{"id":202544,"date":"2025-05-24T18:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T23:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=202544"},"modified":"2025-10-13T07:49:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:49:44","slug":"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">11<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major Tom Harnett Harrisson was a figure who could inspire books and movies. An esteemed British polymath, Harrisson was an archetypal Renaissance Man born in 1911 in Argentina to British parents. Harrisson\u2019s father, Geoffrey, worked as a railway engineer and later as a railroad manager. In 1914, when Britain went to war, Geoffrey uprooted his family and went home to the UK to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"677\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM-1024x677.jpg\" alt=\"Black And white vignette Tom Harnett Harrisson biting his finger\" class=\"wp-image-202548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM-400x264.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.02\u202fPM.jpg 1456w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tom Harnett Harrisson was a smart guy. He was also a sociopath who was ultimately responsible for the deaths of more than a thousand Japanese.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Geoffrey Harrisson had a natural gift for war. He was decorated for valor in combat and ended WW1 as a Brigadier-General. However, while Geoffrey was off fighting on the continent, Tom\u2019s mother, Marie Ellen, became bored and distant.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-a-suboptimal-childhood-for-harrisson\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">A Suboptimal Childhood For Harrisson<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-ornithologist-goes-to-war\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">The Ornithologist Goes to War<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-harrisson-on-the-battlefield\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">Harrisson On The Battlefield<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-death-from-above\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">Death from Above<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-unconventional-warriors\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">Unconventional Warriors<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-refined-art-of-killing\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">The Refined Art of Killing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-butcher-s-bill\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">The Butcher\u2019s Bill<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-rest-of-the-story-for-harrisson\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">The Rest of the Story For Harrisson<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-to-conclude\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" data-level=\"2\">To Conclude<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom and his brother William subsequently raised themselves without friends or toys. They entertained each other, tearing up the countryside, exploring nature. Tom actually taught himself to read using books on natural history. In 1919, with the war over, Tom\u2019s parents abandoned the boys at the Eastacre prep school and returned to Argentina without them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-suboptimal-childhood-for-harrisson\">A Suboptimal Childhood For Harrisson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"Old-fashioned prep school with maintained lawn\" class=\"wp-image-202559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.20.15\u202fPM.jpg 1578w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prep schools like this one were home for Tom and William Harrisson during their formative years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from a single year in 1922, Tom and William were wards of their boarding schools. That year they spent back in Argentina with their parents. Tom later described his time in South America as the best year of his youth. There, he learned to hunt, fish, and climb at his father\u2019s direction. However, afterwards, he reluctantly returned to England to complete his education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While at the Harrow School from 1925 through 1930, Harrisson\u2019s quirky personality blossomed. He had few friends but maintained a card index of the other boys in his class, documenting their interests and personalities. He developed a passion for ornithology and wrote and published a book about local birds before completing high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM-1024x630.jpg\" alt=\"Indigenous men in a line\" class=\"wp-image-202557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM-400x246.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM-150x92.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM-768x472.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.39\u202fPM.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">While exploring Borneo as a college student, Tom Harrisson became comfortable around men like these. That turned out to be a marketable skill in the global conflagration to come.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrisson eventually attended both Cambridge and Oxford sequentially. In 1932, he spent 6 months on an expedition to the northern Sarawak region of Borneo with the Oxford University Exploration Club. He later spent two years from 1934 to 1936 on a longer exploration of the New Hebrides. Along the way, he also worked in broadcasting for the BBC. His time in Borneo would eventually open some fascinating doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-ornithologist-goes-to-war\">The Ornithologist Goes to War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1-1024x655.jpg\" alt=\"Old photograph of Tom Harnett Harrisson standing in the Japanese jungle of Borneo\" class=\"wp-image-202556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1-1024x655.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1-400x256.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1-768x491.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.13.21\u202fPM-1.jpg 1198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">When Tom Harrisson enlisted in the British Army, he likely had no idea he would eventually find himself deep in the jungle of Borneo, leading an insurrection against the occupying Japanese.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When war broke out, Harrisson joined the Army, as did almost every British male of appropriate age and fitness. In November 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Reconnaissance Corps. Afterwards, in a nondescript hotel room in Northern Ireland in 1944, he met a retired British cavalry Colonel who worked for the British Special Operations Executive. The bird-loving anthropologist was about to become a spy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve glossed over Tom Harrisson\u2019s extraordinary personality. Though I never met the man, he was described as exceptionally opinionated and abrasive. His father disinherited him, and his autobiography was ultimately titled&nbsp;The Most Offending Soul Alive.