Formed in 1942, the Z Special Unit was an Allied recon and sabotage unit comprised of Australians, British, Dutch, New Zealanders, and Indonesian commandos which conducted 81 covert operation in the South Pacific during WWII.
Modeled after the SOE, their specialty was guerrilla warfare, raiding enemy harbors and destroying ships.
During their training, they used to carry out mock attacks on Aussie cities and ports without warning or knowledge of their own townspeople and military. They would sneak in and attach dummy mines to everything that floated, while simultaneously avoiding being blown up and dismembered by their own country.
In one operation, the men dyed their hair black, skin brown to look like Indonesian fishermen and sailed through enemy waters on a modified fishing boat in order to destroy ships harbored in Singapore. They had their own mini submarines, a vast array of weapons, explosives and a free pass from the highest levels of government to pretty much do whatever they wanted.
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Operating deep behind enemy lines came with its risks. Many were killed, captured or executed.
Often times, the small unit had to evade and survive with no support while thousands of Japanese troops were out looking for them. In one mission, only one survivor made it out alive. More then 80 commandos would lose their lives in a span of 2 years.
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The unit was disbanded in 1945 and their exploits kept secret for over 50 years. Some of the tactics and training are still being used to this day by modern Special Forces. #ww2 #commando #zerofoxtrot #stayzero