A STUDY GUIDE BY ROBERT LEWIS http://www.metromagazine.com.au ISBN: 978-1-74295-473-8 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au OVERVIEW Australia’s Secret Heroes is an outstanding edu- cational resource to help students develop empa - thy with the real-life veterans. Once students have explored the experience of the Z Special men, they will be able to understand far more deeply the nature of the war for individual soldiers and nurses, and this will make their study of World War Two much richer, more personal and meaningful. Australia’s Secret Heroes (Robert Wilkins, 2014, 3 x 52-min- In a gripping and emotional journey, we hear from a Z Spe- ute documentary series) tells the story of Z Special Unit, cial veteran who under torture gave up information leading a remarkable group of men who were plucked from the to the capture of one of the descendant’s forefathers; ex- Australian military in World War Two, trained in explosives, perience moving accounts of some of the men’s last days camouflage, silent killing and torture – and then sent on before being executed; and see the use of equipment used incredibly perilous undercover operations in Asia. by Z Special, including the specially recreated Sleeping Beauty – a James Bond-like one-man motorised submers- At the time of the White Australia policy, the unit actively ible canoe. recruited soldiers of Asian heritage so they could blend in and help train native guerilla resistance movements. Then, in the final episode, two of the descendants travel to Borneo to hear firsthand about the involvement of one of For years, the Z Special operatives were sworn to secrecy. their forefathers in headhunting. But now the veterans, some speaking publicly for the first time, relive their remarkable wartime exploits. In a unique ‘living history’ approach, Australia’s Secret Heroes also takes six descendants of the men who did it for real to give them a taste of what their forefathers went through. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION Over the course of the series, the modern-day ‘recruits’ witness torture techniques, and hear firsthand about some of the most ingenious and dangerous covert operations ever undertaken. 2 CURRICULUM APPLICABILITY Australia’s Secret Heroes is an excellent resource for use with senior students (Years 10–12) in: • History: Year 10, Depth Study 1: World War Two – Students investigate wartime experiences through a study of World War Two in depth. This includes a study of the causes, events, outcome and broader impact of the conflict as an episode in world history, and the nature of Australia’s involvement. It includes the expe- riences of Australians during World War Two (such as Prisoners of War (POWs), the Battle of Britain, Kokoda, the Fall of Singapore). • English: The theme of War. • Media: Documentary film form. Teachers should note that parts of Episode Two show torture techniques (and specifically waterboarding) and Episode Three shows historical images of severed heads. You may not want your students to see these. SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION 3 BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM Here is a photograph of a group of Australian soldiers from 3 This description tells us nothing about the men. World War Two. Imagine that you could invite one of these men to your class to talk to you about their experiences. List ten 1 Describe the men. questions that you would want to ask. 2 Do they seem special or ordinary to you? Explain your 4 Have the class share all the questions and select the ideas. ‘top ten’. List these. In fact the men are all members of an Australian unit called 5 Now compare these with the questions listed on the Z Special Unit, formed during World War Two. It was a next page. If some of your questions are not answered, small, secret and specialised force. It carried out over add these to the list in the blank spaces provided. eighty special missions, mainly in Japanese-occupied areas to the north and north-west of Australia. History is about three key major things: This particular group of men were all part of an operation • Finding out what happened (Knowledge) called Operation Jaywick. • Working out why it happened, and its impacts or con- Here is how that Operation is described by the Australian sequences (Understanding) War Memorial: • Developing an understanding of the people involved Operation Jaywick was one of the most daring and cel- (Empathy) ebrated special operations undertaken in World War II. In SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION September 1943, eleven Australian and three British army This series can help with all three, but especially empathy. and navy personnel raided Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, sinking or badly damaging seven ships and, What was it like to be a member of Z Special unit and to against great odds, made it back to Australia. experience their type of war? You will be asked to fill in the answers to the questions as you view Australia’s Secret http://www.dva.gov.au/aboutDVA/publications/ Heroes. commemorative/jaywick/Pages/index.aspx 4 Key questions to ask to explore the experiences of World War Two Australian soldiers – in this case, the soldiers of Z Special Unit Who were they? (background) Why did they volunteer for the unit, and any operations? What sort of skills did they need? What was their training like? How did they behave on operations? What were their attitudes towards the war, the enemy, and what they were doing? What dangers did they face? What emotions did they feel? What effects or impacts did they have on the war? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION What effects or impacts did the war have on them? 5 EXPLORING IDEAS & ISSUES IN THE FILM EPISODE 1 In 1942, with the Japanese invasion of Singapore, an Australian unit was formed to strike back at the enemy in a series of near-suicidal missions deep behind enemy lines. Now, in a unique ‘living history’ approach, six descendants of the men who did it for real are given a taste of the same tough training as their forefathers. Episode 1 outlines the formation of Z Special Unit in the face of a possible Japanese invasion and the drive, in the midst of the White Australia policy, to recruit soldiers of Asian descent to fight behind the lines in Japanese-occupied countries like Timor, Papua New Guinea and Borneo. The first training camp in 1942 was organised by Captain The Z Special speratives selected for the mission had to Ivan Lyon on the banks of Pittwater Bay, where the modern be physically fit but also prepared to fight the Japanese in training camp is pitched by the descendants of the Z Special hand-to-hand combat behind the lines, and so were rigor- operatives. They are first put through a series of physical ously trained in unarmed combat. tests, including running and swimming, to prepare them for their mission. Lyon was a Special Operations officer who The six modern recruits experience some of the same train- had escaped the invasion of Singapore and was determined ing using the now-declassified training manual and by one SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 © ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION to hit back at the Japanese. He had formulated a daring of the original unarmed combat instructors, the late Frank plan to sail to Singapore (thousands of kilometres behind Doyle, who was also the grandfather of one of the recruits, Japanese lines), paddle into the harbour in folding canoes Andy Doyle. The recruits are then taught how to set and and place limpet mines on several key Japanese ships. place magnetic limpet mines on boats, which have to be Operation Jaywick was a suicide mission in all but name. manually slid below the waterline to avoid detection. 6 JACK Z Special was a special unit staffed by special people for special operations. DES We might have been illegal by some standard but then we didn’t exist. NARRATOR And at a time of the White Australia policy, Z actively The episode culminates in the story of the original mis- recruits soldiers of Asian descent. sion to Singapore, codenamed Operation Jaywick, with the modern recruits gaining an understanding of what the PETER Z operatives went through with their own training mission. The very people who were most useful to Z were the One of the recruits, Danielle Sisson, had a Great Uncle in people who had been most marginalised in Australian Operation Jaywick and feels a strong connection to him society. by carrying out a similar exercise. They are instructed to paddle their folding canoes at night in almost total silence NARRATOR and place limpet mines on a wharf several kilometres away Using now declassified manuals, six young volunteers – will they be up to the task? will be put through a similar tough training program. All of them descended from the men who did it for real. Questions LUKE 1.1 What is your image of the nature of the fighting in World You find out that your Grandad was a badass. That War Two? he fought in a World War Two Special Ops Unit, was captured, was tortured. 1.2 Here is the transcript of the first one minute and forty- five seconds of Australia’s Secret Heroes: JIM It’s haunted me my whole life. MICK I pulled my thirty-eight out and I shot him through the DANIELLE head. My great uncle … I’ll always be proud of him and what he did for Australia. FRANK We had one purpose. Kill the enemy.