As you know we love learning about allied militaries. One thing we really like learning about are the special, secret forces, special ops! This is Australia's Z Special Unit from World War 2! These incredibly brave and fierce warriors were a massive force to be reckoned with! What they had to do, what they did do and how some survived is almost unbelievable! Join us as we learn about this special unit that really gave the Japanese a very serious fright! Thank you SO much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!
Most Americans do not know about Australia involvement in WW2 because America lied about Australia involvement and said we mainly just did mop up missions or handled the POW'S. Sad your country dissrespected the memories and loses of brave Aussies. I still habe many arguments with Yanks of how Aussies did so much more, we were the main ground forces in Pacific until German defeat late 1933- early 44.
Here in Western Australia there was a Japanese Australian , Jack Sue , who ran a local dive shop here in Perth , we found out in the 80s his story , he was one of the Z force survivors who paddled into Singapore and also was in Borneo , just a quiet man a diving expert running his dive school , but man how some people can go above and beyond in a crisis . Amazing man , amazing story
As a British citizen i am honoured to have the Australians as allies , they have proved themselves time and time again to be a great nation and friend to their allies , what a great country .
Always have always be at your side whenever we are required, as a retired military man I was proud to stand beside british soldiers in times of trouble.🦘🦘💖💖
The most impressive thing that Z Special Unit accomplished was scaring the Japanese so badly, that ALL members of Z Special Unit had a bounty on their heads. They should be National Heroes and celebrated as such. Great video as usual.
I'm proud of my uncle who was an Australian Commando in New Guinea. Not a member of Z Force, he occasionally mentioned them with great reverence. He himself had something of a reputation. He would recite, in loud voice, Shakespeare, from his foxhole which he said put fear into the Japanese more than a stray bullet.
I’m so proud so say my great Uncle was a member of Z special Unit. THANK YOU for making this video and for your kind words about the unit. Unfortunately I can’t give you any information as Uncle didn’t really speak about what happened during his time in the unit. At first because of the secrecy contract and then later I think had emotionally shut down. I believe it was quite traumatic for him from what older members of my family have said. On a personal level you might find interesting though. My Uncle served in to Borneo towards the end of the was with his unit and part of his job was training civilians to help fight the Japanese and there was two women who had disguised themselves as men to help fight. It didn’t take Uncle long to realise that they were women and also sisters. They have both passed away now but lived long and good lived and one of them became my Great Aunt. Yes, my Great Uncle went back after the war ended and they got married.
One of the Z Force commandos who was on the Krait mission to Singapore was Jack Sue. He also survived the war and became a diving specialist and then having Perth' s well known diving academy to teach SCUBA diving. After 1980 or so, he and the others were finally able to reveal their stories about the Z Force missions through the war. so yes, I did know some of these stories. Some other interesting guys were the "coast watchers". These were guys secretly inserted on to enemy occupied territory throughout the south Pacific islands. They would observe enemy movements and report via radio the information. They were always being hunted of course, and some did not survive.
I knew someone who was a RAN Lt. and served as second in command of the Krait during WW2 - he was not involved with the attack on Singapore. He sadly passed away before the secrecy was lifted so he never spoke of any operations but did say a little about the Krait and i have learned some more since. Krait was used for some 80 or so missions, some were transporting or supplying the coast watchers who provided vital intel on enemy movements etc.
Z force was the precursor to the SAS. I served for 17 years in the Aust infantry and the SAS were greatly admired by all of us . They really are the best of the best . Their most admirable abilities are that they just never give up and push themselves through extreme hardship. Incredibly physically fit , extremely highly trained and able to think outside the box they are the first forces the US calls upon when ever there's a scrap on. They are comparable to your Delta or Seal teams but we get by with less specialist equipment , which can be good as they dont need to rely on it. To be so far from help in hostile areas you would have to have really big kahunas.
You might like to find out about 28-year-old Australian Captain Barry Petersen who was sent to Vietnam in 1963 two years before the first official Australian troops arrived. He went into the mountains and did exactly what Marlon Brando's character did in the film Apocalypse Now. The CIA wanted his 'native troops' to use them for their program of assassinations but he wouldnt let them do that. In the end the CIA told him to get out of Vietnam or be killed.
What a heroic group of men. It’s an amazing story isn’t it?. I already knew about these guys. My grandfather helped the unit with transport for missions. My grandfather enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce the second his citizenship was official. There is a movie about this unit called Attack Z Force starring Mel Gibson and Sam Neil. Pretty sure it was released in the early 80’s. Thank you so much for showing these men the respect they weren’t shown back in their day for obvious reasons. Great video girls and thanks again.
G'day Nat & Deb... you are right. There is a film called Atack Force Z. It is a 1982 film. I highly recommend watching it. Heaps of Aussie & Kiwi actors starring in it. Thanks for looking at the proud history of our military... If you want a good WWI movie to watch, have a gander at The Lighthorsemen. It is about the Battle of Beersheba...
Thank you for your interest in our military here in Australia. My father served in the Australian Army during World War II and always said we owe the Americans who came to our aid when needed.
Aussie combat vet Thank you ladies for reacting to the unit my great uncle served in,the unit was not officially declassified & acknowledged until the early eighties,my time in service pales in comparison to the earlier veterans🇦🇺🇺🇸
Oh wow! Thank YOU for your service and your great Uncle was a badass!! And your time in the service matters the same as all other soldiers, past, present & future! 🫡
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow Aussie combat vet The movie attack force Z has a very young Mel Gibson but isn’t based on any actual mission, The movie The Heroes is based on the first Singapore raid and it has a young Jason Donovan 🇦🇺🇺🇸
There is also another movie the highest honor around the same operation and a documentary operation jaywick. I remember the heroes movie from when I was a kid.
@@2eREPPARA Heroes was a miniseries I think and I have been trying to get it on any sort of format for years, if you have any idea how I can get a copy could you please let me know.
I am an aussie and never knew about this so thank you for sharing. My dad was special ops and we never heard a lot of things he had done till later years. Hats off to all who serve and keep us safe.
Z Special Unit was predominantly made up of Australian personnel, but not exclusively, It also had New Zealand, British, Dutch, and some Timorese and Indonesian personnel in its ranks.
My father was friends with one of the Z special soldiers and I remember him visiting our house when I was young. The mans name was Jack Sue and from memory he was one of the members who blew up the ships in Singapore harbour.
Z force guys were real life Rambos. I think most Aussies know that they existed and especially about the Krait mission but I doubt we will ever really know how much damage that these heros inflicted on the enemy - lest we forget.
They were pretty much the opposite of Rambo. They were sneak in, do the job, sneak out. And much of their work was reconnaissance without attacking anything. Not exactly Rambo's style.
