one surviving (Keith Hayes) and one (Peter Alexander) being marched away to be a POW for the rest of the war. Both men survived the war. Outnumbered, the surviving Australians then withdrew to the south and to the east, into the mountainous interior. Van Straten and 200 Dutch East Indies troops headed southwest toward the border. Japanese landings in Dutch Timor, 19–20 February 1942 On the same night, Allied forces in Dutch Timor also came under extremely intense air attacks, which had already caused the small RAAF force to be withdrawn to Australia. The bombing was followed up by the landing of the main body of the 228th Regimental Group—two battalions totalling around 4,000 men—on the undefended southwest side of the island, at the Paha River. Five Type 94 tankettes were landed to support the Japanese infantry, and the force advanced north, cutting off the Dutch positions in the west and attacking the 2/40th Battalion positions at Penfui. A Japanese company thrust north-east to Usua, aiming to cut off the Allied retreat. In response Sparrow Force HQ was immediately moved further east, towards Champlong. Leggatt ordered the destruction of the airfield, but the Allied line of retreat towards Champlong had been cut off by the dropping of about 500 Japanese marine paratroopers, from the 3rd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, near Usua, east of Kupang. After heavy resistance around the village of Babau and a second airdrop of 300 paratroopers, Sparrow Force cleared the village by the night of the 21st with plans to move eastward in the morning. By then, the Japanese had dug in defensive positions on Usua Ridge with a mountain howitzer and heavy machine guns near the road. After an Australian mortar and machine gun barrage, Captain Johnson of A Company, Captain Roff of B Company and Captain Burr of C Company led their platoons in a bayonet charge up the ridge, followed by R Company (Reinforcements). Gunners of the 2/1st Heavy Battery and sappers of the 2/1st Fortress Engineers reinforced the infantry platoons in the action. After the devastating assault on the paratroopers, Sparrow Force had killed all but 78 of the 850 paratroopers. Sparrow Force suffered only a few dozen losses. Sparrow Force was then attacked from the west by the main Japanese force of about 3,000 men with tanks and artillery units. By destroying the bridges as they advanced east, Sparrow Force achieved