Z Special Unit was a joint Allied
special forcesSpecial forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit formed during the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to operate behind Japanese lines in
South East AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Predominantly
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, Z Special Unit was a specialist
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
and
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
unit that included
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
,
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
,
TimorTimor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
ese and
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n members, predominantly operating on
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and the islands of the former Netherlands East Indies.
The unit carried out a total of 81 covert operations in the
South West Pacific theatreThe South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, with parties inserted by
parachuteParatroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
or
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
to provide
intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
and conduct
guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. The best known of these missions were
Operation JaywickOperation Jaywick was a special operation undertaken in World War II. In September 1943, 14 commandos and sailors from the Z Special Unit raided Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, sinking seven ships.- Background :...
and
Operation RimauOperation Rimau was an attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, carried out by an Allied commando unit Z Special Unit, during World War II using Australian built MKIII folboats. It was a follow-up to the successful Operation Jaywick, which had taken place in 1943, and Rimau, a shortened...
, both of which involved
raidsRaid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being...
on Japanese shipping in
Singapore HarbourThe Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade handling functions in Singapore's harbours and which handle Singapore's shipping...
; the latter of which resulted in the deaths of twenty-three commandos either in action or by execution after capture.
Although the unit was disbanded after the war, many of the training techniques and operational procedures employed were later used during the formation of other
Australian ArmyThe Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
special forces units and they remain a model for guerrilla operations to this day.
Formation and training
The
Inter-Allied Services DepartmentThe Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
(IASD), was an
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
military intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
unit, established in March 1942. The unit was created at the suggestion of the commander of Allied land forces in the
South West Pacific areaThe South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, General
Thomas BlameyField Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
, and was modelled on the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Special Operations ExecutiveThe Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE) in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was renamed
Special Operations Australia or SOA and in 1943 became known as the
Services Reconnaissance DepartmentThe Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
(SRD). It contained several British SOE officers who had escaped from
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and they formed the nucleus of the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) which was based in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. In June 1942, an ISD raiding/commando unit was organised—designated
Z Special Unit.
Several training schools were established in various locations across Australia, the most notable being Camp Z in Refuge Bay, an offshoot of
Broken BayBroken Bay is a large inlet of the Pacific Ocean located about 50 km north of Sydney on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the first major bay north of Sydney's Port Jackson.- Geography :...
to the north of
SydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
,
Z Experimental StationThe Z Experimental Station , Cairns was set up in July 1942, jointly by Secret Intelligence Australia and the Inter-Allied Services Department....
(also known as the "House on the Hill" or ZES.) near Cairns,
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
,
Fraser Commando SchoolThe Fraser Commando School was the main Services Reconnaissance Department training facility after training operations were transferred from the Z Experimental Station in October 1943....
(or FCS) on Fraser Island,
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
where a commemorative monument stands on the mainland overlooking the island. As a training exercise, one group paddled canoes between Fraser Island and Cairns. Another training school was the Special Boat Section at Careening Bay Camp, on
Garden IslandGarden Island is a slender island about ten kilometres long and one and a half kilometres wide, lying about off the Western Australian coast, to which it is now linked by a man-made causeway....
,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
Plans for an attack on Singapore
In 1943, a 28-year-old British officer, Captain
Ivan LyonLieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon DSO, MBE was a British soldier and military intelligence agent during Second World War...
of the
Allied Intelligence BureauThe Allied Intelligence Bureau was an joint United States, Australian, Dutch and British intelligence and special operations agency during World War II. It was responsible for operating parties of spies and commandos behind Japanese lines in order to collect intelligence and conduct guerrilla...
and Gordon Highlanders, and a 61-year-old Australian civilian, Bill Reynolds, devised a plan to attack Japanese shipping in
Singapore HarbourThe Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade handling functions in Singapore's harbours and which handle Singapore's shipping...
. Z Special Unit would travel to the harbour in a disguised fishing boat. They would then use folding kayaks to attach limpet mines to Japanese ships. General Archibald Wavell approved the plan, and Lyon was sent to Australia to organise the operation. Bill Reynolds was in possession of a 21.3 metre-long
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese coastal fishing boat, the
Kofuku MaruThe MV Krait is a wooden hulled vessel famous for its use during World War II by the Z Special Unit of Australia during the raid against Japanese ships anchored in Singapore Harbour. The raid was known as Operation Jaywick.-History:...
, which he had used to evacuate refugees out of
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Lyon ordered that the boat be shipped from
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Upon its arrival, he renamed the vessel
MV KraitThe MV Krait is a wooden hulled vessel famous for its use during World War II by the Z Special Unit of Australia during the raid against Japanese ships anchored in Singapore Harbour. The raid was known as Operation Jaywick.-History:...