Folding kayaks are a plugged together wooden framework, with a waterproofed canvas outer skin. When packed the entire kayak is a small sack similar to a hiking tent bag, quite easy to carry, or strain like a backpack. Setting up or packing away can be mere mintues. If needing to make a emergency getaway, a few rocks in the pack and it all can be sunk into the water. In some cases even be retrieved later and used again. My father, from his teen years had such a kayak, which in Germany he used to travel many rivers, like the Rhein, Near, Danube to as far as Yugoslavia, and various lakes including Switzerland and Austria. In my younger years of 1950s on holidays he took me and my sister on some lakes and rivers. It had one feature I think the Australian Z Force did not have. It had an add on outrigger, a sail on short mast, and a dropboard/keel and thus became a small sailing craft, travel distances without needing much paddling. Also a pair of footpedals and cables operated a small rear rudder, meaning a bit of independant steering, not fully reliant on paddling to direct the travel direction, especially usefull in some rivers, that can have large whirlpool vortex effects due to deep rock structures in the river bottom. Less effective of course in rapids, where paddles are indispensable for direction control. Such rudder would have been useful on ocean travel a Z Force did with tidal and ocean currents, while needing paddles only to maintain forward speed. To go 100 miles would have been eased by such small sail, but in covert travel the sail would be a problem for making detection too probable, the sail being to obvious to observation.
During the Sahara desert operations against the Germans supported by the Italians, Rommel said if he had the Australians taking a fort, he would have the Kiwis hold it. He was very complimentary about the ANZACS.
I've had family in the British & Australian Military. My Grandfather was in the Korean War with British Army. My cousin did 3 tours in the middle east during the 2nd Gulf War 🇦🇺🇬🇧.
My dad was a commando in Borneo (not in Z force) but he only talked about 3 stories from his war only since he passed on I'm finding out more and I admire that man more and miss his everyday. Thank you ladies for this video keep them comming.
Another subject l didn’t know anything about so glad you chose to react and share with us the history of these amazing men , the strength and courage of these brave men needs to spread around the web the world
These special forces deserve to have their stories told. Stuff of legends. Service to ones country needs to be honoured while the participants are still with us.
The Krait is at the National Maritime Museum here in Sydney. I have seen it many times. Because it is small and dark people walk past it without noticing on their way to go aboard the destroyer or submarine. In this they demonstrate why Z Force used the Krait. They wanted the Japanese to ignore it, and think it unimportant. To those of us who know why that little dark boat is in the museum collection, we have huge respect for the big job that little boat did. It was used on many Z Force operations, and was present for the Japanese surrender on Ambon. Before Z Force used the boat, it was originally captured it from the Japanese by the American destroyer USS Edsall in 1941, then used it to rescue 1,100 sailors from ships sunk by the Japanese around Sumatra. The boat eventually went to India and Ceylon before being handed over to Australia for (but they didn't know it) Z Force in 1942. It had originally been named the Kofuku Maru, and Z Force renamed it Krait. Fun fact - because of the success of the Krait, Australian commandos have always named their boats after venomous snakes. Both the US and Australia can be proud of that little dark boat named after a small but deadly snake.
My former partner's Grandfather was one of the guys who built those foldable canoes. I was privileged to have had a quiet chat with him about his experiences not long before he passed away. We had a little in common as I had spent my formative years in Papua Niu Guinea and knew a little about the geography of his war experiences.
Yes, I had uncles in the war, didn't tell us anything. I only know of what one uncle was doing, as i found the squadrons records for the weeks before he didn't come back.
I have a story; a friend of mine was in a Scottish regiment who relieved the RATS; gave them their great coats which were used as pillows and allowed them to sleep. The next morning the Scot's cooked breakfast for them. .....if I think hard enough I will know the chaps from Fort George were.......The Seaforth Highlanders...
@@wizardofoz497 That Canberra memorial is brilliant and they change it all the time. Last time I was there I was on the bridge of a ship and on a bombing rum to Berlin.
Great reaction and appreciate the spotlight. As an Aussie Ineas somewhat aware we had soecialists in Borneo, along with British special forces .... But didnt really know any of this. My dad was an Aussie Rifleman defending South Viet Nam in 70s and he talked about a time meeting an SASR (based on UK's 22 SAS) trooper - he said he made thebmisrake of quipping that they had beaten the SASR bloke there... at which point a nearby tree had a human shaped chunk seperate ajd walk ofer to them. He had been living in the perimeter of an enemy bunker syatem and gave them very accurate intel for the attack they were about to make. I've heard the NVA at that time referred to our soecialists as Jungle Ghosts and had very high bounties placed on them.
Hi Natasha and Debbie. I have never heard of this Unit! I'm learning more about Australia from youtubers like yourselves! So keep up the good work ladies OX
Hi Ladies! Great vid! My grandfather was based somewhere in the Port Moresby area of PNG as some type of ground to air machine gunner trying to bring down Japanese aircraft. He never spoke a word about the war, however my grandmother did show me a ring he gave her that he told her he salvaged from a Japanese aircraft they shot down. Apparently he used a small file or nail file of sorts to smooth it down and shape into the ring he gave her upon his return. Thay are both at rest now, but my uncle still has the ring. We recently his service record amongst my grandmother's belongings, but a lot is redacted and cant be read.
As already mentioned, "Spy Force" is a 1971-3 Australian TV series based on the Z Special Unit actions in WWII. As a result they were reasonably well-known in Australia at the time. Since forgotten, I suspect. Also as mentioned. there are a couple of 1982 Australian movies: Attack Force Z and The Highest Honour (1982). The first starred the very young and then unknown Mel Gibson and Sam Neil; the second various Australian actors less well-known outside Australia. The TV series isn't too bad but I'd not recommend either movie.
Another great video, it makes me think about my grandad. He was British and wasn't in any special units but did fight in Borneo and would never talk about it. Must have been bad out there.
Great video ladies 😂 We're definitely built tough down under 😉🙃🇭🇲 Also, movie recommendation if you're interested: Gallipoli - definitely worth a watch if you get a chance 😊
If you get a chance - there was a tv series made in the 70's called Spyforce. Starred Jack Thompson. Bit cheesy but still gives you an idea of some of the operations they undertook.
There is a movie about Australia's Z Special Unit, its called Attack Force Z (1981) I remember watching it as a kid & being amazed at what they achieved. It stars a couple of big name you will recognise like Mel Gibson & Sam Neill. Its available to stream on quite a few services.
I am a veteran from the Royal Australian Engineers and the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers two separate periods of service. Thank you for your support.
The raid on Singapore, I believe, was made into a mini-series called The Heroes which starred amongst others Jason Donovan. I see the film Attack Force Z has already been mentioned, it also starred Sam Neill (better known for his role in Jurassic Park). Good call with this video Girls, love, hugs and prayers from Sussex, UK
Agas was a recon mission, trying to learn about the POW's (Australian, British and other Commonwealth soldiers) in the camp at Sandakan. That POW camp had the highest death rate of any POW camp in all of WW2 at 99.6%. 2,400ish went in, and only 6 survived. I read Paul Ham's book on it some years back and had to keep putting it down due to how horrifically the POWs were treated.