&nbsp;Fiercely independent and resourceful, this widely-read, grouchy curmudgeon was the perfect special operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-harrisson-on-the-battlefield\">Harrisson On The Battlefield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"454\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.26\u202fPM.jpg\" alt=\"Soldier standing by river wither Japanese native\" class=\"wp-image-202551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.26\u202fPM.jpg 454w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.26\u202fPM-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.26\u202fPM-97x150.jpg 97w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is one of the Commonwealth troops assigned to Semut Team 2. Working alongside indigenous warriors like this one, the Semut teams played havoc with the Japanese in Borneo. I think the native guy looks vaguely like an orc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Borneo is the third-largest island on the planet. A nearly impenetrable mass of jungle and disease, Borneo had little to appeal to either the Japanese or the Allies, save one thing. It sat atop vast reserves of crude oil. At a time when Japan was facing down the relentlessly advancing Allied juggernaut while starving for fuel, Borneo became a lifeline to the Axis war machine in the Pacific. The Japanese occupied the island and terrorized everyone and everything on it, just as they did everywhere they went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SOE called the subsequent operation Semut. Semut is Malay for ant. Harrisson later described his 8-man special ops team as biting ants. Their mandate was to parachute into Borneo and raise an indigenous army to make life unbearable for the occupying Japanese. Their combined Anglo\/Australian unit was called Z-Force.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-death-from-above\">Death from Above<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"693\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM-1024x693.jpg\" alt=\"Old photo of military drop zone \" class=\"wp-image-202546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM-1024x693.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM-400x271.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM-150x102.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM-768x520.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.22.38\u202fPM.jpg 1270w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is the drop zone for Harrisson&#8217;s team as photographed from his Liberator before they parachuted into the jungle. It was some seriously desolate and forbidding terrain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Harrisson and his seven team members eventually parachuted from an American B-24 Liberator bomber after a six-hour flight from the Philippines. Their first two insertion attempts had been foiled by bad weather. However, on the night of 25 March 1945, Harrisson and his team successfully touched down on Borneo soil. As he was a white man who descended from the sky, the local Dayak tribesmen naturally revered him as a god.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not just anybody could drop into the remote jungles of Borneo and thrive. The Dayaks were headhunters and legendarily fierce warriors. However, Tom Harrisson had been here before and studied both the land and the people. He understood their customs and knew how to push their buttons. In short order, he had organized an indigenous army some 100,000 strong. He later claimed that, throughout the war, he did not have a single man desert or run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-unconventional-warriors\">Unconventional Warriors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"570\" height=\"814\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-4.08.51\u202fPM.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-202547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-4.08.51\u202fPM.jpg 570w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-4.08.51\u202fPM-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-4.08.51\u202fPM-105x150.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Here we see the god-man Major Tom Harrisson with one of his many indigenous troops. Note that the British officer is the one bereft of shoes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Two more Semut teams jumped into other parts of the enormous country with a similar mandate to sow mayhem. Harrisson, for his part, set up a radio relay network to gather and disseminate intelligence and began training his troops. In teaching Stone Age tribesmen the art of modern war, Harrisson said, \u201cWe never had to teach a Kelabit or Murut how to move or kill. But there was always an appreciable danger that in moving they might kill themselves, with things like hand grenades; or kill each other, instead of the enemy, by a combination of over-enthusiasm and the automatic lever on a carbine or <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/british-sten-gun\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\">Sten gun<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weapons poured in from the skies, and his headhunting acolytes took to the work with verve. In addition to airdropped carbines and Sten guns, his indigenous troops also employed bows and arrows as well as deadly blowguns. On their first ambush patrol, Harrisson and his motley mob attacked a sizeable Japanese force and killed them to a man. Thusly emboldened, Harrisson\u2019s guerrillas took their show on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-refined-art-of-killing\">The Refined Art of Killing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"695\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM-1024x695.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Harrisson broadcasting on old BBC radio in special forces\" class=\"wp-image-202550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM-1024x695.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM-400x272.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM-150x102.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM-768x522.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.22\u202fPM.jpg 1452w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tom Harrisson used his experience in broadcasting for the BBC to establish an extensive jungle communications network.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout it all, Harrisson remained monotonously difficult. His fellow Z-Force special operators later attested that he was indeed a royal jerk. The anthropologist-turned-warrior trampled on local customs when that was what it took to kill the Japanese most efficiently. However, the man was also undeniably brave and maddeningly charismatic. So long as he got results, his SOE handlers just kept dropping in guns and ammunition and stayed out of his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 19 June 1945, 23,553 Australian troops landed in Borneo at Brunei Bay to push the Japs off the island. At that point, Harrisson and his maniacal band of half-naked cutthroats began organizing and executing supporting attacks designed to fragment the Japanese defenses. On July 1st, a further 21,000 Allied troops landed, and the Japanese began to flee inland. Of that time, Harrisson wrote, \u201cSemut ceased to be engaged in intelligence and sabotage, and decreasingly in administration. Instead, we devoted the greater part of all effort directly to killing Japanese.