Commando!: The M/Z Unit's Secret War Against Japan

by A. B. Feuer

Overview

This little-known story of Australia's M/Z Unit commandos, and the part they played in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, is a fascinating account of daring, clandestine operations conducted by the Allies deep into enemy-held territory. M Unit personnel were secretly landed to set up coastwatching posts and radio stations to report on Japanese shipping movements and bombing flights heading to raid Allied positions. Members of the Z Unit carried out assigned raids into enemy controlled areas, and also attacked targets of opportunity. Many commandos were delivered on their missions by U.S. Navy submarines that sneaked into dangerously shallow waters to put the men ashore—and then returbaned to pick them up. Other operatives were inserted by PT boats, Catalina aircraft, parachute, and snake boats. Many of these operations are still classified.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275954086
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/18/1996
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1080L (what's this?)

About the Author

A. B. FEUER is a military historian and freelance newspaper and magazine jourbanalist./e

Table of Contents

Foreword by Colonel Robert Barr Smith, USA, (Ret.)
Acknowledgments
The Beginnings of Allied Intelligence and the Pensacola Convoy
The "Rimau" Expedition
Commando Training
Operation "Python" in Borneo
Operation "Politician": The USS Bream Patrols
The USS Pargo at Woody Island
The "Politician" Patrols of the USS Bluegill
The USS Boarfish and "Politician" at Tourane Bay
Operation "Starfish" and the USS Rock
The USS Perch II and "Platypus at Balikpapan
The USS Hawkbill and Operation "Crocodile
"Semut" Operations and the Invasion of Sarawak
"Semut IV": Rowan Waddy's Story
Rescue From New Britain: Fred Hargesheimer's Story
Epilogue
Afterword by Captain George W. Folta, USN, (Ret.)
Afterword by Captain John Keith Leasure, USNR, (Ret.)
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Drawing mostly from their own accounts, tells the story of the secret guerilla fighters, mostly Australian but including some English and Scots, who harried the Japanese among islands in the South Pacific from 1940 to 1945 under the auspices of the British government and with the support of US warships. Describes actions in Borneo, Woody Island, Tourane Bay, Balikpapan, Sarawak, and elsewhere. Maps are abundantly provided, and contemporary photographs give faces to the accounts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews