About This Unit
No.1 Independent Company
No. 1 Independent Company was formed at Tidal River in Victoria, in June 1941 as the prospect of war with Japan was increasing. The company was deployed to Kavieng, New Ireland, where its primary role was to protect the airfield, but sections were also sent to Namatanai in central New Ireland, Vila in the New Hebrides, Tulagi on Guadalcanal, Buka Passage in Bougainville, and Lorengau on Manus Island to act as observers with the Coast Watchers.
They formed an independent element of what became known as the 'Bird' Forces, based around units of the 23rd Brigade, excised from the 8th Division based in Malaya. They were scattered across islands and archipeligos to Australia's north. The 'Bird' Forces comprised 'Sparrow' on Timor, 'Gull' Force centred on Ambon, and 'Lark' Force on Rabaul / New Britain. While 1 Independent Company was not 'under command' of 'Lark' Force, it faced the same challenges; they were too few in number, isolated from another and devoid of any chance of reinforcement or relief. In short, they were doomed in the event they faced Japanese Forces of any size.
On New Ireland, 1 Independent Company's role was to resist the enemy long enough so that the airfield could be damaged and other military installations, such as fuel dumps, could be destroyed. The company was to then withdrawal to bases further south from where they could wage a guerrilla war (as happened on Timor).
On 21 January about sixty Japanese aircraft, including bombers, dive bombers, and fighters, attacked Kavieng. The defenders shot down a number of aircraft. Later that day the Australians received a message that a Japanese naval force of an aircraft carrier and six cruisers was approaching New Britain. The Japanese landed in the early morning the next day.
As Japanese troops reached the airfield, there was some fighting as the Australians blew up the airfield and supply dump. The Japanese landed between 3 and 4,000 troops, hopelessly outnumbering the remaining troops still fighting around Kavieng.
However, the Company's only means of escape, a schooner named the SS Induna Star, had been damaged. On 28 January the OC, Major Edmonds-Wilson gathered his men and despite the damage, the schooner was able to set sail. On arrival at Kaut they carried out repairs on the Induna Star. Concurrently a land party began to withdraw to Sook. Not all of them made it. Some were captured.
Edmonds-Wilson intended sailing down the coast at night and hoped to reach the east coast of New Britain. By 31 January they had reached Kalili Harbour, but by then, they learned that the fighting on New Britain was over and that the Japanese had occupied Rabaul.
Edmonds-Wilson then decided to sail for Port Moresby, but on 2 February the schooner was sighted by a Japanese plane which strafed and bombed them - destroying the lifeboat and causing a number of casualties. The Induna Star was now taking on water and Edmonds-Wilson considered any further resistance useless.
The Australians were instructed to sail to Rabaul, with the Induna Star being escorted by Japanese aircraft until it was met by a Japanese destroyer. Thereafter, the Australians were transferred to the destroyer and became prisoners of war. After a few months at Rabaul, the officers were separated from their NCOs and men, and the officers were taken to Japan where they remained in captivity for the rest of the war. The NCOs and men had a much more tragic fate.
At the end of June, these men, along with the 2nd/22nd Battalion and other members of Lark Force, who had been captured on New Britain, and about 200 civilians, boarded the Japanese passenger ship Montevideo Maru. There were between 1050 and 1053 prisoners aboard. Unescorted by other Japanese ships, the Montevideo Maru sailed from Rabaul on 22 June, but on 1 July the ship was sighted by an American submarine, the USS Sturgeon, off the coast of the Luzon, in the Philippines. Tthe Sturgeon torpedoed and sank the Montevideo Maru without realising the nature if its cargo. Only a handful of the Japanese crew were rescued. None of the prisoners survived. All 133 men from the 1st Independent Company who were aboard the Montevideo Maru were either killed or drowned.
Those elements that had been sent elsewhere from the main group at Kavieng, fared better. Throughout 1942 these men worked with the Coast Watchers, reporting Japanese troop movements, until they were either evacuated or escaped from their various locations through the rest of 1942 up to March 1943 until they were evaciuated / repatriated to Port Moresby.
Most of those survivors were subsequently transferred to other Independent Companies, mainly the 2nd/5th Independent Company. The Coast Watchers became the foundation of M Force on the Australian Order of Battle. Their unit history is HERE (/explore/units/610)
The 1st Independent Company was not reformed.
Throughout the course of the unit's existence, it suffered 142 men killed in action or died while prisoners of war, including those lost on the Montevideo Maru. One member of the company was awarded the Military Cross.
Post-war various names have been applied such as the '1st Independent Company', '2/1st Independent Company' or '2/1st Commando Squadron'. These are all incorrect. All official records, less some personnel files of members, only refer to No.1 Independent Company.
In personnel files this error is usually entered into the record well after the unit had disbanded and all other companies had been renamed to include the 2nd AIF identity prefix '2/'.
The Unit War diary and official documents of the day only ever refer to No.1 Independent Company or 1 AIC (Australian Independent Company).
Compiled by Steve Larkins Jul 2024
Sources:
McKenzie-Smith, Graham 2018 "The Unit Guide The Australian Army 1939-45" Big Sky Publishing ISBN 978-1-925675-14-6
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Independent_Company_(Australia) accessed 2 Jul 24
Related articles:
Australia's Northern Periphery (/explore/campaigns/49)
'Lark' Force (/admin/units/Australia's%20Northern%20Periphery)
'Gull' Force (/collections/home-page-stories/the-loss-of-ambon-and-gull-force)
The POW Death Ships (/collections/home-page-stories/the-pow-death-ships)
'Sparrow Force'. A VWMA dissertation on the work of the Independent Companies on Timor has yet to be written - but it will be. It was the only success of the Bird Force saga.