After reading the recent yarn about the late John Ponder, retired Colonel Doug Knight got on the blower to the Times. Doug, who’s the President of the Australian Commando Association Victoria, reckons it’s high time to set the record straight.
The article, while dishing out the deets on John’s military hustle during WWII, claimed that after his sneaky stint with the secretive Special Operations Executive behind enemy lines in Greece, John was shipped back to Oz and signed up with the Z Force Special Unit, basically the old-school version of today’s SAS, as a major.
But Doug’s waving the red flag – that’s not the full story. John was one of a bunch of officers from the SOE who got roped into Special Operations Australia, also known by its sneaky wartime name, the Services Reconnaissance Department. He was all about the Z Special Unit, a British setup that wasn’t exactly in the same league as today’s SAS.
For the rest of his service, John was flat out establishing links with Allied prisoners of war and sorting out the demobilization of British troops.
Apologies for any kerfuffle caused by this slip-up, all on the writer’s end.
