Footsteps of Sparrow Force

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The annals of military history contain many individual battles and small campaigns that are filled with deeds of individual courage and determination. Because of their smaller size, or the fact they were not directly part of primary larger events that foreshadowed them, most people including even those who follow military history are often not that familiar with some of these isolated engagements.

It often takes the determination of an individual or some small group of people to bring these type of small heroic actions to the forefront of the general masses. A good example is the actor Stanley Baker. Sir Stanley Baker (28 February 1928 – 28 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Using his newly-formed production company called Diamond Films, Baker produced and starred in a 1960's movie that most of you will be familiar with called ZULU, which told the story of the historic January 1879 defense of Rorke's Drift by the 24th (The 2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. What many people don't know is that Baker was an avid military medals collector and he personally owned the Victoria Cross awarded to Lieutenant John Chard, the officer commanding Rorke's Drift.

Baker felt that the battle of Rorke's Drift was not well known or appreciated in Wales, or for that matter, the U.K. in general, so he decided to create a movie to focus attention on the courage and valor of the small garrison of defenders of the mission station at Rorke's Drift. Although the movie itself is purely Hollywood in style and Baker takes a LOT of artist's license with the facts of the battle and various real life characters portrayed in it, his efforts did bring a huge awareness about this small battle where 11 V.C.'s were won, the most awarded for a single day's action in the history of the British Army.

So, what does this have to do with Footsteps of 'Sparrow Force'?

In simple terms, it demonstrates how one person with a personal dream and using the power of film, can bring a much broader awareness to historical events that have become buried with the passage of time. Ian Skennerton has set out to accomplish a similar thing, except his goal is to raise awareness of Sparrow Force, which was a detachment based on the 2/40th Australian Infantry Battalion and other Australian 8th Division units, during World War II. The force was formed to defend the island of Timor, from invasion by the Empire of Japan. It formed the main part of the Allied units in the Battle of Timor (1942–43).

Footsteps of Sparrow Force combines the old with the new; cherished photographs and records carefully preserved by an ever-diminishing number of survivors, recorded and processed using new digital technologies. It is about seventy years since those men left their homes and loved ones on the great adventure to the north. Europe, they thought, would be their destination, to see England and the Continent or maybe North Africa and the Middle East, to fight the Nazis. Few ever realized that when Sparrow Force was conceived and Japan entered the war, they would be sent to an island only a few hundred miles distant, that would change all their lives forever.

Funding remains a top priority for the production and we are in consultation with various associations regarding this. Should any visitors to this page or to our website know of Sparrow Force member families, photographs or momentos, we would be pleased to hear from you. Also, regarding the funding from any ex-POW, Services Clubs or Veteran groups, please do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail at idskennerton@hotmail.com or through our website at http://www.skennerton.com

We are now in the Pre-Production phase for 'In the Footsteps of Sparrow Force'. As well as the 2-hour television documentary, there will be a DVD of the production available which contains many new wartime photographs along with GPS references. This will enable the story of Sparrow Force to be followed today in real time on Google Earth, from your computer at home. It would be a tribute to the men of Sparrow Force, whose sacrifices have been generally overlooked until quite recently, if we could have the project finished for Anzac Day in 2011. Lest we forget.

... Ian Skennerton

After reading more about the Sparrow Force story and talking with Ian about what he's trying to accomplish, I felt that this project was highly worthy of putting our own collective site resources and individual personal member efforts towards, in order to assist Ian in whatever way we can. The most obvious thing we can help with initially is to act as a fund raising conduit through our site, giving our 13,000 strong membership the ability to personally donate to help Ian reach his goal of raising the funds needed to move to the production phase. Members who graciously donate will receive special site recognition, as well as donations over a certain amount will receive a complimentary copy of the documentary on DVD. Please watch for upcoming site announcements as to how you may participate, working with Ian and other members to help bring to life the production of 'Footsteps of Sparrow Force'.

This is the documentary Damian Parer filmed on Timor in late September 1942. A lot of the events are recreated and certain facts altered - including the name of Bill Sargeant's wife "Kathleen." Winnie the War Winner was Australia's Finest Hour as MacArthur admitted that it is was the first good news of the war that he'd received and a turning point.

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