, after the small but deadly Asian snake. Lieutenant-Colonel G. Egerton Mott, the chief of the
Services Reconnaissance DepartmentThe Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
, suggested that they should test the effectiveness of the plan by making a mock raid on a tightly guarded Allied port. Townsville,
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
was chosen for the location of the attack.
Operation Scorpion
In January 1943, Lieutenant
Samuel Warren CareySamuel Warren Carey AO was an Australian geologist who was an early advocate of the theory of continental drift. His work on plate tectonics reconstructions led him to develop the Expanding Earth hypothesis.- Biography :Carey was born in New South Wales and grew up on a farm three miles from...
, a Z Special Unit officer based at
Z Experimental StationThe Z Experimental Station , Cairns was set up in July 1942, jointly by Secret Intelligence Australia and the Inter-Allied Services Department....
, Cairns,
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, approached General
Thomas BlameyField Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
with a proposition for a raid on the Japanese-occupied port at
RabaulRabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
,
New GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. One submarine, with a small group of
commandoIn English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s on board, would be involved. The commandos would be dropped 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) off Rabaul. They would then use folboats (
collapsible kayaksA folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin made of a tough fabric with a waterproof coating...
) to travel into the harbour, attach
limpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s to as many enemy ships as possible, and then retreat to a
volcanoVulcan is a pumice cone in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the western rim of the larger feature. Its most recent eruption was in 1994, when in conjunction with another vent, Tavurvur, the eruptions of Vulcan forced the abandonment of the city of Rabaul and the...
section roughly 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Rabaul, where they would hide out until they could safely rendezvous with the submarine. Blamey was sure that the unit would be captured and shot, but he authorised the operation, and issued Carey
carte blancheFull Powers is a term in international law and is the authority of a person to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign state. Persons other than the head of state, head of government or foreign minister of the state must produce Full Powers in order to sign a treaty binding their...
authority to perform whatever actions he deemed necessary during the planning of the proposed operation, which was codenamed
Operation Scorpion.
'Raid' on Townsville
By the end of March 1943, Carey had assembled a team of nine men on their base at
Magnetic IslandMagnetic Island is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,107 permanent residents. The island is accessible from Townsville Breakwater to Nelly Bay Harbour by ferry...
. Lyon and Mott arranged to have Carey's unit perform a mock attack on Townsville, although they were careful not to commit anything to paper. Townsville was a busy harbour full of troop transports,
merchantmenA cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
and
naval escortIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
vessels, and tight security was maintained due to the constant threat of Japanese air and submarine attack. At midnight on 22 June 1943, the unit left Magnetic Island and paddled by folboat through the heavily mined mouth of Townsville Harbour. Dummy
limpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s were attached to ten ships, including two
destroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s. The men rowed into Ross Creek, dismantled and hid their folboats, then travelled into Townsville to find a place to sleep. Around 10:00 am, the limpets were discovered, and panic ensued. Carey was arrested, and despite producing Blamey's letter and earnest assurances that the mines were dummies, they refused to allow him to leave or to allow the removal of the mines, which the
RANThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
feared were real and might accidentally detonate. Mott was able to arrange Carey's release, but only on the condition that he left Z Special Unit.
Operation Scorpion was scrapped due to a lack of submarine transport, but Mott and Lyon had learned many valuable lessons from the raid.
Operation Jaywick
Operation Jaywick was an Inter-Allied Services Department operation to infiltrate the Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour and destroy shipping. On 2 September 1943, the
KraitThe MV Krait is a wooden hulled vessel famous for its use during World War II by the Z Special Unit of Australia during the raid against Japanese ships anchored in Singapore Harbour. The raid was known as Operation Jaywick.-History:...
, with a crew of eleven Australian and four British personnel, left
Exmouth GulfExmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...
,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The group, commanded by Ivan Lyon, dyed their skin brown and hair black, the skin dye later caused many skin problems for the members of the team, including irritation and reactions in adverse amounts of sunlight. They also wore
sarongA sarong or sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist and worn as a kilt by men and as a skirt by women throughout much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric most often has woven plaid or...
s, so that they resembled
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n fisherman. They arrived off
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 24 September, that night, six men left the boat and paddled 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) to a small island near the harbour where a forward base was established in a cave. On the night of 26 September, using folboats the party paddled into the harbour and placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships, the
limpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s sank or seriously damaged four Japanese ships, amounting to over 39,000 tons. The raiders waited until the commotion had died down before returning to the
Krait. On 19 October the
Krait arrived back at Exmouth Gulf having achieved a great success.
