What's the Difference Between a Commando and a Spion?

Photo shows an australian commando, i believe, who had been captured on the island of new guinea. There is a semicircle of japanese soldiers around watching as he has his head cut off. The photographer caught it in mid stroke. It looks like something that european countries haven't done since the 16 hundreds. But let's remember this is a cultural difference,. In places like china, they were still pretty comfortable cutting people's heads off, too.