I found out when i was a teenager thst my grandfathers younger brother enlisted in WW2 as a 16yr old and left a note for his mum saying why. He was a sniper and recived quite a few medals for it. 2 weeks before the war ended he didnt make it home. Id like to thank everyone whos served our country and our allies it means more than anything.
Great reaction girls, Debbie you are right about a movie attack Force Z 1981 with Mel Gibson & Sam Neill, we also had a tv series called Z force in the early 70's if I remember correctly.
A member of the Z special unit, was Jack Wong Sue, he wrote a book on his time in the unit, called Blood on Borneo. Interesting reading, including operation Agas mentioned in this video.
Wow I have never heard of them before. These were a special type of men. So interesting I can see you enjoyed this one. Well done 👏👏👏There was a British film called cockleshell heroes xx
There was TV show called "Spyforce" in 1970 - 73. It was about natives and missionaries and Special forces who worked together to get ship and troop movement of the Japanese back to HQ. The Spyforce was a secret unit loosely based on the type of guerilla warfare that we knew went on with Zed Force as they became known, but no one knew till a decade or so later exactly what truly happened. Jack Thompson had small roles before this but I believe his "Erskine" character [one of the 2 special force guys it was about] was his first starring role. Also true to multi-national flavour of the Zed Force his partner was "Gunther". He had been a German born New Guinea plantation owner - he was with the allies.
I was 126 special forces signal commando corps in 1981. 3 years later I transferred to the Navy. We used to have a Z force night once a year to remember them and it was all secret stuff back then. I used to enjoy the training. I loved the navy too
My uncle was in Z force! But no one knew a thing about his service, only oral story told later was secret mission in North west Australia, intelligence sources possible reconnaissance by Japanese, where he found evidence of Japanese soldiers landings, saying that having landed in remote areas of no military use, they found a discarded raft and tracks! The other was in Japanese occupied island of Rabaul hiding in the jungle providing intelligence and one unbelievable thing was he was within 20 feet of a Japanese Base watching! 😱🇦🇺 National archives many documents have been accessed , but many still kept secret!
I’d heard a little about our Aussie Z unit, but wow, so much I didn’t know about. Amazing brave men, mind boggling what the did. My dad was in WW2, he wasn’t in the Z unit but didn’t talk much about the war, - and my dad could talk the leg off a wooden chair or talk under water😂. He married mum wearing his army uniform. I remember him cracking jokes when I was little, he said he killed more Japanese as a cook in the army - he was never a cook in the army lol. Gee those men from Z were unbelievably brave. Once again, wow, sat here with my jaw dropped listening to it.
Yes there were some movies related to Z operations, the Krait in particular. Also there was a TV show dealing with special operations team going into Japanese action places spying, sabotaging, rescuing civilians etc, can not recall the specific title right now, but involved two known (locally?) Australian actors.
Great video love watching these this one was epic my hat comes off to the z specials l love to see more like this or the SAS 😊 love and respect to the Australians and other service men and women around the world ❤
Australia probably had the first of all "special ops" corpses in the Boer War, in South Africa. Thus the legend of Breaker Morant. They were under British Command, they were selected for the climatic conditions in Australia, and the toughness of the soldiers was known by the British. This secret campaign was to sabotage an operative of the Boers in South Africa. One of which means some invasive military destruction of civilian property. This was the Australian legend of Breaker Morant. So the operative conducted these direct secret orders for London, the reason why they were there in the first place. It was a nasty campaign killing civilians. The Boers bitterly accused Britain of war atrocities. So what did Britain do? They denied any knowledge of it, and blamed "some rogue Australian soldiers of low character (implying Australians can be assumed low in character with Convict background, and innuendo of criminality". So the war hero that was successful in the campaign for the British was betrayed by the overlords, and he was shot by firing squad, his garrison was shamed by the British Empire as lowlife criminals. The Empire, Britain, has never apologized for this betrayal, and an insult to the Australian military, or the Australian Character. We now know the term "special ops", and this would never happen under international war standards. When will Australia get an apology? Will Prince Charles do it? th-cam.com/video/q8-CsE5HgRE/w-d-xo.html
You might be interested in the Australian Coast watchers who were landed (Alone) at night by submarine onto islands around Guadalcanal with some supplies, binoculars and a hand crank radio to stay on the move and report any passing Japanese warships to HQ whilst being hunted by enemy patrols looking to kill them. I can't imagine the personal fortitude required to do this.
My pop who is in his late 80s still has his father's uniform from WW2. He was killed in France while they were fighting off the Nazis in a certain town (I can't remember what the town is called). Pops uncle also died on the Kakoda trail and pop has his Helmet. It's always weird seeing the uniform and helmet, knowing the men who wore them died wearing them.
I've seen their boat Krait in person, absolutely mad just to have sailed that little flimsy and unarmed timber fishing boat all through the Pacific and Asia in enemy waters. So heroic. I read a good book in high school called "Fear Drive My Feet" about a young Aussie in PNG behind the lines with a radio and a few natives helping. He spent years reporting on the Japanese. The title of the book says it all. Another GREAT video ladies, thanks! Worth one day checking out "The Scrap Iron Flotilla" video from the same channel. It's the nickname Gobbels gave the Australian Navy in the Med, the name came back to bite him in the arse.
For awhile the Krait was moored off the Volunteer Coastal Patrol HQ at The Spit in Sydney. As the buses to and from the Northern Beaches passed by at high frequency, a lot of people would have seen it, even if they didn't know it's history.
I love you two ladies, I am actually learning along side of you, with the segments that you do on Australia. I love your raw honesty and passion for learning. Thanks for the lessons and the laughs.
My Uncle was in Borneo at that conflict British commando raids went on at the same time to confuse the Japanese My Uncle was pulled out because he got Malaria which caused him health issues for the rest of his life. He was a tough 5 foot 2 inch man reason they wanted smaller height flexible people is because they were hard to see and find and the Zed force caused Chaos on three sides behind the Japanese the Commandos Did the same at the front three sides Prisoners were found as mentioned in a famous film sadly no one would talk about the Prisoners the Japanese had captured of Allie forces so not sure what the had seen. Without the Zed men Japanese there would had kept fighting.