Operation Rimau
Operation Rimau was a follow-up to the successful
Operation Jaywick, which had taken place in 1943, being a further attack on Japanese shipping at Singapore Harbour. Rimau (Malay for "tiger") was again led by Lieutenant Colonel
Ivan LyonLieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon DSO, MBE was a British soldier and military intelligence agent during Second World War...
, a British officer on secondment from the Gordon Highlanders. Originally named
Operation Hornbill, the goal of "Rimau" was to sink Japanese shipping by placing limpet mines on ships. It was intended that Motorised semi-submersible canoes, known as
Sleeping BeautiesThe Motorised Submersible Canoe , nicknamed Sleeping Beauty, was built by British Special Operations Executive during World War II as an underwater vehicle for a single frogman to perform clandestine reconnaissance or attacks against enemy vessels.-Design:The MSC was designed by Major Hugh Quentin...
, would be used to gain access to the harbour.
Lyon led a
Services Reconnaissance DepartmentThe Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
party of twenty-two men. They left their base in Australia aboard the British submarine on 11 September 1944. When they reached the island of Merapas, which was to be their forward base, it was discovered to be inhabited. To ensure that their stores would remain undiscovered by the natives, one of the officers from the
Porpoise, Lieutenant Walter Carey, remained on Merapas as a guard. The party then commandeered a Malay
junkA junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...
named
Mustika, taking the Malay crew aboard the submarine the SRD men transferred their equipment to the junk and the
Porpoise departed. Lyon decided to drop off four more men with Carey: Corporal Colin Craft, Warrant Officer Alf Warren and Sergeant Colin Cameron.
Meanwhile, the
Mustika neared its target. On the day of the planned attack, 10 October 1944, disaster struck. A Japanese patrol boat from the Malay 'Heiho' challenged the
Mustika and someone on board opened fire, killing three Malays. Their cover blown however, Lyon had no option but to abort the mission. After scuttling the junk and the Sleeping Beauties with explosives, he ordered his men back to Merapas. Unbeknown to Lyon two Malays had escaped overboard during the firing and had made their way ashore to report the incident. However, using folboats, Lyon led a small force of six other men—Lieutenant Commander Donald Davidson, Lieutenant Bobby Ross, Able Seaman Andrew Huston, Corporal Clair Stewart, Corporal Archie Campbell and Private Douglas Warne—into Singapore Harbour, where they are believed to have sunk three ships. Lyon and twelve others were killed in action soon afterwards, the remaining ten men were captured and later executed by beheading in July 1945.
Operation Copper
Operation Copper was one of the last Z Special operations in New Guinea. On the night of 11 April 1945, eight operatives were landed near Muschu Island by
HDMLThe Harbour Defence Motor Launch was a British small motor vessel of the Second World War.The HDML was designed by W J Holt at the Admiralty in early 1939. During the war, 486 HDMLs were constructed, mainly by yacht builders, in the United Kingdom and a number of other allied countries...
patrol boat. Their mission was to paddle ashore and
reconnoitreThe concept of amphibious reconnaissance, or commonly amphib recon, are used primarily in conjunction with ground and naval reconnaissance concerning the littoral area bordering coastal or maritime areas of interests...
the island to determine the status of Japanese defences and validate reports that two 140 mm long-range naval guns were still in position. Intelligence suggested that these weapons were back in service and could prove dangerous during the forthcoming invasion of Wewak, as they had sufficient range to fire into the proposed landing areas and, while they would not stop the Australian invasion, they could cause significant casualties.
Caught by unexpected currents the four folboats were pushed south of their landing area and came ashore amid a surf break. All boats were swamped and some items of equipment lost, however, they made it ashore and harboured up until morning. At daybreak they commenced their reconnaissance of the island, soon encountering Japanese who, unknown to them, had found equipment that was washed ashore further along the island. Thus alerted, the island became a hunting ground, with almost 1,000 Japanese searching for the patrol. Attempts to communicate by radio with the HDML patrol boat failed, as their radios had been swamped and the batteries ruined.
Of the eight men, only one survived. Sapper Mick Dennis, an experienced commando who had previously fought the Japanese in New Guinea in several significant engagements, escaped after fighting his way through Japanese patrols. He swam the channel to Wewak while being pursued by the Japanese and made his way through enemy territory to eventually meet up with an Australian patrol on 20 April. The information he returned with proved vital to keeping the guns out of action and in preventing the Japanese from using the island as a launching point for attacks against the Australian forces during the Wewak landings a month later.
