14/04/2026
ðð§ ðð¡ð¢ð¬ ððð² ð¢ð§ ðððð - Seven of an eight-man "Z" Special Unit team were killed or reported missing, presumed killed whilst serving with Special Operations in New Guinea, including a Commando who had previously served in Malaya, Burma, China and Indiaâ£
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ððð¥ððšð¥ðŠ ð
ð«ðð§ðð¢ð¬ ððð± ððððð«â£
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Born in Muswellbrook, New South Wales on 6 March 1919. 'Max' was one of 13 children born to Jacob Weber and Lillie Ida Jennisonâ£
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ðððð-ðð ððððð ððð ððð ððððððð (ð/ðððð ððððððððð) - At age 21, Malcolm was working as a Farm Hand when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Newcastle on 24 June 1940. He was allocated as Private (Service No. NX45386) to B Company of the 2/20th Infantry Battalionâ£
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ððððððð ðð ðððððð & ððððððððð - Embarking for Singapore on 2 February 1941 from Darling Harbour on the ocean liner Queen Mary, the battalion arriving at the naval dock in Singapore. Upon arrival, the 2/20th were moved by train to Bagan Pinang and from there marched to Port Dickson, in south-west Malaya where it conducted further trainingâ£
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ððððððð ðð ððððð, ððððð & ððððð (ððððððð ðððððððð ððððððð ððð - ððððð ð
ðððð) - In Singapore volunteers were sought to join the Bush Warfare School being established in Burma. The demands of physical fitness were in tense with many failing the application tests. Eventually about 45/50 Australians from the 8th Division were accepted to join with their British counterpartsâ£
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On 27 July, the following 2/20 men were transferred to British Military Mission 204â£
- NX12539 LIEUT D. C. MacDougalâ£
- NX20081 CPL J. M. Mooreâ£
- NX28141 CPL R. W. U. Barker (DOI Burma 1941)â£
- NX31696 L/CPL C. Martin (DOI China 1942)â£
- NX20007 PTE J. F. Sinclairâ£
- NX26078 PTE R. Ward (KIA Burma 1942)â£
- NX27018 PTE J. W. Gilmourâ£
- NX31205 PTE A. G. H. Strandâ£
- NX32324 PTE H. M. Browneâ£
- NX45386 PTE M. F. M. Weberâ£
- NX46025 PTE R. Greenâ£
- NX59243 PTE S. K. Eddyâ£
- NX67855 PTE T. R. Hamiltonâ£
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Also known as Tulip Force, Mission 204 was a British military mission to China organised in 1940/41 that went into action soon after Pearl Harbor. It was an attempt to provide military assistance to the Chinese Nationalist Army, by training and aiding Commando (Guerrilla) Battalions in order to sustain Chinese resistance against the Japanese occupation of China during the Second Sino-Japanese Warâ£
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Eventually unable to sustain this role, the Force made its way through Thailand, Burma and Assam into China and India. Webber was mentioned to have been: "engaged on hazardous work with an Allied Commando Party in China, outwitting and confusing the J**s, to say nothing of assisting in sabotaging the enemy's war effort. Highly qualified and trained for the special work, he was recently one of a party cut off by the enemy, but made a spectacular return to his unit after swimming for 12 hours"â£
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The unit withdrew towards Kunming airfield which was the headquarters of the American volunteer group, 'Flying Tigers'. After resting and recuperating there, the unit was flown out by the Americans in November 1942 to India. Some of the unit would later train troops for the Burma campaign. The Australian contingent arrived home and were greeted as heroesâ£
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ðððððððð ðððððððð - Weber arrived back in Sydney on 11 December 1942 and was posted to the 1st Australian (Jungle Warfare) Commando Training Battalion at Canungraâ£
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He was appointed Acting-Corporal on 2 February 1943 and Acting-Sergeant on 22 April, then later transferred to the 4th Australian Reinforcement Training Battalion (Jungle Warfare) on 10 Octoberâ£
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ððððððð ðððð ððððððð ðððððððððð ððððððððð ("ð" ððððððð ðððð) - Webber was transferred to ZSU on 4 August 1944 and on 23 December, he married Audrey Markwell Jackson (native of Hong Kong) in Brisbaneâ£
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He was confirmed to the rank of Sergeant on 5 January 1945 and one week later he emplaned for operational service in the Pacific, where sadly he would be killed on operations three months laterâ£
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ðð-ðð ððððð ðððð: ððððððððð ðððððð (ðððððð ðð ðððððð) ðððððð ðððððð - In the late night early morning hours of 11/12 April, a high-speed navy Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HDML) left Tadji and inserted an eight man "Z" team far behind enemy lines, for what was supposed to be a relatively simple 24-hour reconnaissance missionâ£
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Their mission became doomed from the moment they paddled away from the naval launch that inserted them. As the eight men in four folboats - Lieutenant's Barnes and Gubbay, Sergeant Weber, Lance Corporal Walklate, Private Eagleton, Sapper Dennis and Signalmen Hagger and Chandler - paddled their way to shore, unexpected tidal movement and strong currents carried them off course and waves on the reef capsized their canoes - equipment and weapons were lost in seaâ£