TYVM Ladies for covering Z Special Unit, I knew of them as a young man as I grew up in Cairns, the house shown early in the video was commonly known as The House on The Hill a nightclub & restaurant over various years. I grew up with the son of the owners and one day his father showed me a room out back which had in it some of the gear uniforms and equipment left over from Z Unit. I still recall the genius of the man who adapted machine guns etc to suit themselves and boots with human footprints cut into the rubber soul which disguised there movement as natives by leaving only footprints in the sand and dirt. They were very tough resilient and brave men. Th MV Krait was actually located and repaired for tributes paid to Z Force back in the late 80's I think. God bless them so few really did make such a huge difference. Keep Safe Keep Strong 🦘🦘🦘🦘💖💖💖💖
Thanks ladies. My dad was a Z Special commando (red beret). He never spoke about anything; they signed off on what he called the official secrets act, he wasn't free to say anything for something like 35 years after the war.
These operations were basically suicide missions. My father fought against the Japanese in New Guinea in WW2. What the Japanese did was brutal and despicable. He never wanted to talk about the war. The Coast Watchers were also brave individuals operating behind enemy lines. If the Japanese caught them they beheaded them.
Hi There is a movie Loosely based on these operations and here's a copy of the actors and director names - Starring Mel Gibson and Sam Neill. ATTACK FORCE Z (ZED) Directed by Tim Burstall Screenplay by Roger Marshall Produced by Lee Robinson Starring John Phillip Law Mel Gibson Sam Neill Chris Haywood John Waters Koo Chuan Hsiung Sylvia Chang O Ti Cinematography Hung-Chung Lin Edited by David Stiven Music by Eric Jupp Production companies John McCallum Productions Central Motion Picture Corporation Distributed by Roadshow Film Distributors Release date June 1, 1982 Running time 93 minutes Countries Australia Taiwan Language English Box office $88,000 (Australia)
The story of the Krait is well-known. I heard the story when I was a kid and that was back in the 1960s. The Krait still exists and is at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Postwar it been a working boat in Australia and Borneo before being brought back to Australia in 1964. For a further 20 years it was with the Volunteer Coastal Patrol before finally becoming a museum exhibit. There has been both an Australian/Japanese movie (The Highest Honour in 1982) and a British/Australian miniseries (The Heroes 1989).
Hi from Australia - there was a TV miniseries in 1989 about Z Unit raid on Singapore called ‘The Heroes’, and a sequel miniseries in 1992, ‘Heroes II: The Return’; just in case your interested
There’s a fairly decent, if somewhat dated, fictionalised TV series about Z Force called “Spyforce”. Made in Australia in the late 60s or early 70s,and starring a very young Jack Thomson,
😅come to Sydney and you can tour the Krait. She's at the Maritime museum in Darling Harbour. The movie was Attack Force Z, starring a young Mel Gibson.
Movie - 60’s - American film - not based on the Krait exactly but with elements of the Krait story - its a comedy - “The Wackiest Ship in the Army”. My dad loved this film Which brings me to apologise to you both. Told you back with your ANZAC video that my father served in the American Navy. Since then I have found out that the Small Ships were, in fact, the U.S. Army Small Ships. Based in Australia ports, crewed by Australian. . . Wait for it. . . volunteers. The men who volunteered were not suitable for regular service. My dad wore a hearing aid, which I thought he must have got either before or after the war. Not so: that was the kind of thing that disqualified these guys from regular services. These guys really wanted to fight, and this service - the Small Ships - was gifted to these guys by you Americans. I’m even prouder of my dad, and I’m thankful to the U.S.A. giving him the opportunity to serve both our countries. Attack Force Z, is a movie - thanks Deb,❤.
I grew up in Townsville, when they did the raid on Townsville they were driven North of Townsville with their kayaks and were going to then paddle down a creek to the ocean then onto Townsville. Only problem was the creek was dry and they carried their gear and kayaks about 18 kilometres to the ocean.
My Dad was an L.A.C.(Leading Air Craftsman - 79380 ) in the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) fighting against the Japanese in WW2 ( he was Mentioned in dispatches)
I was in high school when the 25th anniversary of the raid on Singapore was commerated. It was suprising who were among the members. On was our local CofE minister, another was the father of one of our school mates.
G’day ladies, you need to find out more about the Ausie, Pacific War effort, try the ‘ Coast Watchers’ many hero’s male And female, and anything from the same source as the Z Force
Back in the mid 1970’s there was a TV series called ‘SPYFORCE’ which was loosely based on the Z Special Force and what they did. It stared Jack Thompson.
As you know we love learning about allied militaries. One thing we really like learning about are the special, secret forces, special ops! This is Australia's Z Special Unit from World War 2! These incredibly brave and fierce warriors were a massive force to be reckoned with! What they had to do, what they did do and how some survived is almost unbelievable! Join us as we learn about this special unit that really gave the Japanese a very serious fright! Thank you SO much for watching! If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our channel, it is the BEST way to support our channel and it's FREE! Also, please click the Like button. Thank you for your support!
There was a news article out in June to say they are going to recreate the z special unit to tackle increasing threat of China in the indo pacific
Thank you for this video! 🇦🇺👍
The training of Australian troops is above and beyond, always improving and improvising!
Most Americans do not know about Australia involvement in WW2 because America lied about Australia involvement and said we mainly just did mop up missions or handled the POW'S.
Sad your country dissrespected the memories and loses of brave Aussies. I still habe many arguments with Yanks of how Aussies did so much more, we were the main ground forces in Pacific until German defeat late 1933- early 44.
Here in Western Australia there was a Japanese Australian , Jack Sue , who ran a local dive shop here in Perth , we found out in the 80s his story , he was one of the Z force survivors who paddled into Singapore and also was in Borneo , just a quiet man a diving expert running his dive school , but man how some people can go above and beyond in a crisis . Amazing man , amazing story
As a British citizen i am honoured to have the Australians as allies , they have proved themselves time and time again to be a great nation and friend to their allies , what a great country .
Same here Zero.
Back at ya mate
Thank you mates! 😄🇦🇺
Thank you 🇦🇺🇬🇧
Always have always be at your side whenever we are required, as a retired military man I was proud to stand beside british soldiers in times of trouble.🦘🦘💖💖
As an Aussie Veteran just want to send condolences to US team for the loss of the 3 Marines in the NT RIP
The most impressive thing that Z Special Unit accomplished was scaring the Japanese so badly, that ALL members of Z Special Unit had a bounty on their heads.
They should be National Heroes and celebrated as such.
Great video as usual.
One of my Uncles was in Z-Special Forces. He passed away a few years ago at 96 years old. Very proud of his service.
I'm proud of my uncle who was an Australian Commando in New Guinea. Not a member of Z Force, he occasionally mentioned them with great reverence. He himself had something of a reputation. He would recite, in loud voice, Shakespeare, from his foxhole which he said put fear into the Japanese more than a stray bullet.
I’m so proud so say my great Uncle was a member of Z special Unit. THANK YOU for making this video and for your kind words about the unit.
Unfortunately I can’t give you any information as Uncle didn’t really speak about what happened during his time in the unit. At first because of the secrecy contract and then later I think had emotionally shut down. I believe it was quite traumatic for him from what older members of my family have said.
