Operation Platypus
Operation Platypus was an operation by Australian military forces during the Borneo Campaign in World War Two. It involved troops from Z Special Unit being inserted into the Balikpapan area. Its purpose was to gather information and organise locals for resistance against the Japanese.[1][2]
On the 20th March 1945, operation PLATYPUS 1, project ‘ROBIN’ was carried out in Dutch Borneo. Commandos used Hoehn military folboats (collapsible canoes) and rubber boats which had been lashed to the side of the submarine USS Perch. Four operators in two of the folboats which had been fitted with outboard motors proceeded 35 miles north of Balikpapan to shore. However, one of the motors failed to start so the four agreed to resort to paddling. They failed to communicate and it was reported that one folboat carrying CO Major Stott and 2 IC Captain McMillan capsized. In other reconnoiters, enemy patrols were encountered. The second folboat, with Sergeants Dooland and Horrocks, managed to beach. On the night of 22 March, the main PLATYPUS party, using folboats fitted with outboard motors, managed to land despite the motors failing. At one stage they were surrounded by the enemy but managed to slip through. Dooland and Horrocks were able to join them. Using mirror signals to friendly aircraft, they were finally rescued by a US Catalina. To avoid being found by the enemy, the folboat was partly dismantled and stowed in the Catalina. [3]
From the 20th to 24th June 1945. operations PLATYPUS 2, 3, 4 & 5, were carried out by deploying Australian commandos with their folboats, via Catalina aircraft from the 7th Fleet, to gather information from natives.
On 12th July 1945, PLATYPUS 9 party was deployed by folboat via landing craft to Djinabora (upper Balikpapan Bay). and assisted in disrupting enemy barge traffic.
On 16th July 1945, PLATYPUS 10 patrolled the Riko area by Prahu, a robust native canoe, and a folboat.
On 22nd July 1945, PLATYPUS 11, the final operation of this series, used folboats to reconnoiter and pinpoint prospective target areas .
Notes
- ↑ Feuer 2005, p. 109.
- ↑ "SRD operations in Borneo, Indonesia: PLATYPUS and others". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ Hoehn 2011, p. 70
References
- Feuer, A.B. (2005). Australian Commandos: Their Secret War Against the Japanese in World War II. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 9780811732949.
- Hoehn, John. Commando Kayak, 2011: The Australian Folboat in the Pacific Campaign Hirschbooks.net & ozatwar.com/hoehn. ISBN 978-3-033-01717-7.
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