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Nonetheless they continued and had actually completed their mission, only to be discovered by Japanese patrols before escaping the island. They then began fighting their way through the jungle to escape and divided up into separate groups as they wentâ£
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The Japanese were searching for them across the island and after several skirmishes where the enemy were killed, so too were some of the operatives, killed or captured - All in fact expect for Sapper 'Mick' Dennis. He hid out for a couple of days dodging patrols although at times exchanging fire with them and killing severalâ£
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Eventually Mick made his way back to a beach where he found some drift wood hoping to paddle out to the rendezvous point chosen to meet the naval launch but that was unsuccessful. He paddled through shark and crocodile infested waters several kilometres across the channel from the island towards Wewakâ£
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This area was also heavily occupied but the enemy and Mick had several running battles and encounters with them before stumbling upon an Australian Army patrol that took him back to campâ£
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Throughout the operation, Lieutenant's Barnes and Gubbay, with Lance Corporal Walklate and Private Eagleton had set out to sea on logs in the hopes of reaching Allies and getting assistance - they were never seen alive again. Records state Alan Gubbay Thomas Barnes drowned. Their bodies washed up on the nearby island of Kairiru, where they were buried by islanders. In 1947 the bodies were removed by Australian authorities and placed in marked graves at Lae War Cemetery. Gubbay's family has since, demanded DNA tests to prove the body in the grave really is that of the missing 22-year-oldâ£
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The fate of the two other men gripping logs - Spencer Walklate and Ron Eagleton - was unknown for the next six decades. They were still listed as Missing in Action in 2013 when the Army's Unrecovered War Casualties Office made a shocking discovery in the mud of Kairiru. The remains of the two "Z" Commandos were found in an old Japanese Army waste pit. The remains bore signs of torture and they had been beheaded. Worse still, secret documents uncovered by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013 suggest the Australians had been ritually butchered and organs removed while the men were still alive. It has been claimed the Australians' organs were used in a Japanese military ceremony. Yet the Japanese involved were not pursued for war crimesâ£
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Sergeant Weber, Sapper Dennis and Signalmen Hagger and Chandler, tried to make an escape across the island, however only Dennis managed an escape. The three men who got separated from Mick Dennis - Max Weber, Michael Hagger and John Chandler - were killed on Muschu. How they died isn't clear. After the war Japanese Officers claimed the three Australians were shot in a firefight. Islanders told Australian military the commandos were captured and executed by the Japanese, their bodies mutilatedâ£
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Sergeant Weber's remains were recovered on 19 September following the end of hostilities and interred in the Lae War Cemetery; He was 26 years old when he was killedâ£
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**ð
ððð ððððð ðð
ððððððððð ðððððð ððððð**â£
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The team consisted of:â£
1) VX6078 LIEUT T. Barnes (Mission O/C - A veteran of the Middle East, Greece and Crete with the 2/8th INF BN)â£
2) NX82924 LIEUT A. Gubbay (2iC - An Australian home-serviceman from 2/11th ARMD Car REGT)â£
3) NX45386 SGT M. F. M. Weber (Demolitions & Security - A veteran of Operation Tulip, where 45 Australians went deep into China to train Chinese nationalists to fight the Japanese)â£
4) L/CPL S. Walklate (Selected for his physical ability - He had signed up late in the war, putting down his occupation as grocer. In truth he was a tough Sydney cop who patrolled the mean streets of the inner city and Redfern from Regent Street Police Station. Walklate lied on his recruitment form because police officers were exempt from military service. He also didn't mention during his enlistment that he was a prop forward in the 1943 St George rugby league team. Naturally as soon as he was in army uniform everybody recognised the giant football star, and Z Special Unit came knocking. They wanted this hard man in their squad. The codename for the mission - Operation Copper - was an inside joke in Walklate's honour)â£
5) NX92651 PTE R. Eagleton (General Support & Scouting - A 1942 enlistee, he served in New Guinea with 2/16 INF BN briefly during 1943)â£
6) VX66698 SIG M. Hagger (Responsible for Radio Operations - Having gone AWL from the RAAF, he signed up for AIF as Michael Scott and served as Signals Operator with the Air-Support Control in Darwin)â£
