Special Operations Commander Australia address at the plaque
dedication on the 70th anniversary of Z Special Force.
Major General Jeff Sengelman, DSC, AM, CSC, address at the plaque
dedication on the 70th anniversary of Z Special Force, the Australian War
Memorial, Canberra, Monday 1 August 2016.
Check against delivery.
Minister, honourable member, distinguished guests, veterans, ladies and
gentlemen
Most especially, I wish to extend a warm welcome to the veterans of Z Special
Force and their families and friends. I would also like to acknowledge the
superb efforts of those involved from the Australian War Memorial, the Special
Air Service Association, the Australian Commando Association and, in
particular, the families of veterans for their dedication to make this
commemoration possible.
On so many occasions in the recent past I have stood at this sacred national
memorial and been mesmerised as its Director, Dr Brendan Nelson, with
incredible oratory skill, has honoured and strengthened our collective memory
of the extraordinary sacrifice of all those Australians who have served in
conflicts past and present. With a visible passion, deep respect and genuine
emotion, he quite literally brings to life the war stories of our past and the
people it touched. It ensures we remember with a dignity and honesty that
says much about us as a nation. It also helps us try to understand and
comprehend the scale and impact of the sacrifices made, and how these
contributed so directly to the freedoms we enjoy today.
This morning, as we come together for this Z Special Unit Plaque Ceremony,
and in recognition of the special operations heritage of Z special force, as
Special Operations Commander Australia, the honour of delivering the
commemorative address falls to me.
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Today, with us here, are 15 surviving Z Special veterans and the widows of 22
more. Although it has taken more than 70 years, to each of you, can I say on
behalf of a grateful nation, that with this plaque dedication, we honour and
remember the enormous sacrifice, we pay formal tribute to the incredible feats
of Z Special Unit and we reflect on the heavy impact on families and friends of
those who were left behind.
The history of the Special Operations Executive and the exploits of its units
and operatives in Europe during the Second World War are generally well
known and recorded. However, the war that unfolded in what was back then
referred to as the Far East, is sometimes considered the ‘forgotten war’ and it
follows that the contributions of Special Operations operatives in this theatre
are comparably less well known and recorded.
Even today, many Australians simply don’t realise that the efforts and sacrifice
of those special operations operatives, including Z Special Force, who served
in our region, were just as daring, enterprising and substantial as in any other
theatre of World War Two. That their contribution was directly related to the
defence of Australia and its neighbours, in my eyes, only adds to the
importance of their service and the significance of their recognition here
today.
For those who do not know, Z Special Unit was a secret element of the
Australian Military Forces and a principal force element of Special Operations
Australia during the Second World War. Today, the men and women in
Special Operations Command continue to study the recorded history of Z
Special. The archives were only released in 1981 and unfortunately, many of
the original records were sanitised at the end of World War II, so much will
never be known.
The organisation was part of the highly classified Allied Intelligence Bureau
and operated under the cover names of Inter-Allied Services Department and
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Services Reconnaissance Department. The veterans of these organisations
were the pioneers of Australian Special Operations.
Although it was unique at that time, they recognised the importance of joint
and combined organisations as vital to the successful execution of Special
Operations. Accordingly, Special Operations Australia during World War Two
included soldiers, sailors and airmen from Australia, Britain, France, New
Zealand, Holland, Canada, the United States, Malaya, China, the Philippines,
the Netherlands East Indies (Dutch and Indonesian), Papua New Guinea,
Portuguese Timor, British North Borneo and Sarawak. This was a true team
of teams and very much reflects the way we continue to operate today.
Special Operations Australia conducted over 80 operations, comprising over
264 missions into enemy occupied territory in the Pacific and South East Asia
theatres from June 1942 onwards. These were high-risk missions with
operatives being parachuted behind enemy lines from Liberator bombers, or
inserted from the sea by submarines or aboard disguised vessels such as the
Krait or the famous Snake-Boats. In all, 164 of these operatives were killed,
75 captured, and 178 were declared missing-in-action.
In all, over 300 Z operatives operated in small groups behind enemy lines
throughout the Asia-Pacific for nearly four years. Their purpose was to
conduct clandestine operations including sabotage and collection of
information to support the eventual invasion by Allied Forces.
They worked with indigenous fighters and, together with these brave people,
managed to control large swathes of territory to undermine and disrupt
Japanese operations. They reported on the movements of land and maritime
forces and conducted raids that struck at the heart of enemy capabilities.
Their presence and activities created doubt and uncertainty amongst the
enemy and provided solidarity and resolve to their indigenous partners.
Consequently, they helped forge a unique Australian Special Operations
identity that still resonates strongly.
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While techniques, equipment and technology available to special operations
today may have changed remarkably since then, I would offer that there is
much that would be common in the character, courage and commitment
between Z special operatives of the past and their modern counterparts. In
fact, I don’t doubt that given the chance, each of the Z special veterans with
us here would happily show us a thing or two given the incredible skills and
experiences they have!
So what made them ‘special’? Well primarily, they were asked to do a great
deal, with very little and at great personal risk. Moreover, they volunteered to
do it. Subsequently, in the course of extremely arduous and demanding
training, they were individually selected and went on to undertake missions of
such audacity, risk and daring; that even now, stand apart.
