In March 1945, a small group of young Allied operatives parachutes into the jungles of Borneo, tasked with recruiting the indigenous Dayak peoples to fight the Japanese. Most operatives have little experience with Asian cultures, speak few local languages, and know only that the Dayaks may be headhunters, leading to fears of violence upon arrival. Conversely, some Dayaks have never seen a white person before. This sets the stage for Operation Semut, an Australian secret mission by the Services Reconnaissance Department, also known as Z Special Unit, during the final months of WWII. Drawing on her extensive knowledge of Borneo, anthropologist Christine Helliwell interviewed over a hundred Dayaks and remaining Semut operatives, consulting thousands of military documents to craft this compelling narrative. The book details the military history of Semut II and III's guerrilla campaigns along the Baram and Rejang rivers, highlighting the crucial yet often overlooked role of the Dayaks. Helliwell vividly describes the jungle's sounds, smells, and tastes, illustrating the operatives' fear of both the environment and the Japanese threat. She also delves into the lives of the Dayaks, creating a unique account of the intersection of two distinct cultures amid the chaos of the Pacific War.