7) WX27629 SIG J. Chandler (Assisting with Signals & intelligence Relay - Born in England but had grown up in Perth. He had previously served with the 1st ARMD DIV SIGS)â£
8) NX73110 SPR E. T. Dennis (An experienced Engineer skilled in Demolitions & Field Fortifications - The 25-year-old Sydneysider was the joker of the team, always playing pranks. He joined the team late but fitted right in. Dennis had a larrikin streak and liked a scrap. He was a veteran of New Guinea, having served in the 5th Independent (Commando) Company with Kanga Force during 1942/43. He was proud of his sister Clare, who'd won a swimming gold medal at the 1932 Olympics. Dennis also had strong swimming genes, which was to come in very useful)â£
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Their mission was to find out the status of the enemy's large naval and antiaircraft guns hidden on the Japanese-occupied island of Muschu, four kilometres north of the New Guinea coast near Wewak. They were also to scout the strength and disposition of the Japanese Force, and to capture a prisoner for Intelligence Officers to interrogateâ£
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In the late night early morning hours of 11/12 April, a high-speed navy Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HDML) left Tadji and inserted an eight man "Z" team far behind enemy lines, for what was supposed to be a relatively simple 24-hour reconnaissance missionâ£
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Having been dropped six kilometres off the coast of Cape Barabar, the eight men set off in their four collapsible kayaks known as folboats, but the current swept them away from their designated landing beach to an area surrounded by dangerous reefs. Unfortunately, two of the boats were swamped and much of the men's gear, including weapons, radios and torches were waterlogged or lost to the reefâ£
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They landed on a beach, concealed their boats 50 yards inland and made camp about 100 yards from theâ£
shore where they waited until dawnâ£
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With their weapons reduced, the eight men decided to stick together. They moved north along the coastline trying to find the beach that HQ wanted them to examine as a possible landing spot for troops. It was difficult going through the jungle but after half an hour they found a track which led to a Japanese lookout post. It was deserted, but two heavy machine-guns were pointing out to sea; they dismantled them and hurled them over the cliff. They found another two machine-guns in another deserted lookout post and destroyed them alsoâ£
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They followed a path inland and through the foliage saw several huts tucked under trees next to a small clearing but found the huts empty although clearly lived inâ£
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The Commandos worked their way south-west along a path they expected would take them on a wide loop back to their hidden folboats. They spotted a clearing and fanned out. In the middle of the small clearing was a single Japanese soldier cooking up a brew. Without making a sound, they spread out in the jungle and formed a half circle, when they suddenly emerged with guns levelled at the lone soldierâ£
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The startled young Japanese soldier raised his hands in surrender. ððððð«, who'd picked up some Chinese during his time on Operation Tulip, told him he was a prisoner and had to come with them. If he didn't, he would be killed. The soldier seemed to understand and didn't resist as his hands were bound behind him and a gag thrust in his mouth and the group moved out againâ£
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After another hour on the trail, they came across a couple of huts. Still confused by the lack of enemy soldiers on this part of the island, they investigated the huts, though they had already achieved their mission's target - They had a prisoner and they'd mapped gun emplacements - They could have slipped further into the jungle to avoid any contact with the enemy and wait for darkness to head out to rendezvous with the pick-up boat. But they thought there might be maps or other useful intelligence in these hutsâ£
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As they fanned out in the jungle cover to get a good look into the huts, a sleepy Japanese soldier emerged from the doorway of the nearest hut and saw the Commandos and ran towards the jungle but Barnes shot him with a Welrod pistol (an ultra-quiet weapon fitted with a silencer built for special forces operations) - It was an assassin's gun. The soldier dropped dead, and the team moved in finding the hut emptyâ£
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They moved to check a second hut on the other side of the clearing. Inside were two beds; a soldier wearing only his trousers lay asleep on one. Barnes and Gubbay approached the sleeping man. Suddenly he woke, eyes wide in shock. In a panic he made a break through the door but Hagger, standing guard outside, shot him dead with his Welrodâ£
