M Special Unit

M Special Unit
Members of M Special Unit with New Guineans in August 1945
Active	1943 – 1945
Country	Australia New Zealand United Kingdom
Role	Close target reconnaissance intelligence gathering
Part of	Service Reconnaissance Department of the Allied Intelligence Bureau
Engagements	New Guinea campaign
Battle honours	No battle honours were awarded

Execution of an M Special Unit prisoner of war by a Japanese soldier in 1943.

M Special Unit, was part of the Services Reconnaissance Department, a joint Australian, New Zealand and British military intelligence reconnaissance unit, which saw action against the Japanese during World War II. It was formed in 1943, as a successor to the coastwatchers and unlike its counterpart, Z Special Unit (Z Special) which was involved in a number of notable direct-action commando-style raids, M Special Unit's role was more clandestine focusing mainly upon gathering intelligence on Japanese shipping and troop movements by sending small teams behind enemy lines via infiltration by sea, air or land. It operated primarily in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands between 1943–1945 and was disbanded at the end of the war.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Horner, David. (1989). SAS Phantoms of the Jungle: A History of the Australian Special Air Service. Allen & Unwin: Sydney. ISBN 1-86373-007-9

See also

• Australian commandos
• Pacific War
• Second World War
• Z Special Unit