For reasons of secrecy, the actions of the Services' Reconnaissance Department
of the Government of Australia during the Second World War were largely unknown
to the public and have remained so since then. Here for the first time is an authentic
account of the clandestine operations launched from Australia against the Japanese
occupied islands to its north during World War II.
Dick Horton, as a Lieutenant RNVR. was a member of the Special Forces with
which this book is concerned and was awarded the DSC and the American Silver Star
for his services. He writes from first-hand knowledge and pays fitting tribute to his
brothers-in-arms. He describes the magnificent series of operations of the Independent
Companies against the crack 5th and 48th Divisions of the Japanese Army on
Timor and the achievements of HMAS KRAIT a converted Japanese fishing boat.
He goes on to describe the revolt of the population in Borneo which was engineered
by a handful of men. mostly Australians from Z Special Unit, and which materially
assisted the Allied Forces when they invaded and re-took it.
Apart from its unquestionable value to students of military history, "Ring of
Fire" is an exciting account of a variety of imaginative
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