# Leonard Siffleet
**Leonard George (Len) Siffleet** (14 January 1916 – 24 October 1943) was an [Australian Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-army) sergeant of the special operations unit M Special Unit who was captured while on reconnaissance behind Japanese lines in [New Guinea](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-guinea) and executed by beheading at Aitape. A photograph taken moments before his death, found in 1944 on the body of a dead Japanese soldier, became one of the most widely reproduced images of the Second World War and is positively identified as showing Siffleet.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 January 1916, Gunnedah, New South Wales; third of seven children of Leo and Elizabeth Siffleet[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) |
| Service | Australian Army, service number NX143314; final rank Sergeant, M Special Unit[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) |
| Mission | Radio operator for Operation "Whiting", a Dutch-planned coast-watching station in the hills above Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) |
| Capture | September 1943, with Private Pattiwahl and Private Reharin of the Netherlands East Indies Forces, while on reconnaissance behind Japanese lines[2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918) |
| Execution | Beheaded at Aitape on 24 October 1943 at about 3 pm, with two fellow prisoners, on the order of Vice Admiral Kamada; the executioner was Yasuno Chikao[2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) |
| The photograph | Found in 1944 on the body of a dead Japanese soldier by American troops; the subject was positively identified as Siffleet in 1945[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [4](https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WWII-History-October-2023.pdf) |
| Commemoration | Lae Memorial, Papua New Guinea, among Commonwealth war dead of the region with no known grave; aged 27[5](https://digitize-vwma.s3.amazonaws.com/I/documents/19831/file/Sergeant_Leonard_George_Siffleet_-_CWGC_Certificate__1_.pdf) |
## Early life and enlistment
Siffleet grew up in Gunnedah, New South Wales, where he was a keen sportsman and a good swimmer; he once outfitted the Gunnedah pipe band with highland hose that he had knitted himself.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) In the late 1930s he moved to Sydney in search of work and was rejected by the police because of poor eyesight.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744)
Mobilized into the militia in August 1940, he was posted to a searchlight unit at Richmond Air Force Base, but three months later he was discharged and went back to civilian life.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) After his mother's death in 1941 he and his sister Pearl took responsibility for raising their two youngest brothers.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) In September 1941 he joined the Second Australian Imperial Force and was posted to the 1st Division Signals Company at Ingleburn; he had become engaged to Clarice Lane.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
## Special operations service
After completing a specialist signals course at the Melbourne Technical College, Siffleet volunteered in September 1942 for special duties and joined [Z Special Unit](https://www.edgepedia.org/z-special-unit), the clandestine commando force whose operations remained secret for some 30 years after the war.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [6](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-31/z-special-unit-history/5706968) He trained at the Z Experimental Station in Cairns, where Special Operations Australia prepared its operatives.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744)
During his training, the Inter-Allied Services Department's Dutch section was laying plans for an operation, given the code name "Whiting", to set up a coast-watching station in the hills overlooking Hollandia, part of Dutch New Guinea, which the Japanese had recently occupied; Siffleet was assigned to serve as its radio operator.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) In February 1943 his team was flown to Bena Bena and began a long trek through jungle and mountainous terrain toward Aitape on the New Guinea coast. He was promoted to sergeant and transferred to the newly raised M Special Unit on 5 May 1943.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
## Capture and execution
In mid-September 1943, near the mountains above Aitape, the party's presence was betrayed by locals sympathetic to the Japanese and a bounty was offered for their capture.[3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) During a meal break at Wantipi the men were surrounded by about 100 local supporters of the Japanese; Siffleet fired on his attackers, wounding one, and briefly broke free before being caught. He and his companions were handed over to the Japanese.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
At the Japanese outpost at Malol near Aitape the prisoners were beaten and interrogated; Siffleet was beaten repeatedly and, under duress, gave away basic details of his mission while providing false details to protect other operations in the area.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) After about two weeks the prisoners were transferred to Aitape, where their executions were ordered.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744)
Just after 3 pm on 24 October 1943, Siffleet and two fellow prisoners, Private Pattiwahl and Private Reharin, Ambonese members of the Netherlands East Indies Forces, were marched to Aitape Beach, blindfolded, and beheaded before a crowd of Japanese and New Guinean onlookers; their bodies were buried in the sand and never recovered.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) • [2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918) • [3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311) The Australian War Memorial records that the execution was ordered by Vice Admiral Kamada, commander of the Japanese Naval Forces at Aitape, and carried out with a sword by Yasuno Chikao, who ordered a private to photograph the act.[2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918) The Memorial's timeline states that Chikao was killed in April 1944 by American forces at Hollandia.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744)
## The photograph
The photograph of the execution, showing Siffleet kneeling blindfolded with his arms tied as a man raises a sword overhead, was found in the spring of 1944 by an American soldier on the body of a dead Japanese major near Hollandia.[4](https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WWII-History-October-2023.pdf) The Australian War Memorial describes it as a photograph found on the body of a dead Japanese soldier and holds the negative in its collection.[2](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918) One history of the war in the Pacific states that it is the only existing photograph of a prisoner of war from a Western country being executed by a member of the Japanese military.[4](https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WWII-History-October-2023.pdf)
The image has often been misidentified as depicting other victims of Japanese executions, but its subject was positively identified as Siffleet in 1945.[1](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744) It is now featured in the Memorial's permanent Second World War Galleries, and his story is told in the Memorial's daily Last Post Ceremony.[3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
## Commemoration
Siffleet's body was never found. He is commemorated on the Lae Memorial at the Lae War Cemetery, together with the other Commonwealth war dead of the [New Guinea campaign](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-guinea-campaign) who have no known grave; the [Commonwealth War Graves Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/commonwealth-war-graves-commission) record gives his age at death as 27.[5](https://digitize-vwma.s3.amazonaws.com/I/documents/19831/file/Sergeant_Leonard_George_Siffleet_-_CWGC_Certificate__1_.pdf) His name is listed on the Roll of Honour at the [Australian War Memorial](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-war-memorial) among the roughly 40,000 Australians who lost their lives in the Second World War.[3](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
## References
1. [Sergeant Leonard George (Len) Siffleet, Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744)
2. [Aitape, New Guinea. 24 October 1943. A photograph found on the body of a dead Japanese soldier, Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C21918)
3. [The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of Sergeant Leonard George "Len" Siffleet, M Special Unit, Australian War Memorial](https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2094311)
4. [WWII History, October 2023, Warfare History Network](https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WWII-History-October-2023.pdf)
5. [Sergeant Leonard George Siffleet, CWGC commemorative certificate](https://digitize-vwma.s3.amazonaws.com/I/documents/19831/file/Sergeant_Leonard_George_Siffleet_-_CWGC_Certificate__1_.pdf)
6. [Daring deeds of World War II commandos Z Special Unit kept secret for 30 years, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-31/z-special-unit-history/5706968)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Conflict and security › Military and security biographies › Soldiers, guerrillas, partisans, and irregular fighters › Regular soldiers and veterans › World War I and World War II soldiers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license