Long-range penetration

A long-range penetration patrol, group, or force is a special operations unit capable of operating long distances behind enemy lines far away from direct contact with friendly forces as opposed to a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, a small group primarily engaged in scouting missions.

Though the concept of long range penetration is as old as war itself, in the modern era it is recognized as starting with Major Ralph Alger Bagnold with his 1940 Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) in the Western Desert. The LRDG carried out operations of reconnaissance and sabotage far behind the enemy's lines in the Libyan Desert. Bagnold was an experienced desert explorer who had his LRDG trained in desert driving, navigation through using the sun and stars as well as a compass, and knowing their territory. They were supplied by all the equipment that their trucks could carry.

In 1942, several British Special Operations Executive (SOE) personnel who had escaped from Singapore to Australia, formed the Allied Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) for special operations in the South West Pacific theatre.Z Special Unit ("Z Force") was organised under its auspices to conduct commando-style operations behind Japanese lines. The long distances to all potential targets made unconventional, long-range penentration tactics a requirement for Z Force. It recruited Australian, British, New Zealand and Dutch East Indies personnel and, later, amongst indigenous resistance fighters. In Operation Jaywick (September 1943), a detachment led by Captain Ivan Lyon travelled on a small Indonesian fishing boat, from Australia to the vicinity of Singapore, where folding kayaks were used to approach ships and attach limpet mines. These sank or seriously damaged 39,000 tons of shipping, as the raiders returned to Australia. In September 1944, Lyon led a second raid on Singapore, Operation Rimau, which resulted in the deaths of the entire raiding force. During 1943–45, other Z Force operatives conducted intelligence gathering and guerilla operations throughout the Southwest Pacific, including preparations for Allied landings in the Philippines and Borneo campaign.

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