Borneo
During 1943–1945, Z Special Unit conducted
surveillanceSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
, harassing attacks and
sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
behind Japanese lines in
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, as well as the training of natives in
resistance activitiesAn insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
. The first of these operations was
Operation PythonOperation Python was carried out by the Allied commando unit Z Special Unit, during World War II. The objective of the mission was to set up a wireless station near Labian Point in North Borneo and undertake covert operations reporting on the sea lane of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Sibutu...
. Few details of these operations have been officially released, although details have emerged from the personal accounts of some Z Special Unit personnel.
On 25 March 1945,
Tom HarrissonMajor Tom Harnett Harrisson DSO OBE was a British polymath. In the course of his life he was an ornithologist, explorer, journalist, broadcaster, soldier, guerrilla, ethnologist, museum curator, archaeologist, documentarian, film-maker, conservationist, and writer...
was parachuted with seven Z Force operatives from a Consolidated Liberator onto a high plateau occupied by the
KelabitThe Kelabit, who have close ties to the Lun Bawang, are an indigenous people of the Sarawak highlands in Borneo with a minority in the neighbouring state of Brunei. The elevation there is slightly over 1,200 meters...
people. An autobiographical account of this operation (SEMUT I, one of four SEMUT operations in the area) is given in
World Within (Cresset Press, 1959); there are also reports—not always flattering—from some of his comrades. His efforts to rescue stranded American airmen shot down over Borneo are a central part of "The Airmen and the Headhunters," an episode of the PBS television series
Secrets of the DeadSecrets of the Dead is a PBS television series produced by Thirteen/WNET New York. The show generally follows an investigator or team of investigators exploring what modern science can tell us about some of the great mysteries of history...
.
In his memoirs, former leading aircraftsman,
Jack Wong SueJack Wong Sue, OAM, DCM, JP also known as Jack Sue was a Chinese Australian from Perth, Western Australia. Wong Sue served as a member of the commando/special reconnaissance section, Z Special Unit....
, claimed that Z Special Unit commandos in Borneo killed 1,700 Japanese for the loss of 112 commandos, as well as training more than 6,000 guerrillas. The activities of the commandos laid the groundwork for the
Allied invasion of Borneo in 1945The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area, during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and...
.
New Zealand recruits
During the southern winter of 1944, twenty-two
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
soldiers, based at Trentham Military Camp, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north of
WellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
were sent to train with Z Special Unit in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. They were then sent to
Fraser Commando SchoolThe Fraser Commando School was the main Services Reconnaissance Department training facility after training operations were transferred from the Z Experimental Station in October 1943....
, on Fraser Island,
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, to be trained in using parachutes, unarmed combat, explosives and the
Malay languageMalay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
. Four New Zealanders were killed during operations in Borneo.
Major Stott and Captain McMillan were both presumed drowned in heavy seas while going ashore in a rubber boat from the submarine in
BalikpapanBalikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
Bay on 20 March 1945. Their bodies were never found. Warrant Officer Houghton made it to shore in a second boat but was captured ten days later and languished in Balikpapan Prison where he died of
beriberiBeriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...
about 20 April 1945. Signalman Ernie Myers parachuted into enemy-held territory near Mount Mentawir on 30 March 1945, but landed with two other operatives inside a Japanese camp area. They resisted strongly, but the Australian in the party was killed and Myers was captured along with the Malay interpreter of the group. Both men were tortured for three days, before being beheaded. Their bodies were recovered soon after the Japanese surrender when Lieutenant Bob Tapper, another New Zealander who was working with the War Graves Commission, discovered their remains. Evidence given to the commission by native witnesses ensured that the Japanese involved paid the penalty for this atrocity.
Snake-class boats
The SRD used a number of vessels for its operations in South East Asia. Over the course of 1944–45 SRD took control of four 66 feet (20.1 m) trawlers that were constructed at the naval dockyard in
WilliamstownWilliamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....
,
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. These vessels were modified with more powerful engines and alterations were made to their superstructures in order to disguise them and make them look more like the types of vessels that were operating in the waters around South East Asia. They were designated "Snake-class" boats. Later, two more were built but they were not completed in time to see service during the war.
On operations the Snake-class vessels operated in tandem with a mother-ship. SRD operated two such vessels—HMAS
Anaconda and HMAS
Mother Snake—both of which were 125 feet (38.1 m) long wooden motor vessels. There was a third vessel laid down—AV 1358 (Greenogh)—but it did not see service with SRD during the war. With a crew of 14, these vessels were mainly crewed by a mixture of
Royal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
and Australian Army personnel with a naval lieutenant in command and an army captain as chief officer. The boats were officially commissioned ships and were outfitted with two 300–320-
horsepowerHorsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
diesel engines and armed with one
20mm OerlikonThe Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
as well as a number of assorted smaller machine guns.
