page_title: Z Special Unit
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Z Special Unit / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Z Special Unit Memorial commemorative marker in the footpath near Palm Beach Jetty, Rockingham, Western Australia.
context_page_description: Z Special Unit was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit that included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian members, predominantly operating on Borneo and the islands of the former Netherlands East Indies.
  The unit carried out a total of 81 covert operations in the South West Pacific theatre, with parties inserted by parachute or submarine to provide intelligence and conduct guerrilla warfare. The best known of these missions were Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau, both of which involved raids on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour; the latter of which resulted in the deaths of 23 commandos either in action or by execution after capture.
  Although the unit was disbanded after the war, many of the training techniques and operational procedures employed were later used during the formation of other Australian Army special forces units and they remain a model for guerrilla operations to this day.
context_section_description: There is now a public memorial to the Z Special Unit on the esplanade in Cairns. It was moved from the naval base HMAS Cairns and rededicated on 26 October 2007. Those present at the ceremony were original unit members George Buckingham, John Mackay and the then commander of Special Operations of the Australian Defence Force, Major General Mike Hindmarsh. The RSL plans to erect a permanent display of military equipments nearby.
  The Z Special Unit Association (NSW Branch) was disbanded in March 2010 due to a decline in members and the Association's last Sydney ANZAC Day march was held in 2010. Commemorative plaques to Z Special Unit have been placed on each lamp post on the new jetty at Rockingham, Western Australia, and the activities of Z Special Unit have been depicted in several Australian films, TV series, and documentaries including Attack Force Z, The Highest Honor, The Heroes, Heroes II: The Return, and Australia's Secret Heroes.
caption: Commemorative plaque to the Z Special Unit at Rockingham, WA
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