On a personal level you might find interesting though. My Uncle served in to Borneo towards the end of the was with his unit and part of his job was training civilians to help fight the Japanese and there was two women who had disguised themselves as men to help fight. It didn’t take Uncle long to realise that they were women and also sisters. They have both passed away now but lived long and good lived and one of them became my Great Aunt. Yes, my Great Uncle went back after the war ended and they got married.
Thank you girls for giving our heroes respect and love they so richly deserve
One of the Z Force commandos who was on the Krait mission to Singapore was Jack Sue. He also survived the war and became a diving specialist and then having Perth' s well known diving academy to teach SCUBA diving. After 1980 or so, he and the others were finally able to reveal their stories about the Z Force missions through the war. so yes, I did know some of these stories. Some other interesting guys were the "coast watchers". These were guys secretly inserted on to enemy occupied territory throughout the south Pacific islands. They would observe enemy movements and report via radio the information. They were always being hunted of course, and some did not survive.
That’s right. My brother was a Driving instructor with Ken Sue in his driving school. I also did most of my Scuba Diving in WA.
There was a movie called Z force and one called the Krait
I knew someone who was a RAN Lt. and served as second in command of the Krait during WW2 - he was not involved with the attack on Singapore. He sadly passed away before the secrecy was lifted so he never spoke of any operations but did say a little about the Krait and i have learned some more since. Krait was used for some 80 or so missions, some were transporting or supplying the coast watchers who provided vital intel on enemy movements etc.
I was a member of 126 Signal Squadron (Special Forces). Many of our members joined the "Z Forces Association". Very brave men......
really? well much love from New Zealand too you...
Nice, I was a sig for 25 years too, never went SF though, broke my ankle during selection for the West and never committed myself to go again.
Z force was the precursor to the SAS. I served for 17 years in the Aust infantry and the SAS were greatly admired by all of us . They really are the best of the best . Their most admirable abilities are that they just never give up and push themselves through extreme hardship. Incredibly physically fit , extremely highly trained and able to think outside the box they are the first forces the US calls upon when ever there's a scrap on. They are comparable to your Delta or Seal teams but we get by with less specialist equipment , which can be good as they dont need to rely on it. To be so far from help in hostile areas you would have to have really big kahunas.
It was a precursor to the Australian SAS. The UK SAS was first formed 7 months prior to the Z Special Unit.
Balls of tungsten .
@@andywilliams7323 Yes I meant the Aussie SAS . They are all men to admire though.
Im an Aussie, never heard these stories of the Z unit. Brilliant stuff, Lest we Forget!
You might like to find out about 28-year-old Australian Captain Barry Petersen who was sent to Vietnam in 1963 two years before the first official Australian troops arrived. He went into the mountains and did exactly what Marlon Brando's character did in the film Apocalypse Now. The CIA wanted his 'native troops' to use them for their program of assassinations but he wouldnt let them do that. In the end the CIA told him to get out of Vietnam or be killed.
What a heroic group of men. It’s an amazing story isn’t it?. I already knew about these guys. My grandfather helped the unit with transport for missions. My grandfather enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce the second his citizenship was official.
There is a movie about this unit called Attack Z Force starring Mel Gibson and Sam Neil. Pretty sure it was released in the early 80’s.
Thank you so much for showing these men the respect they weren’t shown back in their day for obvious reasons. Great video girls and thanks again.
That's incredible Jen!!
G'day Nat & Deb... you are right. There is a film called Atack Force Z. It is a 1982 film. I
highly recommend watching it. Heaps of Aussie & Kiwi actors starring in it. Thanks
for looking at the proud history of our military...
If you want a good WWI movie to watch, have a gander at The Lighthorsemen.
It is about the Battle of Beersheba...
Yes with a young Mel Gibson
Just checked TH-cam & still there.
The movie a good story but a crap movie to watch ,
Thank you for your interest in our military here in Australia. My father served in the Australian Army during World War II and always said we owe the Americans who came to our aid when needed.
Aussie combat vet
Thank you ladies for reacting to the unit my great uncle served in,the unit was not officially declassified & acknowledged until the early eighties,my time in service pales in comparison to the earlier veterans🇦🇺🇺🇸
Oh wow! Thank YOU for your service and your great Uncle was a badass!! And your time in the service matters the same as all other soldiers, past, present & future! 🫡
@@TheNatashaDebbieShow
Aussie combat vet
The movie attack force Z has a very young Mel Gibson but isn’t based on any actual mission,
The movie The Heroes is based on the first Singapore raid and it has a young Jason Donovan 🇦🇺🇺🇸
@@2eREPPARA Thank you! Will have to check them out!
There is also another movie the highest honor around the same operation and a documentary operation jaywick.
I remember the heroes movie from when I was a kid.
@@2eREPPARA Heroes was a miniseries I think and I have been trying to get it on any sort of format for years, if you have any idea how I can get a copy could you please let me know.
I am an aussie and never knew about this so thank you for sharing. My dad was special ops and we never heard a lot of things he had done till later years. Hats off to all who serve and keep us safe.
Z Special Unit was predominantly made up of Australian personnel, but not exclusively, It also had New Zealand, British, Dutch, and some Timorese and Indonesian personnel in its ranks.
way to represent brother. 🙂
My father was friends with one of the Z special soldiers and I remember him visiting our house when I was young. The mans name was Jack Sue and from memory he was one of the members who blew up the ships in Singapore harbour.
Z force guys were real life Rambos. I think most Aussies know that they existed and especially about the Krait mission but I doubt we will ever really know how much damage that these heros inflicted on the enemy - lest we forget.
They were pretty much the opposite of Rambo. They were sneak in, do the job, sneak out. And much of their work was reconnaissance without attacking anything. Not exactly Rambo's style.
Folding kayaks are a plugged together wooden framework, with a waterproofed canvas outer skin. When packed the entire kayak is a small sack similar to a hiking tent bag, quite easy to carry, or strain like a backpack. Setting up or packing away can be mere mintues. If needing to make a emergency getaway, a few rocks in the pack and it all can be sunk into the water. In some cases even be retrieved later and used again.
My father, from his teen years had such a kayak, which in Germany he used to travel many rivers, like the Rhein, Near, Danube to as far as Yugoslavia, and various lakes including Switzerland and Austria.
In my younger years of 1950s on holidays he took me and my sister on some lakes and rivers. It had one feature I think the Australian Z Force did not have. It had an add on outrigger, a sail on short mast, and a dropboard/keel and thus became a small sailing craft, travel distances without needing much paddling. Also a pair of footpedals and cables operated a small rear rudder, meaning a bit of independant steering, not fully reliant on paddling to direct the travel direction, especially usefull in some rivers, that can have large whirlpool vortex effects due to deep rock structures in the river bottom. Less effective of course in rapids, where paddles are indispensable for direction control. Such rudder would have been useful on ocean travel a Z Force did with tidal and ocean currents, while needing paddles only to maintain forward speed. To go 100 miles would have been eased by such small sail, but in covert travel the sail would be a problem for making detection too probable, the sail being to obvious to observation.