After the war, the
Anaconda remained in service until November 1946 when she was sold and converted into a fishing boat. The fate of the
Mother Snake is unknown, although it is believed that she remained in Borneo after the war. The six Snake-class boats, however, along with the
Krait were sold to the British Civil Administration in Borneo. The MV
Krait was originally restored in 1964 and used for training and recreation purposes by the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol. The vessel is part of the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
's collection, on loan to the
Australian National Maritime MuseumThe Australian National Maritime Museum is a federally-operated maritime museum located in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After consideration of the idea to establish a maritime museum, the Federal government announced that a national maritime museum would be constructed at Darling Harbour, tied into...
in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Other vessels
- AL254 Charm, a 47 feet (14.3 m) lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
.
- AM355, a 18 feet (5.5 m) launch.
- AB1184 3064 and AB1185 3065 (Both ALC15 landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
).
- HDML 1321.
- HDML 1324.
In popular culture
Although it was essentially a clandestine organisation, Z Special Unit has been depicted in Australian popular culture on a number of occasions. The following provide some examples of this:
- Operation Jaywick was depicted in the 1988 Australian TV mini-series The Heroes. Unlike most popular depictions of SRD and ISD operations, The Heroes and its sequel Heroes II - The Return were painstakingly researched for historical accuracy.
- Operation Rimau was depicted in the 1991 Australian TV mini-series Heroes II - The Return.
- Operation Rimau was depicted in the 1982 Australian-Japanese feature film Heroes of the Krait, which was also known by several other titles in various countries, including: Minami jujisei (Japan), Southern Cross, Highest Honor and The Highest Honour: A True Story.
- Z Special Unit was depicted in the fictional 1982 Australian movie Attack Force Z
Attack Force Z is a 1982 Australian World War II film, directed by Tim Burstall. It is based on an actual event that took place during World War II, and was shot in Taiwan in 1980...
.
- The 1970s Australian TV series Spyforce
Spyforce was an Australian TV series produced from 1971 to 1973, based upon the adventures of Australian Military Intelligence operatives in the South West Pacific during World War II...
was inspired by the wartime activities of the Services Reconnaissance Department.
Legacy
There is now a public memorial to the Z Special Unit on the Cairns Esplanade. It was moved from the naval base
HMAS CairnsHMAS Cairns is a naval base of the Royal Australian Navy located in Cairns, Queensland. Although used regularly as a port-of-call since before World War II, a permanent RAN presence was not established until 1971, when a maintenance and support base for patrol boats was set up...
and rededicated on 26 October 2007. Those present at the ceremony were original unit members George Buckingham, John Mackay and the then commander of Special Operations of the
Australian Defence ForceThe Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
Major General
Mike HindmarshMajor General Michael Simon "Mike" Hindmarsh AO, DSC, CSC was a senior officer in the Australian Army. Hindmarsh served as Special Operations Commander Australia from 2004 to 2008, and Commander of Australian Forces in the Middle East Area of Operations from March 2008 to January 2009.-Military...
. The RSL plans to erect a permanent display of military equipments nearby.
The Z Special Unit Association (NSW Branch) was disbanded in March 2010 due to a decline in members and thus, the Association's last Sydney ANZAC Day march was held in 2010.
The new jetty at
RockinghamRockingham is a suburb and primary centre in Western Australia south-west of the Perth city centre and south of Fremantle. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and...
,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, has commemorative plaques to the Z Special Unit on each lamp post.
See also
- Allied Intelligence Bureau
The Allied Intelligence Bureau was an joint United States, Australian, Dutch and British intelligence and special operations agency during World War II. It was responsible for operating parties of spies and commandos behind Japanese lines in order to collect intelligence and conduct guerrilla...
- Services Reconnaissance Department
The Services Reconnaissance Department , also known as Inter-Allied Services Department , Special Operations Australia and Section A, Allied Intelligence Bureau was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II.Authorised by General Thomas Blamey in March...
- Far Eastern Liaison Office
The Far Eastern Liaison Office was a Second World War Propaganda and Field Intelligence unit set up under the orders of the Allied Land Commander, General Sir Thomas Blamey, on 19 June 1942...
- Secret Intelligence Australia
Secret Intelligence Australia was a British World War II intelligence unit commanded by Captain Roy Kendall who reported directly to MI6 in London. SIA was known as Section B of the Allied Intelligence Bureau but was not accountable in any way to the Australians or the Americans.SIA had two main...
- Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service
Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service , was a Dutch World War II era intelligence and special operations unit operating mainly in the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies ....
Further reading
(Republished as:
External links