Semut

“The incredible, little-known story of Australia’s top secret ‘Z’ operations deep inside Japanese lines in Sarawak in 1945 - aided by Dayak tribes who, with Australian approval, had resumed the ancient practice of headhunting … against Japanese patrols. Christine Helliwell records the dying months of the Pacific War, the terror of the Japanese, the world of the indigenous tribes, the intensity - down to the very smell and taste - of this jungle conflict with such menacing immediacy that this book will possess you long after you lay it down. A superb read, brilliantly researched, written in prose as sharp as a machete.” –Paul Ham, author, Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath’

“A story as textured as jungle foliage which feels qualitatively different to so many war histories. A thoroughly researched and absorbing story about a forgotten special forces operation behind enemy lines in Borneo at the tail-end of the Second World War … Captivating.” –Canberra Times

“A riveting history. A fascinating account superbly illustrated, well indexed and lucidly written … Brilliant.” –The Australian

“A work of great narrative power that goes directly to the heart of Australia’s place and identity in the Southeast Asian region … A deeply researched work … The result is a seamless, gripping, and visceral narrative history that transports the reader between Borneo’s punishing jungle environment, the capacious Dayak longhouses located along its majestic rivers, and the atmosphere of fear, tension and rivalry surrounding the Australian operation.” –Judges’ Comments, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2022

“What a narrative and revelation [this] book is … You’ll be struck by the care, narrative authority and emotional textures.” –New Zealand Listener

“Semut by Christine Helliwell is highly recommended. In fact it is a must read. It is more than a military history; it is also significant resource for all with an interest in understanding guerrilla or more specifically special warfare. The strength of this account over all others is that it also looks at the story from the perspective of the local indigenous inhabitants.” –CONTACT Air Land & Sea

Christine Helliwell is a New Zealand-born anthropologist, author and academic, currently Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. She has been carrying out research on Borneo’s indigenous Dayak peoples - including living with them in their communities for months at a time - for almost forty years, and has written widely on Dayak social and cultural life.

Since 2014 Christine has been researching WWII in Borneo, with a particular interest in the special operations conducted there by the Australian secret organisation codenamed Services Reconnaissance Department, popularly known as Z Special Unit. As part of this research she has travelled extensively throughout Sarawak, in the north of the island, and spoken to hundreds of elderly people who still remember the war. She has also interviewed almost all the remaining veterans from these operations, forming friendships with several in the process. In 2016 she was instrumental in organising a ceremony to honour the men and women of SRD/ Z Special Unit, at the Australian War Memorial. In 2018 she co-curated an exhibition at the Memorial on SRD/Z Special Unit operations in Borneo.

Christine lives in Canberra. Her book Semut - on the most important of the Borneo ‘Z’ operations - took her almost four years to write.

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