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In the confusion of the jungle trails, they'd gone further south-west than they'd meant to. They decided to cut back east to the coast and then follow it north to the little beach where they'd hidden their boats. On the way under a rock outcrop they spotted a gun emplacement that appeared to be an anti-aircraft gun. They noted it on their map. Twenty metres further on was another gun emplacement. Gubbay, in the lead position, saw a heavy machine gun pointing out to sea. Like the earlier guns, it was unmanned. They were about to go in to dismantle it when a shirtless burly Japanese soldier emerged from the back of the dugout. He stretched, farted, and sat down, gazing towards the oceanâ£
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Gubbay and Barnes nodded to each other. They'd take a second prisoner. This man looked like a veteran Corporal or Sergeant - more senior than the young private they were already holding. He could be valuable. The commandos fanned out and crept up on him, again without making a sound. ððððð« called out in Chinese to surrender. The soldier turned around surprised, but when he saw the guns levelled at him he didn't panic or try to run. Slowly he got to his feet, intently watching the Australians for a weakness. He shook his head when ððððð« again ordered him to surrender. He stood motionless, hands flexed like a coiled spring ready to strike. This soldier would be no pushover.â£
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Barnes pointed to his shirt and motioned for him to put it on. He did so, and Barnes recognised the insignia. He was a Sergeant in the Marines. With guns pointing at his head, the soldier slowly went to his knees. ððððð« bound the captive's hands behind his back. The commandos destroyed the machine gun and prodded the sergeant to get up and move out. But this prisoner wasn't getting up from his knees. Dennis pressed his gun into the marine sergeant's head and ordered him to follow the others. Dennis called out to Barnes, telling him the prisoner refused to moveâ£
- "Shoot him if he doesn't move" ordered Barnes as the group moved outâ£
- "Come on, move, mate, or you're dead" growled Dennis, shoving his gun even harder into the Japanese Sergeant, pushing him to get up and walkâ£
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But the Sergeant wasn't going to move. There's no doubt he knew the fate he faced. He wanted death rather than surrender. Dennis had no choice. He pressed the Welrod to the back of the man's head and pulled the trigger. Nothing. It misfired. The Sergeant didn't flinch. He just stared straight ahead. Dennis tried again. Another misfire. In disgust at what he was doing Dennis threw the Welrod over the cliff, raised his Sten gun and fired a single shot into the Sergeant's brain. The man collapsed face down, blood streaming out over the sand.â£
- "I shot him in the head" Dennis recounted decades later, his old eyes drifting back in memory as he told his story in a television program on the Z Special Unit called Australia's Secret Heroesâ£
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The commandos found another trail and picked up speed along the coast, pushing and shoving their remaining prisoner. Time was now critical. It was the afternoon of 12 April and they needed to reach their hidden boats and get out to sea as soon as it was dark to make the rendezvous. They knew the three bodies they'd left behind them had to be discovered soon. Then the hunt would truly be onâ£
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How right they were. At that moment the Japanese patrol looking for signs of an enemy incursion approached the dead sergeant's post. They called out, and were surprised there was no answer. They moved in cautiously, rounded the corner and were stunned to see the sergeant's body on the ground, executed with a bullet to the back of the head. The shocked patrol leader sent a runner to the anti-aircraft post where there was a field telephone to report to HQ they now had evidence an enemy assassination squad had invaded the island. The patrol set off in pursuit of the commandos, following their boot tracksâ£
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The commandos approached the clearing where they had captured the young private. Barnes, in the lead, ordered the squad to halt. Three Japanese soldiers were in the clearing looking around and calling out a name. The prisoner at the back of the squad heard his comrades and tried to call out to them through his gag. Walklate shook him and shoved his gun harder into the young man's belly. His eyes glaring in fury and fear, the Japanese prisoner struggled against his bindings. He knew these men had killed the sergeant and feared he was nextâ£
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Barnes decided to go around the clearing rather than engage in a gunfight that might alert other patrols. They moved on but after half an hour of slashing through jungle undergrowth they heard Japanese voices. Somehow the prisoner slipped out of his gag and shouted a warning. Walklate punched the prisoner in the face, knocking him down to the ground, but he kept yelling and rolled away from the massive former copper. Unfortunately, he rolled right into Eagleton, who raised his Webley and fired it once into the head of the screaming prisonerâ£
