Rescue at 2100 Hours

Timor, 1942. Twenty-nine Australian airmen are ordered to destroy an aerodrome, military documents and ciphers. They take cover in the jungle as the Japanese advance. This is the meticulously reconstructed story of their extraordinary survival in extreme conditions before being rescued in a secret mission. Flight Lieutenant Bryan Rofe, a 23-year-old meteorological officer from working-class Adelaide with no combat training or military experience, was appointed leader of the stranded party. With the aid of a 30-kilogram radio transmitter, Rofe led the party into the mountainous interior and made for the north-western coast of the island in the hope of being rescued by flying boat. So began a 58-day ordeal where the men endured and in some cases succumbed to malaria, dysentery and starvation while evading Japanese capture until, after three abortive rescue attempts, their radio picked up a strange signal sent from an American submarine,The Searave.