Z Force was a forward observation force attached to the British General Staff Intelligence that operated in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Z Force's function was to obtain information for the commander of the British Fourteenth Army, General

Slim Slim or SLIM may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slim Goodbody, a fictional character who teaches about anatomy * Slim, one of the alien antagonists of the 1988 film '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' * Slim, the Pixl fro ...

. The Fourteenth Army was engaged in the prolonged Burma Campaign fighting to recapture Burma from the Japanese. Z Force was tasked to obtain information on the size and location of Japanese forces and their logistics (oil dumps, ammunition depots etc.). Z Force did this sending intelligence units into Japanese held territory that then relayed the information back to the headquarters of the Fourteenth Army by radio. The intelligence units that went behind enemy lines were made up of expatriates and of Burmese from the

Chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

, Kachin and

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

peoples. The expatriates, who had worked in Burma before the war and were familiar with the jungle, were all commissioned as officers from captain to colonel. Most had been forest officers or

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

foresters before the war, though some were

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

engineers and some had worked with radio companies. Z force operated for three years, initially penetrating Japanese lines on foot but later on they were parachuted in by the RAF who also resupplied them via parachute drops. The "highly dangerous mission in a war noted for its ferocity and bestiality" were carried out in some of the most difficult jungle terrain in the world. During the campaign Z force personnel were awarded one

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, two DSOs, four OBEs, four

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

s, seventeen MCs with

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

s to two, and sixteen

Burma Gallantry Medal The Burma Gallantry Medal (BGM) was a military decoration awarded for acts of gallantry, in both war and peace, by Governor's commissioned officers, non-commissioned Officers and other ranks of the British Burmese military. These included its A ...

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