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The commotion brought the Japanese sprinting up the trail, but as soon as they saw the formidable-looking Australian commandos with the dead soldier at their feet they fled back up the trail. Barnes immediately signalled the team off the trail and into the cover of the jungle. There was no time to lose. They were now hunted menâ£
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Back at Muschu HQ, the Japanese commander, Captain Temura was poring over maps of the island. He didn't know its layout, having arrived earlier that day. News of the dead sergeant raised the alarm, but was this a major invasion? Should he send troops out to scour the jungle or assemble them to defend the headquarters? More reports flooded in. Two soldiers were found dead in their huts. A patrol had run into a large enemy force and barely escaped with their lives. Gun posts were sabotaged all along the coast. Temura thought this clearly had to be a large enemy invasion force. He was in a panic, uncertain what to doâ£
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Officers had quietly been keeping their former commander Tomei informed of the growing confusion in HQ. Tomei strode up to the command post and simply took over. Temura was furious, but the officers were only conversing with Tomei. A new report came in that a patrol had discovered boats hidden on the beach. Four boats - with spaces for two men each. That meant eight commandos. Tomei ordered the patrol to set up an ambush around the boats, and sent a large squad to reinforce them. He had 300 troops on Muschu but, over Temura's objections, Tomei radioed the mainland to ask for reinforcements. Where Temura saw asking for help as an admission of weakness, Tomei was just determined to eliminate the threatâ£
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Barnes ordered a halt when the commandos were eighty metres from where they'd hidden their boats. He went ahead alone until he could see the beach. He cursed when he saw about a dozen Japanese standing around the hiding spot. A couple were going through the gear. He saw machine guns set up to cover the area. It was a trap. Barnes crawled back to his men. They recovered a radio and other gear they'd hidden further in the jungle, leaving one radio and a gun behind in case they needed it laterâ£
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Barnes and Gubbay talked with the men. They discussed several ideas including building a raft and silently drifting out to sea in the darkness. Once they were far enough away from Muschu they could summon the pick-up boat by radio. Dennis warned against that idea. The currents were clearly strong - they'd discovered that on the way in - and they could end up anywhere, even drifting into a Japanese beach on the mainland. Barnes called for a vote on the raft idea. It won five to threeâ£
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They used the remaining light to move south down the coast well away from the Japanese ambush and huts. On a secluded inlet they lashed together a crude raft using vines, driftwood and palm trunks. It was big enough to tie radios and guns on to keep them dry while the eight men held on, half in the water. As darkness fell, they pushed it into deep water and paddled out to seaâ£
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That bloody reef again. It loomed out of the darkness and the waves crashed down on the raft. Bit by bit the lashings loosened. The eight men battled the waves, trying to get over the crucial point where the waves broke. Finally one huge wave dropped right on top of them, smashing the raft. Several of the men lost their grip and were carried away. The battered raft began to break up, and as another huge wave hit them the radios and several of the guns were swept away. Dennis managed to grab his Sten gun and pack and sling them over his shoulder before the raft broke up completely. Defeated by nature, the eight commandos struggled back to where they had started hours earlier, and collapsed exhausted on the beachâ£
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They got their breath back and considered their options. They had to get away tonight. The Japanese would be hunting them from daylight and there were still four hours till dawn. With only one machine gun - the Sten that Dennis had grabbed - and three pistols, they didn't stand a chance in a fight against a large patrol. There was no question of surrender. They would be tortured, then executed. They knew what had happened to other Z commandos who were captured. So they couldn't fight, and they couldn't surrender. Barnes suggested they try the sea once more, this time each person holding on to their own log. Dennis said it was crazy. They couldn't get through those waves at the reef, and even if they did, the chances of being picked up by their own side were extremely slim. Sharks were everywhere. The current would probably send them further down the coastâ£
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The two signallers thought the best tactic was to somehow retrieve the radios that were hidden with the boats. They could call for help from another part of the island. But Barnes and Gubbay didn't see any alternative to reaching the pick-up boat. They'd give it a go and send back help for the others who decided to stay. Walklate and Eagleton decided to go with them. It meant the squad was splitting up, with both officers leaving, but the officers wouldn't order the four men to join them in what was probably another folly. Barnes, Gubbay, Walklate and Eagleton shook hands with the others, wishing each other good luck. The four men grabbed their logs and pushed out to sea around 3am. They were never seen againâ£
