Operation Opossum

Operation Opossum was a World War II raid undertaken by Australia's Z Special Unit in 1945 on the island of Ternate near Borneo to rescue the Sultan of Ternate, Iskander Muhammad Jabit Syah.

The mission was authorised by General Douglas MacArthur who was worried about the Sultan's life. The Sultan had been sympathetic to the Allied cause.

Z Special Unit sent a contingent of 13, mostly Australians and two Indonesian recruits from West Timor and North Sulawesi. They landed on Hiri Island, two kilometres north of Ternate, and went to the coastal village of Kulaba after a six-hour trek. Members of the unit rescued the Sultan along with his two wives, eight children and retinue of courtiers and relatives.

Several boatloads of Japanese soldiers arrived the next day resulting in a shooting fight which resulted in the death of three Japanese and Australian officer Lieutenant George Bosworth. Warrant Officer Dick Perry assumed command and attacked the remaining Japanese who were all killed.

The sultan and his family were taken to Morotai by PT boat where the Sultan spoke with MacArthur. They were then settled in the Queensland town of Wacol until the end of the war.

Legacy
The mission reportedly inspired the film Attack Force Z (1981), even though the plot of that movie was very different from the facts of Opossum.

External

 * Operation Opossum at Z Special Unit