View source for Operation Python (1943–1944)

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{{infobox military conflict
|conflict    =Operation Python<br>(I, II, III and IV)
|partof      =[[World War II]]
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|date        =1943–1944
|place       =[[North Borneo]]
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|combatant1  =[[Z Special Unit]]<br>North Borneo Natives
|combatant2  =[[File:War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army.svg|23px]] [[Imperial Japanese Army]]<br>[[File:Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|23px]] [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]
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'''Operation Python''' was carried out by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[commando]] unit [[Z Special Unit]], during [[World War II]]. The objective of the mission was to set up a wireless station near [[Labian Point]] in [[North Borneo]] and undertake covert operations reporting on the sea lane of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] in the [[Sibutu Passage]] and the [[Balabac Strait]] of the [[Sulu Sea]]. The operation was split into ''Python I'' and ''Python II''.
Their first task was to plant three of their fellow operators with their radio transmitter at a safe distance, so that coded intelligence could be sent back to Australia. In their information forays and reconnaissance, they traveled many hundreds of miles at great risk using Hoehn military [[folboat]]s along the coast and accessible inland waters.
== Operation Python I ==
Led by [[F. G. L. Chester|Major F. G. L. Chester]], the Z Special Unit operatives landed along Labian Point in early October 1943. They also supported and provided equipment and stores for Filipino guerrillas under the command of an American officer, Captain J. A. Hamner.
== Operation Python II ==
In January 1944, Bill Jinkins led Z Special Unit operatives with the objective of organising the native population for guerrilla warfare. These early efforts did not bear any significant results.
== References ==
*Feuer, A. B. (2006). ''Australian Commandos: Their Secret War against the Japanese in WWII'', Stackpole Books, {{ISBN|978-0-8117-3294-9}}.
*Hoehn, John. (2011). ''Commando Kayak: The use of Australian folboats during the Pacific Campaign''. hirschbooks.net & ozatwar.com/hoehn . {{ISBN|978-3-033-01717-7}}
==External links==
*[http://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j37/borneo.asp Covert operations in Northwest Borneo]
*[http://zspecial.wpengine.com/operation-python/ Operation Python] at Z Special Unit
{{coord missing|Malaysia}}
{{Australian Commando raids of the Second World War}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Python}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1943]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1944]]
[[Category:20th century in Brunei]]
[[Category:Special forces of Australia]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Australia]]