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-butcher-s-bill\">The Butcher\u2019s Bill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"852\" height=\"578\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.12\u202fPM.jpg\" alt=\"Z-force troops lined up in front of jungle\" class=\"wp-image-202552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.12\u202fPM.jpg 852w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.12\u202fPM-400x271.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.12\u202fPM-150x102.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.24.12\u202fPM-768x521.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Z-Force troops were cut from some hearty stock. They would disappear into the jungle for months on end, forming combat units of indigenous fighters to take the fight to the Japanese. This was a classic Special Forces mission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By war\u2019s end, Harrisson and his irregulars were credited with having killed more than 1,000 Japanese troops. Many more were so harried and harassed as they attempted to flee into the jungle, pursued by these screaming headhunting savages that they took their own lives. Often they hanged themselves from trees by their Army belts. Harrisson wrote, \u201cYears later, skeletons were still being found; several times single skulls strangely dangling, ghostly jokes in a land so long scarred by head-hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most Japanese resistance finally evaporated. However, one Japanese captain took a 560-man contingent deep in the jungle to continue the fight. Tom Harrisson and his indigenous troops ran them down. On the last day of October, nearly two months after the war ended, Harrisson finally accepted the Japanese officer\u2019s sword in surrender. To celebrate, the acerbic British special operator seduced a female Japanese Army nurse who was found among the surrendering unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-rest-of-the-story-for-harrisson\">The Rest of the Story For Harrisson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"934\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM-1024x934.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson wrapped in checked blanket surrounded by Japanese indigenous men\" class=\"wp-image-202549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM-1024x934.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM-329x300.jpg 329w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM-150x137.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM-768x701.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-5.25.43\u202fPM.jpg 1276w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">After the war, Tom Harrisson remained in Borneo studying native culture. Again, shoes are apparently for losers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom Harrisson left the military after the war and took over as curator of the Sarawak Museum from 1947 through 1966. This was the oldest such museum in Borneo. Along the way, he led multiple archaeological forays into the jungle, eventually discovering several sets of human remains in the Great Cave at Niah that were purportedly radiocarbon dated to 40,000 years old.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1962, with the onset of the Brunei Revolt, Harrisson disappeared yet again into the jungle to organize indigenous fighters. He eventually commanded some 2,000 warrior tribesmen and played a critical part in cutting off the rebel forces\u2019 escape into Indonesia. Once that war was over, Harrisson resigned his curatorship at age 55 and moved to Ithaca, New York, to take a position at Cornell University. He later went back home to England to work at the University of Sussex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-to-conclude\">To Conclude<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Major Tom Harrisson and his Z-Force team in Borneo, Japan\" class=\"wp-image-202554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-19-at-7.12.44\u202fPM.jpg 1192w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is Major Tom Harrisson and the men of his Z-Force team in Borneo. Although it is difficult to make out in this picture, to the right of the flagpoles stuck on a pike is the head of a Japanese officer presented to Harrisson as a gift from his Dayak troops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom Harrisson was a legendarily hard man. In many ways, he was just a product of his environment. Across his many adventures, he made time to be married three times and father a son. He married his last wife, a Belgian sculptor named Christine Forani, in 1971.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>READ MORE WILL DABBS STORIES: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/lior-raz-art-imitates-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\">Lior Raz: Art Imitates Life<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1976, Tom and Christine were visiting Thailand. Harrisson had always had a wanderlust and never seemed to stay in one place for long. On 16 January, he and his wife were traveling through rural Thailand in a bus when it was struck by a truck. Both Tom and Christine perished in the crash and were cremated in Bangkok in keeping with local customs. Tom Harrison&#8211;ornithologist, explorer, journalist, broadcaster, soldier,&nbsp;guerrilla fighter,&nbsp;ethnologist, museum&nbsp;curator,&nbsp;archaeologist,&nbsp;documentary film-maker,&nbsp;conservationist,&nbsp;and writer&#8211;died at age 65 as he had lived, chasing life to the full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"tom-harnett-harrisson-the-sociopathic-british-special-forces-headhunting-god-man\" title=\"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic British Special Forces Man\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When war broke out, Harrisson joined the Army, as did almost every British male of appropriate age and fitness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":202548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[102,3420,2830],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-202544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-will-dabbs","8":"tag-feature-articles","9":"tag-war-stories","10":"tag-ww2"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic Special Forces Man<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read about Tom Harnett Harrisson, the sociopathic british special forces headhunting god-man who inspired stories.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tom Harnett Harrisson: The Sociopathic Special Forces Man","description":"Read about Tom Harnett Harrisson, the sociopathic british special forces headhunting god-man who inspired 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