One small Australia force, the 2/2nd Company was able to continue the fight, largely due to massive amounts of support from the East Timorese people.
The Japanese retaliation for the Timorese supporting the Allies, called Sparrow Force, left more than 50,000 people dead. To put just how devastating this loss of life was into context, it is estimated that the population of the region at the time was somewhere in the region of half a million: they was literally decimated.
When the Japanese surrender took place in 1945, control of Timor Leste was officially returned to Portugal.