During the Sahara desert operations against the Germans supported by the Italians, Rommel said if he had the Australians taking a fort, he would have the Kiwis hold it. He was very complimentary about the ANZACS.
I've had family in the British & Australian Military. My Grandfather was in the Korean War with British Army. My cousin did 3 tours in the middle east during the 2nd Gulf War 🇦🇺🇬🇧.
My dad was a commando in Borneo (not in Z force) but he only talked about 3 stories from his war only since he passed on I'm finding out more and I admire that man more and miss his everyday. Thank you ladies for this video keep them comming.
There was a very popular tv series in Australia called “spy force” based on the z force.
It ran from 71-73 here.
Starring Jack Thompson!
@@jemxs Russell Crowe's first acting as a 10 year old.
@@jemxs Peter sumner, bill Hunter.
All legends!
Remember well as a kid
I salute those men from Z Force and thank you for your bravery ❤❤🇦🇺🐨🐨🇦🇺❤️❤️
Another subject l didn’t know anything about so glad you chose to react and share with us the history of these amazing men , the strength and courage of these brave men needs to spread around the web the world
These special forces deserve to have their stories told. Stuff of legends.
Service to ones country needs to be honoured while the participants are still with us.
The Krait is at the National Maritime Museum here in Sydney. I have seen it many times. Because it is small and dark people walk past it without noticing on their way to go aboard the destroyer or submarine. In this they demonstrate why Z Force used the Krait. They wanted the Japanese to ignore it, and think it unimportant. To those of us who know why that little dark boat is in the museum collection, we have huge respect for the big job that little boat did. It was used on many Z Force operations, and was present for the Japanese surrender on Ambon.
Before Z Force used the boat, it was originally captured it from the Japanese by the American destroyer USS Edsall in 1941, then used it to rescue 1,100 sailors from ships sunk by the Japanese around Sumatra. The boat eventually went to India and Ceylon before being handed over to Australia for (but they didn't know it) Z Force in 1942. It had originally been named the Kofuku Maru, and Z Force renamed it Krait.
Fun fact - because of the success of the Krait, Australian commandos have always named their boats after venomous snakes.
Both the US and Australia can be proud of that little dark boat named after a small but deadly snake.
There was a TV Mini-Series in Australia called “The Heroes” with Cameron Daddo and Jason Donovan that showed the Krait attack on Singapore
the krait is still around at the Australian maritime museum in Sydney
My former partner's Grandfather was one of the guys who built those foldable canoes. I was privileged to have had a quiet chat with him about his experiences not long before he passed away. We had a little in common as I had spent my formative years in Papua Niu Guinea and knew a little about the geography of his war experiences.
As an aussie... 3rd video i have watched of yours in a row. Your love and respect for Australia has earnt a sub... thanks ladies 😊
My uncle was one of the "Rats Of Tobruk". I learned more from old war time news reals than hew ever told us.
Yes, I had uncles in the war, didn't tell us anything. I only know of what one uncle was doing, as i found the squadrons records for the weeks before he didn't come back.
hey Noel just got back from Canberra and went to the war memorial.Found out my grandad was a Rat of Tobruk.Small world hey?
I have a story; a friend of mine was in a Scottish regiment who relieved the RATS; gave them their great coats which were used as pillows and allowed them to sleep. The next morning the Scot's cooked breakfast for them. .....if I think hard enough I will know the chaps from Fort George were.......The Seaforth Highlanders...
@@wizardofoz497 That Canberra memorial is brilliant and they change it all the time. Last time I was there I was on the bridge of a ship and on a bombing rum to Berlin.
The US, British, and Australian Special Forces are one big family...
All quiet achievers...
All tough as nails with mutual respect..
Two lovely ladies god bless from Glasgow scotland
Special forces team is now know as the SAS and located in Western Australia
Tribal indigenous peoples were of great assistance to Australian soldiers! Learning about the terrain, places to observe and live off the land!
no Z Special Unit these days, but we have SASR (special forces), and 1st and 2nd Commando Regiments (commandos)
Thank you for showing and sharing this with us. I look forward to learning more.
Great reaction and appreciate the spotlight. As an Aussie Ineas somewhat aware we had soecialists in Borneo, along with British special forces .... But didnt really know any of this.
My dad was an Aussie Rifleman defending South Viet Nam in 70s and he talked about a time meeting an SASR (based on UK's 22 SAS) trooper - he said he made thebmisrake of quipping that they had beaten the SASR bloke there... at which point a nearby tree had a human shaped chunk seperate ajd walk ofer to them.
He had been living in the perimeter of an enemy bunker syatem and gave them very accurate intel for the attack they were about to make.
I've heard the NVA at that time referred to our soecialists as Jungle Ghosts and had very high bounties placed on them.
Did know of the KRAIT and Singapore episodes but good to learn of the other operations.
(AU Vietnam Veteran)
Hi Natasha and Debbie. I have never heard of this Unit! I'm learning more about Australia from youtubers like yourselves! So keep up the good work ladies OX
Hi Ladies! Great vid! My grandfather was based somewhere in the Port Moresby area of PNG as some type of ground to air machine gunner trying to bring down Japanese aircraft. He never spoke a word about the war, however my grandmother did show me a ring he gave her that he told her he salvaged from a Japanese aircraft they shot down. Apparently he used a small file or nail file of sorts to smooth it down and shape into the ring he gave her upon his return. Thay are both at rest now, but my uncle still has the ring. We recently his service record amongst my grandmother's belongings, but a lot is redacted and cant be read.
G'day Nat & Deb, my grandfather served in Z Special unit he torte morse code to the lad's, he never talked about what he did or where he went.
As already mentioned, "Spy Force" is a 1971-3 Australian TV series based on the Z Special Unit actions in WWII. As a result they were reasonably well-known in Australia at the time. Since forgotten, I suspect.
Also as mentioned. there are a couple of 1982 Australian movies: Attack Force Z and The Highest Honour (1982). The first starred the very young and then unknown Mel Gibson and Sam Neil; the second various Australian actors less well-known outside Australia.
The TV series isn't too bad but I'd not recommend either movie.
Another great video, it makes me think about my grandad. He was British and wasn't in any special units but did fight in Borneo and would never talk about it. Must have been bad out there.
Yes really brutal, the enemy were completely ruthless and the terrain impossible! 😪
Great video ladies 😂
We're definitely built tough down under 😉🙃🇭🇲
Also, movie recommendation if you're interested: Gallipoli - definitely worth a watch if you get a chance 😊
❤❤
Absolutely I second this movie recommendation
A Town Like Alice: With Helen Morse, Bryan Brown, Gordon Jackson, John Lee. Set against the brutal chaos of World War II, is another to watch.
