By the 27th all British ships were ordered withdrawn from the Sunda Strait area and all the ships of 21st Minesweeping Flotilla were short of fuel with the flotilla commander ordering withdrawal to Tjilatjap for fueling on 28 February but "Bendigo" and "Burnie" were detached to rescue a party seen signaling from Java Head. On reaching the site "Bendigo" picked up fifteen and "Burnie" twenty-nine people that were survivors of the Dutch ship "Boero" that had been torpedoed several days earlier. Meanwhile, the flotilla had been ordered to return to Sunda Strait but the two ships with survivors were ordered on to Tjilatjap.