Royal Australian Navy

Z Special Unit Part 3 – the fate of the Jaywick and Rimau men

What happened to Bill Reynolds? In Part 1, I provided details about Bill Reynolds’ heroic work rescuing civilians affected by the fall of Singapore aboard the Kofuku Maru, which was renamed as the Krait and played a pivotal role in the success of Operation Jaywick. While Reynolds wasn’t part of Jaywick, he delivered the Krait …

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Z Special Unit Part 1 – Operation Jaywick, the remarkable mission behind enemy lines

Introduction This month 80 years ago, a small, unassuming ex-Japanese fishing vessel was pivotal in an audacious and successful secret commando operation by a handful of courageous Australians against the mighty Japanese war machine during World War II. Its history and how it got into Australian hands is remarkable. So is the bravery of its …

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The cable cutters

“I’ll put a girdle ‘round the earth in forty minutes” William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream While travelling around the country, I came across yet another little-known wartime story which again highlights the heroics of Australians. This time it involves midget submarines and divers cutting underwater telegraph cables to thwart the Japanese communication efforts towards the …

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Even more war stories – how Australia came under attack from air raids during WWII

My previous war story blog provided details of the bombing of Darwin and the subsequent battles against the Japanese in the Coral Sea and Papua New Guinea. After the bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942, the Japanese carried out further air-borne attacks across northern Australia. In total, between March 1942 and November 1943, the Japanese flew …

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Swallowed up by the sea – solving Australia’s most enduring maritime tragedy

On 19 November 1941, on the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast, the Royal Australian Navy’s greatest warship, the HMAS Sydney II, was sunk by a disguised German raider. It was and still is the worst naval disaster in Australia’s history. All 645 officers and men on board HMAS Sydney II were lost at sea, representing 35 …

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