Bastard Behind the Lines: The Extraordinary Story of Jock McLaren’s Escape From Sandakan and His Guerrilla War Against the Japanese by Tom Gilling

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Book corners are now protected with book tape. Interior and binding are still excellent.

Scottish-born but a Queenslander to the bone, Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. As a prisoner, he escaped twice, first from Changi and later from the infamous Sandakan POW camp in Borneo.

After paddling a dugout canoe across the open sea, he fought for two years with American-led Filipino guerrillas, his exploits so audacious the Japanese put a price on his head.

At the helm of his 26-foot whaleboat, the Bastard, McLaren sailed brazenly into enemy-held harbours, wreaking havoc with his mortar and machine guns before heading back to sea.

In early 1945 he joined Australia's secretive Z Special Unit, parachuting into Borneo to conduct reconnaissance and organise anti-Japanese resistance ahead of Allied landings.

He cheated death numerous times and saved his own life by removing his appendix without anaesthetic, using 'two large dessert spoons' and a razor blade.

Drawing on Allied and Japanese wartime documents, Bastard Behind the Lines brings the story of a courageous digger vividly to life. It throws light on a rarely explored aspect of Australia's Pacific war. (back cover)