After surviving their insertion, by methods that at the time were still new and
developing, they had to evade detection. They operated in isolation,
surrounded and outnumbered by a ruthless enemy in some of the most
challenging terrain imaginable, sustaining themselves with only the equipment
they could carry and what resources they could win locally.
Their success depended on their ingenuity, guile, endurance, teamwork, and
their personal ability to gain the confidence and trust of local indigenous
people, alongside whom, they would operate and fight.
These factors characterised the superb and better-known successes
exemplified on Operations such as Jaywick and Semut. In 1945, the Semut
operatives tirelessly trudged from kampung to kampung through the remote
interior of Borneo, now part of Malaysia and Indonesia. Together this team
controlled an area of 16,000 square miles containing 125,000 people where
the enemy could not operate freely.
There were many extraordinary successes and there were also missions that
ended in tragedy, like those that were mounted in the early years of the war
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like Lizard in Timor, and Perch in Irian Jaya where so many operatives were
lost.
Or Operation Rimau in October 1944 where operatives were evading south
from Singapore through what is now the Riau Province of Indonesia. All of
these brave men were ultimately lost but the psychological impact on the
enemy was substantial. To know that there were men like this, willing to
undertake such risks, so far away, without any support and who could strike
them anywhere, at any time, had a profound effect on the enemy.
For me, the incredible story of Sapper Dennis, the sole survivor from
Operation Copper conducted near Aitape in April 1945 underscores this point.
His seven companions all perished, four in the sea, another three in an
ambush. His subsequent seven-day evasion back to an Australian unit, for
which he was awarded the Military Medal, was simply amazing.
I say this, not to single him out, but to highlight the risk and uncertainty that
routinely characterised these kinds of missions, and in some respects, are
factors that endure for modern special operations today.
To the Z special veterans here.
You might be interested to know that Special Operations in 2016 still includes
the capacity to conduct clandestine activities to support national and strategic
requirements.
As with our forebears in Z Special Unit and Special Operations Australia, our
operations continue to be characterised by their joint and interagency nature
and the ability to integrate and work with counterparts and cultures from
around the globe. We remain a team of teams, and we always will be.
Our adversaries today are different, but they are no less ruthless. I suspect
that those of Z Special who were involved in recovering the Sultan of Ternate
on Operation Oppossum, or rescuing the airmen on Operation Raven would
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relate to the adversaries current special operations forces, have and are
continuing to face in the Middle East.
While thankfully we are no longer faced with the imperative to issue cyanide
tablets to our operatives, we continue today to expect tight operational
security and endure interrogation if captured. Our communications procedures
are still mindful of Operation Lagarto in Timor where faulty staff procedures
led to the compromise of several groups in succession.
Even though our submarines and other technology are very different from the
incorrigible sleeping beauty submersible canoes, in other ways we are no
more advanced. Lieutenant Malcolm Wright who strapped his dinghy on the
outside of the submarine before inserting into New Britain as a coast watcher
might be surprised to know that not much has changed!
Those of you in 200 Flight would be pleased to know that in the air these days
we can parachute from 25,000 feet as well as from a very low level.
Pleasingly, though, we do not have to pack our own parachutes like Sergeant
Danny Shepherd and his team did the night before inserting into Borneo.
On the sabotage side of life, the standard demolition charge of one and three
quarters pounds of plastic explosive designed to fit inside a railway "I" beam is
still used, although its relative importance has diminished.
And unlike Operation Starfish, we would probably use beacons and target
designation systems to direct bombs onto targets in the Lombok Strait.
Those of you who served in the Far Eastern Liaison Office would note the
current use of the internet to wage modern propaganda war or Information
Operations as it is now known and nowadays the headquarters for Special
Operations approximates what you would recall as the headquarters of the
Allied Intelligence Bureau in Queen's Road in Melbourne.
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Z Experimental Station, or what you knew as the ‘house on the hill’ behind
Cairns burnt down some years ago, but you can rest assured that today their
modern equivalents means that there are other ‘houses’ on other hills, and
their utility serves exactly the same purpose.
Today, training that you would have associated with Fraser Island is done all
around the country and overseas. The modern daily programs still have a lot
of commonality with Z, although modern operators are just as likely to be
carrying a computer, as they will be a rifle.
The Lugger Maintenance Station at the leper colony in Darwin is long gone,
but we have maintained the tradition of naming our offshore safety craft after
your snake-boats. The Coral Snake is alive and well in Gauge Roads off
Fremantle.
The Z signallers will not be surprised to learn that radio communications are
still fickle, and while there are many technological advances with digital and
satellite equipment, they still require constant attention and care to keep Mr
Murphy at bay. I am reminded of the story of Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyons
who deployed with a radio but no codes. That would not happen today (I
hope!) as radios now electronically generate their own codes.
I conclude my remarks by citing Professor Alan Powell from his account of the
Allied Intelligence Bureau in his book ‘War By Stealth’, “yours is an image of
courage, endurance and daring left by men who fought a ruthless enemy in
the forests and mountains of South East Asia. Theirs is a tale to be
remembered.”
The record, shortly to be enshrined in the Z Special Unit plaque dedicated
here today, clearly shows that the volunteers who served in Z Special were
not found wanting in our nations time of great need, and it was indeed, their
finest hour.
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Operatives of Z Special Unit, past and present, on behalf of every Australian,
the Australian Defence Force and in particular, all members of Special
Operations Command Australia, we salute you.
Thank you.
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