Barry Petersen The Tiger Man of Vietnam
If you get a chance - there was a tv series made in the 70's called Spyforce. Starred Jack Thompson. Bit cheesy but still gives you an idea of some of the operations they undertook.
There is a movie about Australia's Z Special Unit, its called Attack Force Z (1981) I remember watching it as a kid & being amazed at what they achieved. It stars a couple of big name you will recognise like Mel Gibson & Sam Neill. Its available to stream on quite a few services.
I am a veteran from the Royal Australian Engineers and the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers two separate periods of service. Thank you for your support.
The raid on Singapore, I believe, was made into a mini-series called The Heroes which starred amongst others Jason Donovan. I see the film Attack Force Z has already been mentioned, it also starred Sam Neill (better known for his role in Jurassic Park). Good call with this video Girls, love, hugs and prayers from Sussex, UK
Agas was a recon mission, trying to learn about the POW's (Australian, British and other Commonwealth soldiers) in the camp at Sandakan. That POW camp had the highest death rate of any POW camp in all of WW2 at 99.6%. 2,400ish went in, and only 6 survived. I read Paul Ham's book on it some years back and had to keep putting it down due to how horrifically the POWs were treated.
I found out when i was a teenager thst my grandfathers younger brother enlisted in WW2 as a 16yr old and left a note for his mum saying why. He was a sniper and recived quite a few medals for it. 2 weeks before the war ended he didnt make it home. Id like to thank everyone whos served our country and our allies it means more than anything.
Great reaction girls, Debbie you are right about a movie attack Force Z 1981 with Mel Gibson & Sam Neill, we also had a tv series called Z force in the early 70's if I remember correctly.
Spy force with jack Thompson, Peter sumner and bill Hunter. 71-73.
A member of the Z special unit, was Jack Wong Sue, he wrote a book on his time in the unit, called Blood on Borneo. Interesting reading, including operation Agas mentioned in this video.
Wow I have never heard of them before. These were a special type of men. So interesting I can see you enjoyed this one. Well done 👏👏👏There was a British film called cockleshell heroes xx
There was TV show called "Spyforce" in 1970 - 73. It was about natives and missionaries and Special forces who worked together to get ship and troop movement of the Japanese back to HQ. The Spyforce was a secret unit loosely based on the type of guerilla warfare that we knew went on with Zed Force as they became known, but no one knew till a decade or so later exactly what truly happened. Jack Thompson had small roles before this but I believe his "Erskine" character [one of the 2 special force guys it was about] was his first starring role. Also true to multi-national flavour of the Zed Force his partner was "Gunther". He had been a German born New Guinea plantation owner - he was with the allies.
I was 126 special forces signal commando corps in 1981. 3 years later I transferred to the Navy. We used to have a Z force night once a year to remember them and it was all secret stuff back then. I used to enjoy the training.
I loved the navy too
Wow that’s very interesting video,I know a lot about the Australian history but this I never knew.
It was incredible!! Glad you learned with us!
Back in the old days of black & white TV we had a weekly show Z Force , it's been advertised on TV as a boxed DVD set
My uncle was in Z force! But no one knew a thing about his service, only oral story told later was secret mission in North west Australia, intelligence sources possible reconnaissance by Japanese, where he found evidence of Japanese soldiers landings, saying that having landed in remote areas of no military use, they found a discarded raft and tracks! The other was in Japanese occupied island of Rabaul hiding in the jungle providing intelligence and one unbelievable thing was he was within 20 feet of a Japanese Base watching! 😱🇦🇺 National archives many documents have been accessed , but many still kept secret!
I looked after guys who fought the Japanese and they were still having nightmares 50 years later.
I’d heard a little about our Aussie Z unit, but wow, so much I didn’t know about. Amazing brave men, mind boggling what the did. My dad was in WW2, he wasn’t in the Z unit but didn’t talk much about the war, - and my dad could talk the leg off a wooden chair or talk under water😂. He married mum wearing his army uniform. I remember him cracking jokes when I was little, he said he killed more Japanese as a cook in the army - he was never a cook in the army lol.
Gee those men from Z were unbelievably brave. Once again, wow, sat here with my jaw dropped listening to it.
As an Aussie. Just proud and grateful.
Yes there were some movies related to Z operations, the Krait in particular. Also there was a TV show dealing with special operations team going into Japanese action places spying, sabotaging, rescuing civilians etc, can not recall the specific title right now, but involved two known (locally?) Australian actors.
Great video love watching these this one was epic my hat comes off to the z specials l love to see more like this or the SAS 😊 love and respect to the Australians and other service men and women around the world ❤
Australia probably had the first of all "special ops" corpses in the Boer War, in South Africa. Thus the legend of Breaker Morant. They were under British Command, they were selected for the climatic conditions in Australia, and the toughness of the soldiers was known by the British. This secret campaign was to sabotage an operative of the Boers in South Africa. One of which means some invasive military destruction of civilian property. This was the Australian legend of Breaker Morant. So the operative conducted these direct secret orders for London, the reason why they were there in the first place. It was a nasty campaign killing civilians. The Boers bitterly accused Britain of war atrocities. So what did Britain do? They denied any knowledge of it, and blamed "some rogue Australian soldiers of low character (implying Australians can be assumed low in character with Convict background, and innuendo of criminality". So the war hero that was successful in the campaign for the British was betrayed by the overlords, and he was shot by firing squad, his garrison was shamed by the British Empire as lowlife criminals. The Empire, Britain, has never apologized for this betrayal, and an insult to the Australian military, or the Australian Character. We now know the term "special ops", and this would never happen under international war standards. When will Australia get an apology? Will Prince Charles do it? th-cam.com/video/q8-CsE5HgRE/w-d-xo.html
You might be interested in the Australian Coast watchers who were landed (Alone) at night by submarine onto islands around Guadalcanal with some supplies, binoculars and a hand crank radio to stay on the move and report any passing Japanese warships to HQ whilst being hunted by enemy patrols looking to kill them. I can't imagine the personal fortitude required to do this.
From memory some Dutch coast watchers were also spying on the Japs.
My pop who is in his late 80s still has his father's uniform from WW2. He was killed in France while they were fighting off the Nazis in a certain town (I can't remember what the town is called). Pops uncle also died on the Kakoda trail and pop has his Helmet. It's always weird seeing the uniform and helmet, knowing the men who wore them died wearing them.
