September 2009 marked ten years since the then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley announced that a New Zealand force would be sent to East Timor to provide a stabilising influence amid internal conflict. It would be the New Zealand Defence Force’s largest deployment in 35 years, since the Korean War.
All three Services have been involved in promoting peace in East Timor, and ten years on, the NZDF continues to work in what is now Timor-Leste. The NZDF is helping to create a stable environment to enable the independent nation to address its political future peacefully and constitutionally as it moves towards full democracy.
As at 21 September 2009 there were 157 NZDF personnel in Timor-Leste. The situation on the ground is calm but precarious. Five New Zealand soldiers have died during the ten-year deployment, including Private Leonard Manning, New Zealand’s first combat casualty since the Vietnam War.
Before the formation of the United Nations-mandated force INTERFET, Wing Commander Logan Cudby, then a Squadron Leader, was sent to Timor in 1999 as a UN Military Liaison Officer to help facilitate the Independence Referendum. As one of five initial NZDF personnel sent to Timor, he spoke to One Force editor, Sarah Chandler, about the logistics of overseeing a referendum, the resilience of the Timorese people, and why he got a bravery award for “basically turning up to a machete fight without a knife.”
In June 1999 Squadron Leader Cudby received a phone call alerting him that he may be called to go to East Timor as a United Nations Military Liaison Officer (MLO) as the Timorese prepared for a referendum on independence from Indonesia.
Ten days later he was on a flight to Darwin with his NZDF colleagues, Majors Jon Knight, Mark Ogilvie, and Philip Morrison. Senior NZDF Officer Colonel Neville Reilly had already arrived in Timor’s capital, Dili. Squadron Leader Cudby received only a day of pre-deployment training, however, he was an experienced MLO, having served in Somalia and Bosnia.
“You don’t learn to be a country on your own in just ten years, but the Timorese people are on the right track.” - WGCDR Cudby
On arrival in Timor, Cudby and his NZDF colleagues were paired with an Australian Defence Force (ADF) counterpart, selected because they spoke Bahasa Indonesian. Cudby and his partner were sent to Liquicia, a village about 45 minutes drive from Dili. He was not entirely sure of the situation he was entering into but “certainly got a heads up to what was going on in the place” when, on his second day in theatre, he became stuck between a group of refugees and militia who were attacking with clubs and machetes.
The MLO’s brief was to liaise with various factions and armed forces (particularly the Tentara Nasional Internesia (TNI or Indosesian National Armed Forces), the militia and the Falantil freedom fighters) and help ensure the referendum that was to be held in August 1999 would run smoothly.
Because there were no reliable census statistics for Timor, registrations to vote were just taking place when the MLOs arrived. The MLO’s operated unarmed, (“under blue berets”) something that, in hindsight WGCDR Cudby says was a good thing: “if we were armed, people would have a reason to shoot us, if you’re unarmed they don’t — that became more apparent as time went on.”
There were some hitches getting the independence referendum underway, but ultimately about 85% of East Timorese registered to vote. “It was impressive to see just how determined the Timorese were, to go ahead and vote despite massive intimidation. Many Timorese families were illiterate and lived on just a dollar a day — yet these people would walk 15 miles through the mountains in jandals, carrying their babies, just to register. Those same people returned on the day of the referendum to stand in the hot sun for hours just to vote. That was really impressive.”
The day of the referendum, 30 August, was “an amazing day”, WGCDR Cudby recalls. The militia threatened to take ballot boxes away and burn down the house of anyone who voted, yet 99% of people who had registered turned up to vote, ignoring the militia trucks trying to round them up in the streets.
Votes were taken back to Dili and the result — that the Timor people indeed sought independence — was announced on the morning of 4 September. Fires and violence began in the afternoon.
“We were at the UN Compound in Liquicia on the day of the referendum. The militia attacked us about 3pm, busting in with rocks and handguns. But we had cut a hole in a wall. Escaping, we drove down the road to the police station to call a UN helicopter to get us out, but our vehicles ended up taking a bunch of rounds. One American policeman took three rounds in the stomach — but he was back on his feet within the month”.
All MLO’s returned to the capital, Dili, that day to find infrastructure being burned (by now the number had grown to around 50 MLOs, including five more NZDF Officers). Each of the NZDF people had a story to tell: MAJ Knight had been at the Suai church just before the infamous massacre and MAJ Ogilvy had driven two days with UN volunteers across Timor, dodging in and out of security points. “It was tough times; Dili was being set alight and the MLOs on Dili patrols were finding regular evidence of torture and murder.”
