At the end of the Second World War, an elite force of Australian commandos enlisted
these wild men of Borneo in a terrifying tactic against the Japanese.
Headhunting.
It was the way of life for them.
It scared the Japanese witless, didn't it?
Oh, yes, I don't think they liked it. They liked lopping off other people's heads.
It was 1945 and a very secret war.
You were basically running your own private army. It was Jack Tredrea's private army, wasn't it?
Yeah, we each had our own guerrillas. We each had our own territory.
This is the story of the Diggers and the headhunters.
Today we're on our way back to the Borneo Highlands with one of the last of those Australians
who ran this very dangerous covert operation nearly 70 years ago.
In 1945, Jack Tredrea jumped out of a liberator bomber into the unknown.
We were doing a blind jump. We didn't know whether Japanese would be there.
We just hoped.
With Jack on this journey to the past is his great-granddaughter Sammy, an Adelaide schoolgirl.
What do you want Sammy to find out?
Just that it was something completely different to what she’ll ever see in her lifetime.
Jack and his comrades were the forerunners of the SAS.
All volunteers, they dropped through thick cloud into occupied Borneo into the village of Bario.
Welcome back Jack Tredrea to the highlands of Bario!
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry...
It's alright. I can hold your bag.
I'm a bit emotional.
Only a handful of that Z-special unit team survived.
Jack is the only one well enough to return here.
After you, Jack. Lead the way.
Jack wasn't much older than Sammy when he lived in long houses like this one
while he was training the villagers to fight the Japanese.
The locals had already suffered over three years of cruel Japanese occupation.
Many tribesmen were now keen to take their revenge.
And the brutal reality Jack faced shoulder-to-shoulder with them was tougher than Sammy imagined.
I went up to this room and there was a cage full of heads.
- Are any of these yours, Jack? - Yes.
I've seen many of them in the various long houses.
These may be Japanese heads, do you think?
Possibility, definitely.
It was March 1945, and their operation was codenamed SEMUT. The Malay word for ant.
The commandos taught the tribesman to use modern weapons.
But in thick mountainous jungle
the Australians depended on the stealth and skill of the native warriors to patrol
hundreds of kilometres of enemy territory
spying on Japanese positions in preparation for an allied invasion.
We were there from March until May before the Japanese knew we were in the area.
A handful of Australians with a couple of thousand tribesmen were up against the might of the Japanese Imperial Army.
They decided to terrorise them.
The practice of headhunting was encouraged.
We had to use every resource that we had.
I mean there's something that
was horrible to you, but he knew it was a cultural thing.
Christian missionaries had banned headhunting before the war, but Jack's commander
encouraged the Highland warriors to resume their tradition.
This time, lopping Japanese heads.
And he actually offered a financial compensation, didn't he?
Five guilders for each head, five Dutch guilders.
It's pretty gruesome stuff, Jack.
Yeah, it was.
When Jack Tredrea was journeying these rivers, he wasn't looking at the scenery.
There was the ever-present threat of a Japanese attack. The possibility of a violent death or injury just around the corner.
So were you ever ambushed on the river?
No, not once.
But you ambushed Japanese?
Yep, on several occasions.
We would be five yards from them and they wouldn't know it. But you can understand
how silent it is.
Jack’s exploits with his band of thirty warriors won him the military medal.
I had my own method of throwing a grenade.
They were all six second fuses so I'd hold them in my hand, let them go
until there was about three seconds left and throw it like a cricket ball.
- You comfortable? - Yes.
How's your bottom?
Dead.
He's delighted you've come along.
This is probably the first time that I'd ever really talked to him.
What have you found yourself talking to him about?
I'm gonna cry.
I thought, I'd just see things and that's all. I didn't think that he'd really tell me stories, but he did and
it's just lovely to to talk to him and that
knowing all the stuff that he did
not only for the natives and for our country as well.
Operation SEMUT provided crucial intelligence for the Allies to retake the oil-rich island of Borneo.
Do you think that the operation you were part of saved a lot of Australian lives?
Yes, because we had 2,000 of the population armed
and we had 32 Z-people there each controlling those 2,000
and that stopped the Japanese coming inland.
At the end of June 1945
Australian and American troops retook Borneo.
But the Z-men were forbidden to ever speak of their secret war.
We were under the Secrets Act for thirty years. No one knew what we did do.
Was it frustrating you that you couldn't talk openly about it?
Well, my wife used to growl at me for the first couple of years that I'd have nightmares
but I put it out of my mind once I settled down and returned to my occupation.
Jack became Adelaide's most prestigous tailor, making suits for premiers and governors.
None knew he was a highly trained killer.
He never told of nor did he ever forget the tribesmen he came to regard as his brothers in arms.
I’d love to tell those people how much they meant to us. They made our job so much easier.
While few in Australia are aware of what Jack and his comrades achieved in Borneo
here, he's honoured as a hero and a friend.
Today Jack is the special guest at this official dedication
of a memorial remembering the once-secret SEMUT operation.
- This is my granddaughter. - Yes, yes.
I'm pleased to meet you.
I'm pleased to meet you too.
I'm a little emotional because I'm the last one.
- Oh, yeah. Remember all your friends? - Yep.
That's good that you managed to come here.
I'm very glad that you've come.
I'm honoured to come.
The villagers bear witness to the bravery of a few good men.
The Digger reunited with the headhunters one last time.
You hang on to me.
That's right.