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ððððð«, Hagger, Chandler and Dennis headed inland, where they found a good hiding place in the jungle and dug in. They agreed to hide through the daylight hours; at night they'd head back to the coast and watch out for the pick-up boat. Japanese patrols hunted for them all day without success. The squad waiting to ambush them at the hidden boats was reinforced. At dusk the four Australians slipped back to the coast and reached the inlet where the four had kicked out with their logs the previous night. After several hours they heard in the distance a faint rumble of diesel engines. It had to be their pick-up boat. But there was no way they could get to it or signal themâ£
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The four commandos figured their best course of action was to recover the last radio hidden in the cache and go inland to higher ground to try to call their base. They slipped away, collected the radio and last pistol from their hidden cache and moved through the jungle further inland. They agreed if they got separated, they'd meet at a bomb crater surrounded by tall trees they'd passed earlier. They were heading for it when Dennis, in the lead on the narrow trail, saw a footprintâ£
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He signalled to the three behind him to stop and get off the trail. Dennis crept further forward. The footprints were there. He was close, very close. The trail turned a bend. He couldn't see ahead. Carefully he peeked around the corner and all hell broke loose. Gunfire whipped all around him, bullets slamming into the mud at his feet, ripping apart saplings beside him and cracking past his head. Dennis dived to the ground and returned fire with his Sten through the bush. He fired at where he thought the Japanese were on the trail. The three men behind him raced up and spread out into the jungle on either side of Dennis. All they had were pistols. Dennis knew they couldn't win in a firefight. He emptied his magazine into the trail ahead and slammed in another magâ£
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The Japanese fired into the jungle hoping to hit the enemy they couldn't see. One Japanese came round the corner, saw Dennis, dropped to one knee and aimed his rifle right at him. Dennis got in first, ripping two rounds into his chest. He fell dead. Another soldier advanced and kneeled by the body of his comrade, taking aim at his killer. Dennis fired again, and the second soldier went down, falling across his comrade. Dennis slithered backwards into the thick foliage, and waited. He heard Japanese moving through the jungle all around him. Dennis couldn't call out to his mates. He'd expose himself and them if they replied. Gradually the sounds of movement got fainter as they moved away. He heard a couple of shots in the distance, then nothing. For an hour he lay absolutely still. Finally he extricated himself from the biting insects crawling over him. Making as little noise as possible Dennis moved towards the bomb-crater rendezvousâ£
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When he reached the crater, he stayed in the cover of the jungle. He couldn't see any sign of his three mates. They'd picked the crater because it was filled with rainwater and they'd be able to slake their thirst. After waiting a long time, the desperately thirsty Dennis left the protection of the jungle and crept towards the crater rim. He dipped a finger in the muddy water to taste it. It was bitter. The Japanese had poisoned it. He couldn't wait for his mates any longer. He'd have to find water and come backâ£
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Dennis reached the huts and skirted around them. They appeared deserted. He reached a small stream on the other side. He drank deeply and filled his water bottle. Just when all seemed clear, Dennis rounded one of the huts and came face to face with a young Japanese soldier holding his rifle at the ready. Dennis was faster. He fired two rounds into the youngster and he fell dead as Dennis slipped into the jungle. He had to circle around to get back to the crater. He'd give it one more chanceâ£
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Dennis was on the path to the crater when he heard voices ahead. He hid behind a tree and saw three Japanese soldiers coming straight towards him. He had to shoot first to survive. He levelled his Sten at the first man, firing a short burst into his chest. As he fell, Dennis fired into the man behind him. Like shooting ducks. The third man turned and started to run. A quick burst and Dennis brought him down too. He'd become a one-man killing machine. If his mates were dead, Mick Dennis was making the bastards payâ£
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But after the firefights and runs through the jungle, Dennis was exhausted. He had to find a place to hide and rest. He waded deep into the jungle, turning and covering his tracks. Eventually he found a crevice in the roots of a tree. He wriggled his way in and laid his weapon on his chest pointing at the entrance to his hiding place. Finger on the trigger, he fell into a wary sleepâ£
