The Battle of Timor occurred in Portuguese Timor and Dutch Timor during the Second World War. Japanese forces invaded the island on 20 February 1942 and were resisted by a small, under-equipped force of Allied military personnel—known as Sparrow Force—predominantly from Australia, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands East Indies. Following a brief but stout resistance, the Japanese succeeded in forcing the surrender of the bulk of the Allied force after three days of fighting, however several hundred Australian commandos continued to wage an unconventional raiding campaign. They were resupplied by aircraft and vessels, based mostly in Darwin, Australia, about 650 km (400 mi) to the southeast, across the Timor Sea. During the subsequent fighting the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, but they were eventually able to contain the Australians.

The campaign lasted until 10 February 1943, when the final remaining Australians were evacuated, making them the last Allied land forces to leave South East Asia, following the Japanese offensives of 1941–1942. As a result, an entire Japanese division was tied up on Timor for more than six months, preventing its deployment elsewhere. Although Portugal was not a combatant, many East Timorese civilians and some Portuguese colonists fought with the Allies as criados or (guerrillas), or provided food, shelter and other assistance. Some Timorese continued a resistance campaign following the Australian withdrawal. For this they paid a heavy price and tens of thousands of Timorese civilians died as a result of the Japanese occupation, which lasted until the end of the war in 1945.

Damien Peter Parer (1 August 1912 – 17 September 1944) was an Australian war photographer. He became famous for his war photography of the Second World War, and was killed by Japanese machine gun fire at Peleliu, Palau. He was cinematographer for Australia's first Oscar-winning film, Kokoda Front Line!, an edition of the weekly newsreel, Cinesound Review, which was produced by Ken G. Hall.

Damien Parer was born at Malvern in Melbourne, the tenth child of John Arthur Parer, a Spanish-born hotel manager on King Island and his wife Teresa. In 1923, he and his brother, Adrian, were sent as boarders to St Stanislaus' College in Bathurst and St Kevin's College, Melbourne. He joined the school's camera club, and decided that he wanted to be a photographer, rather than a priest. However, finding a job as a photographer in depression-era Australia proved difficult, and so he resumed his education at St Kevin's in east Melbourne. While at this school he won a prize in a photographic competition run by the Melbourne newspaper, the Argus, and used the money to buy a Graflex camera used by professionals.

Christian Jorgensen Brown (1896 - 1956) was a Native American dancer and costume maker who performed under the name Chief Lemee. Brown was active in Yosemite Valley from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Brown was born in Yosemite Valley, and in his youth, his family lived near El Portal. His mother was Lena Brown, usually called a Southern Miwok, who married John Brown in 1900. He probably had some Paiute ancestry, through a band called the Kucadikadi living near Mono Lake, and may also have had Chukchansi Yokut ancestry as well.

Brown was named after Norwegian-born artist and basket collector Christian August Jorgensen (1860-1935), who lived in Yosemite Valley for many years. He was "well-acquainted with Miwok ritual and religion".

Brown was known as "one of the most popular personalities in Yosemite", famous for performing "dances of his own invention, wearing elaborate beadwork and featherwork of his own design".

He incorporated a Sioux vest and mocassins into his costume, which he obtained through a relationship with the staff of the California State Indian Museum. A photo taken in 1929 also shows him wearing a war bonnet typical of the Plains Indians. His attitude at that time was to "give his audiences the tribal regalia they expected", and sometimes, he would mix "Plains and California regalia to create a suitable image."