Timor. As such from early December Australian operations on Timor would be progressively wound down. On 15–17 December, the remainder of the original Sparrow Force—except for a few officers—was evacuated with Portuguese civilians, by the Dutch destroyer . Meanwhile, in the first week of January the decision was made to withdraw Lancer Force. On the night of 9/10 January 1943, the bulk of the 2/4th and 50 Portuguese were evacuated by the destroyer . A small intelligence team known as S Force was left behind, but its presence was soon detected by the Japanese. With the remnants of Lancer Force, S Force made its way to the eastern tip of Timor, where the Australian-British Z Special Unit was also operating. They were evacuated by the American submarine on 10 February. Forty Australian commandos were killed during this phase of the fighting, while 1,500 Japanese were believed to have died. Captivity After capitulation on 23 February 1942 those captured were held at the Usapa Besar POW camp. Many officers that were considered "troublemakers" were sent to Java and Changi in August 1942. On 23 September 1942 the rest of Sparrow Force were transported to Surabaya in the hold of an old Chinese freighter, the hellship Dainichi Maru . Sailing via Dili, the ship came under attack from Royal Australian Air Force bombers, and Royal Navy and Dutch submarines. After reaching Surabaya, they travelled by train to Batavia and marched to Makasuru where the British, Dutch and Australians were separated. The Australians were based around Tandjong Priok initially, while the British joined the RAF prisoners in No. 5 Camp, and the Dutch were sent to another camp. On 15 October the British was broken up and sent to different parts of South East Asia. Some were held on Java while on 18 October the rest of the battery boarded the freighters Singapore Maru and Oshida Maru to endure a one-week voyage to Singapore. Those Australians that were fit to travel were sent to Singapore during the same period. At Singapore, the Sparrow Force men were marched to Changi Barracks where they were medically examined and assessed for employment in labour camps throughout South East Asia. Some were sent to work on the Siam-Burma Railway, while others were sent to build a railway on Sumatra or sent to work in labour camps in Japan. Others remained in Singapore at Changi Prison. Those who