In June 2000, Colonel (now Brigadier) Neville Reilly was awarded the New Zealand Gallantry Star for a timely action which saw him rescue NZ Embassy staff, minutes before their house was over run by militia. MAJ Knight was awarded the Member of New Zealand Order of Merit for his work in organising the evacuation of UN employees and Timorese refugees to Darwin. LT CDR Shaun Fogarty was also awarded the Member of New Zealand Order of Merit for his role in the evacuation from Baucau. WGCDR Cudby was awarded the New Zealand Gallantry Decoration. He describes his role in the incident for which he received this award:
“Drinking water was tight for the UN contingent in Dili. We were rationed to 1.5 litres a day but needed more because we were racing around in flak jackets in 30 degree heat. There was a UN warehouse down at the wharf in Dili that we were sure had water in it. There were crowds of Timorese down at the wharf being forced on to boats by the TNI and militia. I led the patrol. Without weapons or strength of numbers, we knew we’d be pushing our luck. So, with the mantra ‘fortune favours the brave’, we confidently drove in, backed our Landrovers up, opened the warehouse locks and started loading the water. For about ten minutes we got away with it. Then the militia recognised me from Liquica and started to get the crowd worked up. We jumped in our trucks, but my driver didn’t move. Then I saw he had a gun pointed at his head and men with guns and machetes had surrounded the vehicle – I yelled, he planted his boot and the gunman shot out the back window as we drove off. We’d gotten enough water to alleviate the shortage and the UN flights kept up the supply after that.”
WGCDR Cudby returned to New Zealand on 23 December 1999. He says leaving Timor brought about a “bizarre” mix of feelings: “Sure, you’re grateful to get out, but you’re also leaving behind all these people you said you would help. It felt better knowing INTERFET was coming in, and fortunately the people of Timor are very resilient.”
Asked what he thinks the future holds for Timor-Leste, WGCDR Cudby says he expects that the NZDF presence may be required a while longer. “You don’t learn to be a country on your own in just ten years, but the Timorese people are on the right track. It’s neat to have been a part of the start, and watch the nation advance in small steps over a decade.”
Timor Timeline
1999
May
- Indonesia agrees to hold a referendum about giving East Timor autonomy.
June
- The United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) is established to conduct the referendum. New Zealand supplies five military liaison officers and ten civilian police.
August
- The referendum results in an overwhelming vote for autonomy.
September
- Hundreds of thousands of East Timorese flee as the militia begin murdering, raping, and burning villages in East Timor.
- INTERFET (the International Force East Timor) is formed.
- The first elements of INTERFET fly into Dili. Special Forces troops secure the city’s airport and sea port.
- Two RNZAF C130 Hercules aircraft assist with the initial deployment.
- HMNZS TE KAHA escorts transport ships carrying equipment and supplies.
- HMNZS ENDEAVOUR sails into Dili to deliver aviation fuel and diesel.
- HMNZS CANTERBURY deploys at short notice to serve with INTERFET.
- The first elements of the RNZAF’s No 3 Squadron fly into Dili.
- Victor Company, 1 RNZIR, deploys into Dili, secures the western sector, and detains militiamen.
October
- NZ troops secure the southern town of Suai and establish a base there.
- The rest of 1 RNZIR deploys into Suai. More than 1100 New Zealanders are now serving in Timor with INTERFET.
- UNAMET is replaced by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to organise East Timor’s transition to statehood.
2000
February
- New Zealand forces continue to patrol Suai.
July
- Militiamen ambush a NZ patrol, shooting and killing Private Leonard Manning.
September
- Militia attack the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Atambua, killing three UNHCR workers. RNZAF Iroquois helicopters with soldiers providing security evacuate the remaining UN staff.
2002
May
- East Timor gains independence.
2006
May
- Following riots, gunfights and looting in Dili, Prime Minister Helen Clark announces the NZ government is dispatching an RNZAF 757, a Hercules C130 and New Zealand Army personnel.
- A further 124 soldiers from 2/1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment deploy to Timor-Leste.
July
- New Zealand soldiers have confiscated more than 1,500 weapons since they began contributing to the international relief effort in Timor Leste.
2007
April
- NZ troops patrol the streets of Dili with UN police and Timorese security forces to ensure a secure environment for Timor-Leste’s election day. The election is conducted peacefully.
June
- Jose Ramos-Horta is named President of Timor-Leste.
November
- Unrest continues to centre on internally displaced persons camps.
2008
February
- President Jose Ramos Horta is shot
- Alfredo Reinado is killed.
October
- RNZAF helicopter detachment ends mission in Timor-Leste.
Today
- The NZDF has an infantry company and support people in Dili to help maintain a stable and secure environment .