I've seen their boat Krait in person, absolutely mad just to have sailed that little flimsy and unarmed timber fishing boat all through the Pacific and Asia in enemy waters. So heroic. I read a good book in high school called "Fear Drive My Feet" about a young Aussie in PNG behind the lines with a radio and a few natives helping. He spent years reporting on the Japanese. The title of the book says it all. Another GREAT video ladies, thanks! Worth one day checking out "The Scrap Iron Flotilla" video from the same channel. It's the nickname Gobbels gave the Australian Navy in the Med, the name came back to bite him in the arse.
For awhile the Krait was moored off the Volunteer Coastal Patrol HQ at The Spit in Sydney. As the buses to and from the Northern Beaches passed by at high frequency, a lot of people would have seen it, even if they didn't know it's history.
@@tonywimble9161 Oh wow, didn't know that she stayed in service for so long.
I love you two ladies, I am actually learning along side of you, with the segments that you do on Australia. I love your raw honesty and passion for learning. Thanks for the lessons and the laughs.
My Uncle was in Borneo at that conflict British commando raids went on at the same time to confuse the Japanese My Uncle was pulled out because he got Malaria which caused him health issues for the rest of his life. He was a tough 5 foot 2 inch man reason they wanted smaller height flexible people is because they were hard to see and find and the Zed force caused Chaos on three sides behind the Japanese the Commandos Did the same at the front three sides Prisoners were found as mentioned in a famous film sadly no one would talk about the Prisoners the Japanese had captured of Allie forces so not sure what the had seen. Without the Zed men Japanese there would had kept fighting.
TYVM Ladies for covering Z Special Unit, I knew of them as a young man as I grew up in Cairns, the house shown early in the video was commonly known as The House on The Hill a nightclub & restaurant over various years. I grew up with the son of the owners and one day his father showed me a room out back which had in it some of the gear uniforms and equipment left over from Z Unit. I still recall the genius of the man who adapted machine guns etc to suit themselves and boots with human footprints cut into the rubber soul which disguised there movement as natives by leaving only footprints in the sand and dirt. They were very tough resilient and brave men. Th MV Krait was actually located and repaired for tributes paid to Z Force back in the late 80's I think. God bless them so few really did make such a huge difference.
Keep Safe Keep Strong 🦘🦘🦘🦘💖💖💖💖
Thanks ladies. My dad was a Z Special commando (red beret). He never spoke about anything; they signed off on what he called the official secrets act, he wasn't free to say anything for something like 35 years after the war.
The "folding kayak" was used by us until at least the early 1990's (when I left), they where made by Klepper, and weighed a bloody ton!
These operations were basically suicide missions. My father fought against the Japanese in New Guinea in WW2. What the Japanese did was brutal and despicable. He never wanted to talk about the war. The Coast Watchers were also brave individuals operating behind enemy lines. If the Japanese caught them they beheaded them.
I have a picture of me at the wheel of the Krait as a teenager. It's still able to be visited.
That was mind blowing the strengh & bravery was incredible ❤❤
Hi
There is a movie Loosely based on these operations and here's a copy of the actors and director names - Starring Mel Gibson and Sam Neill.
ATTACK FORCE Z (ZED)
Directed by Tim Burstall
Screenplay by Roger Marshall
Produced by Lee Robinson
Starring
John Phillip Law
Mel Gibson
Sam Neill
Chris Haywood
John Waters
Koo Chuan Hsiung
Sylvia Chang
O Ti
Cinematography Hung-Chung Lin
Edited by David Stiven
Music by Eric Jupp
Production
companies
John McCallum Productions
Central Motion Picture Corporation
Distributed by Roadshow Film Distributors
Release date
June 1, 1982
Running time 93 minutes
Countries
Australia
Taiwan
Language English
Box office $88,000 (Australia)
The story of the Krait is well-known. I heard the story when I was a kid and that was back in the 1960s. The Krait still exists and is at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Postwar it been a working boat in Australia and Borneo before being brought back to Australia in 1964. For a further 20 years it was with the Volunteer Coastal Patrol before finally becoming a museum exhibit. There has been both an Australian/Japanese movie (The Highest Honour in 1982) and a British/Australian miniseries (The Heroes 1989).
8:41 there was a mini series about Z Force
Hi from Australia - there was a TV miniseries in 1989 about Z Unit raid on Singapore called ‘The Heroes’, and a sequel miniseries in 1992, ‘Heroes II: The Return’; just in case your interested
Yes you are correct Debbie 😊
There was a movie called "The Highest Honour" released in 1982 about MV Krait and special forces Z ....
There’s a fairly decent, if somewhat dated, fictionalised TV series about Z Force called “Spyforce”. Made in Australia in the late 60s or early 70s,and starring a very young Jack Thomson,
Thanks to all our servicemen and to you for showing this one.
Best wishes from Australia.☮️ 6:41
Never heard about this, these men deserve to be honoured. Let's not forget what all the men and women of the alien did for us.
😅come to Sydney and you can tour the Krait. She's at the Maritime museum in Darling Harbour.
The movie was Attack Force Z, starring a young Mel Gibson.
Movie - 60’s - American film - not based on the Krait exactly but with elements of the Krait story - its a comedy - “The Wackiest Ship in the Army”. My dad loved this film
Which brings me to apologise to you both. Told you back with your ANZAC video that my father served in the American Navy. Since then I have found out that the Small Ships were, in fact, the U.S. Army Small Ships. Based in Australia ports, crewed by Australian. . . Wait for it. . . volunteers. The men who volunteered were not suitable for regular service.
My dad wore a hearing aid, which I thought he must have got either before or after the war. Not so: that was the kind of thing that disqualified these guys from regular services. These guys really wanted to fight, and this service - the Small Ships - was gifted to these guys by you Americans. I’m even prouder of my dad, and I’m thankful to the U.S.A. giving him the opportunity to serve both our countries. Attack Force Z, is a movie - thanks Deb,❤.
Thanks for sharing and reacting to this (proud Aunty of a serving Commando)
I grew up in Townsville, when they did the raid on Townsville they were driven North of Townsville with their kayaks and were going to then paddle down a creek to the ocean then onto Townsville. Only problem was the creek was dry and they carried their gear and kayaks about 18 kilometres to the ocean.
My Dad was an L.A.C.(Leading Air Craftsman - 79380 ) in the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) fighting against the Japanese in WW2 ( he was Mentioned in dispatches)
I was in high school when the 25th anniversary of the raid on Singapore was commerated. It was suprising who were among the members. On was our local CofE minister, another was the father of one of our school mates.
My father Dave Roberts was a long distance sniper with the Australian special air service regiment in Swanbourne perth Australia
G’day ladies, you need to find out more about the Ausie, Pacific War effort, try the ‘ Coast Watchers’ many hero’s male And female, and anything from the same source as the Z Force
I used to watch a weekly TV show I think starring Jack Thompson called Spy Force.
Back in the mid 1970’s there was a TV series called ‘SPYFORCE’ which was loosely based on the Z Special Force and what they did. It stared Jack Thompson.