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JOINT
TASKFORCE: HMAS Betano embarks 50 Timor-Leste Defence Force
personnel and their vehicles into a remote area of Timor-Leste
last month, as part of a series of tasks for the LCH. Photo
courtesy HMAS Betano.
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By
LEUT Peter Taylor
Business with pleasure was the order of the day in Timor-Leste
last month when HMAS Betano carried out a series of tasks around
the tiny nation.
The tank deck of the LCH was used as platform for a Cocktail Party
hosted by the CO, LCDR Michael Oborn and the Australian Ambassor
Ms Margaret Twomey, before Betano set off on other jobs.
The ship was used to transport 50 troops and three vehicles from
the Timor-Leste Defence Force (FDTL), taking them from Dili to
Atauro Island. The island is 20nm north of Dili and is a remote
part of the Timor-Leste nation.
The opportunity to deploy a headquarters and two geographically
removed companies provided excellent training benefit for the
FDTL.
The next task commenced after Betano had completed its official
duties in Dili.
Fifty troops and six vehicles were embarked in combination at
Dili and then Laga, for transport and disembarkation at Suai on
the south coast.
Betano then anchored off its name sake, the township of Betano,
also on the southern coast of Timor.
Betano was the site for the resupply of Australian Commandoes
of the “Sparrow Force” conducting a guerrilla campaign
against the Japanese occupiers on the island in 1942. Small ships
created a fragile supply chain between Darwin and Betano.
Like intrepid archaeologists, members of Betano’s ships company
snorkelled the beautiful blue waters searching in vain for remnants
of the wreck of HMAS Voyager I. Betano’s crew reflected on
how previous members of the RAN had spent a very different night
in Betano Bay 63 years ago.
HMAS Voyager (I) spent the early part of WWII in the Mediterranean
as part of the “Scrap Iron Flotilla” and “Tobruk
Ferry Service”.
In 1942 she returned to Fremantle for convoy escort, patrols and
trooping between Australia and the S.W. Pacific area. Voyager
was chosen as the destroyer to replace the 2/2 with the 2/4 Independent
Companies in Timor.
Without an accurate chart, she anchored in Betano Bay at dusk
on September 23, 1942 and commenced disembarking troops over her
quarterdeck.
With a strong current, she was dragging her cable and drifting
sideways into the beach.
Unable to turn shafts because of the soldiers in the water around
the stern, Voyager ran aground onto the beach.
There was no chance of saving the ship and by low water she was
hard aground, her propellers embedded in the sand.
Japanese bomber aircraft discovered the wreck and pounded the
stricken ship. After shooting one aircraft down, the crew detonated
demolition charges and set fire to the ship to prevent its capture.
Voyager’s crew was evacuated without loss to Darwin on September
25 1942 by the corvettes HMAS Warrnambool and Kalgoorlie.
All six LCHs carry their name in honour of the locations of Pacific
WWII amphibious battles.
