One of the most successful commando raids in the second world war was an attack on Japanese ships off Singapore

THE rapid fall of Singapore to Japanese troops in 1942 is remembered as a big humiliation for the colonial power, Britain.

One history

of it

bears the subtitle: "The True Story of the Greatest Catastrophe of World War II". The Japanese occupation was lifted only with the end of the war in 1945. But it did face resistance—both from the civilian population and from outside attacks. Singapore has just been commemorating what is regarded as one of the most successful commando raids of the whole war, as it marked the 70th

anniversary of Operation Jaywick.

In the early hours of September 26th 1943, seven Japanese ships at harbour in Singapore, weighing in total more than 37,000 tonnes, were blown up. The stealthy attack was carried out by Australian and British commandos, who had paddled around the harbour in canoes and attached limpet mines to the boats’ hulls.

This week's ceremony was held at the Kranji War Memorial, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Philip Green, Australia’s high commissioner, described the raid as the brainchild of two men: Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon, and Bill Reynolds, a 61-year-old Australian civilian.

Lyon had been based in Singapore in 1941, before the Japanese invasion, along with his regiment, the Gordon Highlanders. He was a keen sailor, and so knew the surrounding archipelago well. Reynolds had a boat. This was decked out to look like a Malay fishing vessel and renamed the Krait (a type of snake).

The 14 commandos also disguised themselves, darkening their skins to pass for local sailors. They sailed 4,000 kms (2,500 miles) from Western Australia to small islands off Singapore. From there they mounted their attack in canoes, sneaked back to the Krait and negotiated the long journey back through enemy shipping lines.

Besides the damage it did to the Japanese fleet, the raid, said Mr Green, had "strategic benefit in building allied confidence". But it also had some dire unintended consequences. The ceremony at Kranji was not just to remember successful heroes, but also those who suffered and died as an indirect consequence of their exploits.

The Japanese, unaware how the attack had been carried out, suspected the local population of passing on information about their ships. In what became known as the "double tenth" incident, on October 10th, 57 civilian interns at the Changi prison were taken off by the Japanese secret police for interrogation. Fifteen died in the process.

Later, suspects elsewhere on the island were also rounded up and tortured, including two of the heroes of the Singapore resistance, Elizabeth Choy, and her husband Choy Khun Heng.

Encouraged by the success of Jaywick, however, Lyon tried again. In September 1944, he led

Operation Rimau

. (The codename was short for harimau, Malay for tiger, after the tattoo he sported on his chest. More prosaically, but showing the odd sort of humour that Brits and Aussies still share, "Jaywick" apparently had been inspired by a brand of lavatory cleaner.)



This time they travelled to Singapore’s waters by submarine, with a total of 23 commandos, including six Jaywick veterans. Thirteen were killed during the action, and the other ten captured and executed on July 7th, 1945, little more than a month before Japan’s surrender was to end the war. Seventeen are buried at Kranji, including Colonel Lyon.

The anniversary ceremony was organised by the Changi Museum. It forms part of a broader effort to encourage Singaporeans to get to know their own history, and perhaps to remind them that their country’s voyage to its current peace and prosperity was fraught with peril.

(Picture credit: Banyan)