Z Special Unit () was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist clandestine operation, direct action, long-range penetration, sabotage, and special reconnaissance unit that included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian members, predominantly operating on Borneo and the islands of the former Dutch East Indies.Horner 1989, p. 26
The unit carried out a total of 81 covert operations in the South West Pacific theatre, with parties inserted by parachuting or submarine to provide military intelligence and conduct direct action, irregular warfare (e.g. guerrilla warfare), long-range penetration, and special reconnaissance.Courtney 1993, p. 14 and Horton 1983, p. 150 The best known of these missions were Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau, both of which involved raids on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour; the latter of which resulted in the deaths of 23 commandos either in action or by execution after capture.Horner 1989, p. 26
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 Army special forces units and they remain a model for guerrilla operations to this day.Horner 1989, p. 27
History Formation and training The Inter-Allied Services Department (IASD), was an Allied military intelligence unit, established in March 1942. The unit was created at the suggestion of the commander of Allied land forces in the South West Pacific area, General Thomas Blamey, and was modelled on the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in London. It was renamed Special Operations Australia (SOA) and in 1943 became known as the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD).Dennis et al 2008, p. 508.
It contained several British SOE officers who had escaped from Singapore, and they formed the nucleus of the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) which was based in Melbourne. 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 Bay to the north of Sydney, Z Experimental Station (also known as the "House on the Hill" or ZES) near Cairns, Queensland, Fraser Commando School (or FCS) on Fraser Island, Queensland where a commemorative monument stands on the mainland overlooking the island. As a training exercise, one group led by Samuel Warren Carey paddled folboats between Fraser Island and Cairns. Another training school was the Special Boat Section at Careening Bay Camp, on Garden Island, Western Australia.Powell 1996, p. 119 and pp. 196–198. Another, in Darwin on the site of the Quarantine Station, was named the Lugger Maintenance Section to disguise its true purpose.
Plans for an attack on Singapore In 1943, a 28-year-old British officer, Captain Ivan Lyon of the Allied Intelligence Bureau and Gordon Highlanders, and a 61-year-old Australian civilian, Bill Reynolds, devised a plan to attack Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour. 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.Courtney 1993, p. 3.
Bill Reynolds was in possession of a long Japanese coastal fishing boat, the Kofuku Maru, which he had used to evacuate refugees out of Singapore. Lyon ordered that the boat be shipped from India to Australia. Upon its arrival, he renamed the vessel MV Krait, after the small but deadly Asian snake.Courtney 1993, p. 3. Lieutenant-Colonel G. Egerton Mott, the chief of the Services Reconnaissance Department, suggested that they should test the effectiveness of the plan by making a mock raid on a tightly guarded Allied port. Townsville, Queensland was chosen for the location of the attack.McKie 1960, pp. 45–53.
Operation Scorpion
In January 1943, Lieutenant Samuel Warren Carey, a Z Special Unit officer based at Z Experimental Station, Cairns, Queensland, approached General Thomas Blamey with a proposition for a raid on the Japanese-occupied port at Rabaul, New Guinea. One submarine, with a small group of commandos on board, would be involved. The commandos would be dropped off Rabaul.Powell 1996, pp. 64–65.
They would then use their Hoehn military folboats (collapsible kayaks) to travel into the harbour and attach limpet mines to as many enemy ships as possible. They would then retreat to a volcano section roughly 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 blanche authority to perform whatever actions he deemed necessary during the planning of the proposed operation, which was codenamed Operation Scorpion.Powell 1996, pp. 64–65.
By the end of March 1943, Carey had assembled a team of nine men on their base at Magnetic Island. 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, merchantmen and naval escort vessels, and tight security was maintained due to the constant threat of Japanese air and submarine attack.Thompson and Macklin 2002, pp. 59–61.
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 mines were attached to ten ships, including two destroyers. 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 RAN 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.Powell 1996, pp. 64–65.
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 Krait, with a crew of eleven Australian and four British personnel, left Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. 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 sarongs, so that they resembled Indonesian fisherman.Courtney 1993, pp. 3–4.
They arrived off Singapore on 24 September and that night six men left the boat. They paddled 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 mines 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 Lyon, 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 Beauties, would be used to gain access to the harbour.Powell 1996, p. 124.
Lyon led a Services Reconnaissance Department party of twenty-two men. They left their base in Australia aboard the British submarine on 11 September 1944.Thompson and Macklin 2002, p. 149. 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 junk 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.Thompson and Macklin 2002, pp. 154–160.
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, 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. Unbeknownst to Lyon, two Malays had escaped overboard during the firing and had made their way ashore to report the incident.Thompson and Macklin 2002, pp. 165–167.
The Hoehn Mk III folboats stored in the Mustika were deployed to make the party's way to Merapas. Hoehn 2011, p. 70, 72 and pp.99-103 Using these 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.Thompson and Macklin 2002, p. 169. Lyon and twelve others were killed in action soon afterwards, and the remaining ten men were captured and later executed by beheading in July 1945.Thompson and Macklin 2002, p. 210 and 243.
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 HDML patrol boat. Their mission was to paddle ashore and reconnoitre 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.Dennis 2006, p. 58.
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, but they made it ashore and harboured up until morning.Dennis 2006, pp. 61–64. At daybreak they commenced their reconnaissance of the island, soon encountering Japanese who, unbeknownst 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.Dennis 2006, pp. 65–67. Attempts to communicate by radio with the HDML patrol boat failed, as their radios had been swamped and the batteries ruined.Dennis 2006, p. 70.