Project Opossum
Part of World War II, Japanese occupation of British Borneo
Date 1945 Location (({place))} Result Australian success
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Z Special Unit
Commanders and leaders
	Lt George Bosworth
Strength
	13 Z Force Unit

Project Opossum was a raid by Australia's Z Force Unit in 1945 on the island of Ternate near Borneo to rescue the Sultan of Ternate, Iskander Muhammad Jabit Syah.^[1]

The mission was authorised by General Douglas MacArthur who was worried about the sultan's life. The sultan had been sympathetic to the Allied cause.

Z Force sent a contingent of 13, mostly Australians and two Indonesian recruits from West Timor and North Sulawesi. They landed on Hiri Island, two kilometres north of Ternate, and went to the coastal village of Kulaba after a six hour trek. Members of the unit rescued the sultan along with his two wives, eight children and retinue of courtiers and relatives. Several boatloads of Japanese soldiers arrived the next day resulting in a shooting fight which resulted in the death of three Japanese and Australian officer Lt George Bosworth. Warrant Officer Perry assumed command and attacked the remaining Japanese who were all killed.

The sultan and his family were taken to Morotai by PT boat where the sultan spoke with General MacArthur. They were then settled in the Queensland town of Wacol.^[2]

The mission inspired the film Attack Force Z (1981).^[3]