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Japanese troops from the mainland arrived and swarmed over Muschu looking for the Australians who were killing so many of their men. Dennis was now outnumbered 400 to 1. He awoke with the dawn, brushed off the insects and weighed his options. He'd have one last look at the crater just in case ððððð«, Chandler or Hagger were there. He had his Sten and a pistol. In his pack were ammunition, some emergency rations, medical kit, knife, maps and a compass. He also had the cyanide capsule issued to all "Z" operatives before a mission behind enemy lines. For some men su***de was better than the prospect of torture if captured. Not Mick Dennisâ£
- "It was a hopeless position. They were going to get me sooner or later, or I am going to die. My plan was to kill as many as I can and get off the island. That was it"â£
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He checked the crater. No sign of anybody, no fresh tracks, no telltale calling card like a snapped branch. Back to plan A. He was alone, surrounded by hundreds of Japanese hunting him with a vengeance. It was certain death if they caught him; a slow, agonising deathâ£
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Ahead of him was a slog through seven kilometres of enemy-infested jungle to reach the western edge of Muschu. Then he'd have to swim across four kilometres of shark- and crocodile-infested waters to the mainland. Then came slogging through twenty kilometres of enemy-controlled jungle to reach the Australian front line. Easy. He cleaned his weapons, stuck small branches into his pockets for camouflage, and set off as the first rays of the sun beamed down through thick overhead foliage. Using his compass and map he decided to head right at the Japanese base on the western side of the island. It would be the last place they would look for him. He hopedâ£
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Dennis slipped back into the jungle and was cutting across country when he heard voices ahead. He took cover behind a tree. A large Japanese patrol was coming along a path. Dennis froze. He watched, gun ready to fire, as they walked past. What he first thought might be half a dozen enemy troops turned out to be several dozen. Just as well he'd kept quiet. He waited until they'd all gone past, then a bit longer in case a couple of stragglers were followingâ£
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Then he came out of hiding, crossed the path and continued west. Heading inland towards the Japanese HQ turned out to be a good idea. All through 15 April he moved as silently as he could through the jungle, skirting clearings and avoiding paths. He found a stream in the centre of the island and filled his canteen. He was on high ground when he heard shots coming from the west. He dived into cover. But he saw nothing and kept on going. Were they hunting his mates? He had no way of knowing. As dusk fell, he found a good hiding place and promptly fell asleepâ£
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It was 16 April. Dennis had lost a lot of weight and he pulled his belt tighter. He ate some of his emergency rations and got underway. From a high point he saw the coast about three kilometres ahead. He pressed on. After a day's walk he was close to the coast and saw Japanese huts. He steered well clear of those. He had to stop when patrols passed close by, but they weren't looking for him here. The soldiers were relaxed and chatting. The action was on the other side of the islandâ£
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He came to a village of Muschu islanders with a pig roasting on a spit. The smell was delicious, and Dennis's stomach rumbled. He was so hungry. He had to stop himself racing in and stealing the food; he knew that after three years of occupation the local villagers were likely to be friendly with the Japanese. Finally Dennis peered through the jungle and saw a wide beach. He'd done it. But he couldn't move. Islanders and Japanese were everywhere, cooking and playing in the water. He retreated deeper into the jungle and lay down to sleep and recover from the long march. He'd need all his strength for what lay aheadâ£
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In the morning he scouted the coastline. From jungle cover he saw a couple of wrecked barges and exactly what he wanted â a wide loose plank. He stayed still and rested through the day. As night fell, he made a dash for the board, tied his gear to it with a vine and, using it like a makeshift surfboard, started to paddle his way across the four kilometres to the mainlandâ£
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At any moment he expected a shout from the beach and bullets to slam into his back. He kept going. The water in the lagoon was still and flat, and he was careful not to splash or disturb it. The distance from the beach grew. Dennis breathed a sigh of relief to find the swell over the reef was low. He made it easily and reached deep water. Now his fear was sharksâ£
- "There were sharks and salt water crocodiles all over the place. I was more scared of them than I was of the J**s"â£
