvalho ordered prostitutes who had fled Dili to be brought back so they could serve the Japanese. He called this a lesser of two evils.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...ho-saved-diggers/story-e6frg6z6-1225902728642
An interesting contrast here -
Corporal Jack Maley was manning an observation post above East Timor's Same valley in late 1942 when he and his mate Tom Foster spotted a distressed girl being chased by an Australian soldier. They were situated about 800m or more from the girl and her pursuer became immediately alarmed.
At 32, Maley was one of the older men in the 2/2 Company, and the tall, square-jawed farmer from the fringe of the wheat belt east of Geraldton in Western Australia was a gentleman through and through.
The soldier from Maley's A Platoon was too far away to be apprehended, nor would he hear Maley if he tried to call out, so Maley exercised the only option he had available.
Armed with a powerful Bren machinegun mounted on a bipod, Maley swung the gun towards the soldier and fired a burst of carefully aimed rounds right over his head.
From the extreme range any ordinary soldier might well have missed and hit the pursuing soldier by accident, but the powerfully built Maley was one of the best marksmen in the 2/2 Company. The bullets passed right over the head of the miscreant, close enough to stop him dead in his tracks. The chase was over.
In saving the girl Maley had ignored an instruction not to open fire in the valley at that time, and he later had to explain his actions to his commanding officer, David Dexter.
By comparison, the conduct of the Japanese could not have been worse.
Shortly after arriving in the colony the Japanese rounded up young girls, many of them as young as 12, and forced them to work in as many as 15 comfort stations around the country. This policy was often aided by village chiefs, who were acting under duress and often found their palatial huts turned into comfort stations.
The Portuguese governor, de Carvalho, who feared that Portuguese women would be targeted by the Japanese, also supplied Timorese women to the Japanese. De Carvalho ordered prostitutes who had fled Dili to be brought back so they could serve the Japanese. He called this a lesser of two evils.
Featured products
-
John Lofgren Monkey Boots Shinki Horsebuttt - $1,136 The classic monkey boot silhouette in an incredibly rich Shinki russet horse leather. -
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - $395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. -
Schott 568 Vandals Jacket - $1,250 The classic Perfecto motorcycle jacket, in a very special limited-edition Schott double rider style.
