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M & Z Force Memorial : 13-September-2011
M & Z Force Memorial : 13-September-2011

Photographs supplied by Graeme Saunders

The plaque commemorates the officers and men who died in service or killed in action whike serving with the Australian Independent Companies Commando Squadron M and Z Special units.

M Special Unit, was a joint Allied special reconnaissance unit, part of the Services Reconnaissance Department, in the South West Paciific theatre of World War Two. A joint Australian, New Zealand, Dutch and British military intelligence unit, it saw action in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands between 1943–1945, against the Empire of Japan.

Z Special Uniwas a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Z Special Unit was assembled from mainly Australian, British, Dutch and New Zealand members but it also recruited fighters of Timorese and Indonesian heritage. 

In 1943, in what is regarded by many as the most successful clandestine military operation ever — Operation Jaywick — a team of 14 Z Special Unit commandos paddled into Singapore harbour in kayaks and attached limpet mines to Japanese enemy shipping. The stealthy raiders sank seven ships or 39,000 tonnes before escaping home to Australia undiscovered.

Location

Address:Birdwood Avenue, Shrine Reserve, Melbourne, 3000
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -37.830139
Long: 144.973276
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Actual Event Start Date:03-September-1939
Actual Event End Date:15-August-1945

Dedication

Front Inscription

1939 World War II 1945.

In memory of the Officers and men of Australian Independent Companies Commando Squadron

M + Z Special Units

Who gave their lives for their country

Source: VMR,RHSV
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au