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It didn't take long before the first shark approached to inspect the strange object attached to the plank. From underneath it looked tasty - a long flat plank with hands paddling and feet kicking. Dennis saw the shape lurking below, its pale skin reflecting the moonlight. He pulled his arms and feet out of the water. The shark could take him any time it wanted. It could easily nudge him off the plank. It came close, swimming alongside the Aussie, its killer black eye emerging from the water for a second to take a close look. Dennis didn't move. Maybe he had lost too much weight for the shark's taste, because it eventually flicked its tail and swam off. Dennis continued to paddle, trying not to look down into the depths at the flashes of white that cruised beneath himâ£
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Just before dawn Dennis staggered ashore on the New Guinea mainland. He grabbed his gun and gear and dragged himself up the sand to hide under a bush. He didn't know if he'd landed at a Japanese camp or in the middle of nowhere. But he was off Muschu. He'd done the impossible and escaped. It was a remarkable feat of courage and enduranceâ£
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For two long days Mick Dennis headed east towards the Australian lines. On the way he dodged several enemy camps, encountered three Japanese patrols and killed two more Japanese soldiers. He was close to the end and out of ammunition and supplies when he heard voices ahead. He took cover. His heart raced when he heard a broad Australian accent telling someone to keep up. He called out a code word. The patrol stopped. They answered. Dennis thought he recognised the voiceâ£
- "Is that you, Fatty?" he called outâ£
He'd bumped into an old mate from training. At last Mick Dennis was safe. He was the only commando to come back from Operation Copperâ£
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The information Dennis provided was invaluable. The Allies bombed Muschu before the landings at Wewak began on 10 May 1945, wiping out the guns Dennis had pinpointedâ£
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The mystery of what happened to the seven commandos who didn't return is still embroiled in controversyâ£
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The three men who got separated from Mick Dennis - ððð± ððððð«, Michael Hagger and John Chandler - were killed on Muschu. How they died isn't clear. After the war Japanese Officers claimed the three Australians were shot in a firefight. Islanders told Australian military the commandos were captured and executed by the Japanese, their bodies mutilatedâ£
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The graves were located and the remains interred in the Lae War Cemetery. In one of those ugly twists of fate, Michael Hagger was killed on his twenty-fifth birthdayâ£
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Records state Lieutenant Alan Gubbay and Lieutenant Thomas Barnes drowned. Their bodies washed up on the nearby island of Kairiru, where they were buried by islanders. In 1947 the bodies were removed by Australian authorities and placed in marked graves at Lae War Cemetery. Gubbay's family has demanded DNA tests to prove the body in the grave really is that of the missing 22-year-oldâ£
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The fate of the two other men gripping logs - Spencer Walklate and Ron Eagleton - was unknown for the next six decades. They were still listed as Missing in Action in 2013 when the Army's Unrecovered War Casualties Office made a shocking discovery in the mud of Kairiruâ£
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The remains of the two "Z" Commandos were found in an old Japanese Army waste pit. The remains bore signs of torture and they had been beheaded. Worse still, secret documents uncovered by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013 suggest the Australians had been ritually butchered and organs removed while the men were still alive. It has been claimed the Australians' organs were used in a Japanese military ceremony. Yet the Japanese involved were not pursued for war crimesâ£
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- "Details of the atrocities were suppressed and some continue to be to this day. They are also misrepresented in military files raising questions about other such crimes being covered up" reported the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013â£
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Lance Corporal Spencer Walklate and Private Ron Eagleton were buried with full military honours by Commandos and SAS at Bomana War Cemetery in 2014â£
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Mick Dennis, aged 94, was there to farewell his comrades. On his chest was the Military Medal, awarded for "great courage and initiative on Muschu Island off Wewak on the northern New Guinea coast between April 11 and 17, 1945". Even in his nineties Mick Dennis continues to reject any praise for his actionsâ£
- "They were the heroes, not me. They gave their lives for their country. I was just the lucky one"â£
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The whole story would become the stuff of "Z" Special legend and the subject of a couple of books, including The Guns of Muschu, written by Mick's nephew, Don Dennis
