Operation Rimau

*The graves of some of the Rimau Commandos at Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore*

Within hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on the 7th December 1941 (Hawaii time), the Japanese Army invaded Malaya (now Malaysia) through Thailand and by landing on its north-east coast at Kota Bahru. Just over two months later, the allied forces in Singapore would surrender.

The men were members of Z Special Unit later to be known as Z Force. This was Operation Jaywick and was to be one of Z Force’s finest hours but was the beginning of a tragedy that would start to unfold a year later.

Earlier in September, the “Krait”, a small ship disguised as an Asian fishing boat, left Australia for what was to be an ambitious attack deep in the heart of Japanese held territory. They sailed north through the Indonesian islands. The 14 men on board, led by Captain Lyon, a British officer, disguised themselves as native fisherman. They managed to sail undetected and two days before the attack, the ‘six’ left the “Krait” and paddled 50 kilometres to shelter in a small cave near Singapore Harbour.

After the attack, the commandos waited for the commotion to die down and met up with the “Krait” six days later and returned to Australia.

The attack on Singapore Harbour took the Japanese completely by surprise. They had no way of knowing that it was a group who had sailed all the way from Australia. Instead they insisted that it was conducted by locals and embarked on a campaign of interrogation, torture and even executions, particularly in the Chinese population.

With the success of Operation Jaywick, Lyon started planning the next. This time, and although the target was again Singapore Harbour, the operation was to be more ambitious involving 24 men and a submarine to take them to Singapore and later to pick them up after the raid was completed.

The mission (Operation Rimau) commenced in mid September 1944 when the commandos left Garden Island in Sydney. They arrived off the island of Merapas (131kms south east of Singapore - refer map above) 12 days later and made camp. A fishing boat (the “Mustika”) was captured, stores unloaded and the submarine left to return to Australia. On the 6th October, with the commandos disguised as local fisherman, the “Mustika” arrived off Batam Island located just to the east of Singapore.

Late in the afternoon of the 10th October just hours before the raid was due to commence, the “Mustika” was approached by a local auxiliary patrol boat. The commandos opened fire killing several of the patrol boat’s crew. However, one managed to get a report away about the incident.

The Japanese had been alerted!!! The “Mustika” was scuttled and the group was divided into four, one group (Lyon’s group) to continue with the raid and the other three to make their way back to Merapas where a submarine was due to rendezvous between the 7th November and the 8th December.

The raid on Singapore Harbour had limited success with three ships thought to have been sunk.

Five days later and still trying to make their way to Merapas, the commandos (including Lyon’s group) had made it to Soreh Island where the Japanese finally caught up with them. In the ensuing battle, Lyon and another held off nearly 100 Japanese while the others escaped. They were eventually overrun and killed.

By the 4th November, the commandos had gathered on Merapas to await the submarine. By this time only 18 of the original 23 were alive. Again, a small force of Japanese caught up with them. They split up into two groups to escape to nearby islands but two died on Merapas.

On the 7th November, ten of the commandos were in position to rendezvous with the submarine. Instead, with a one month window of opportunity to meet the commandos, the submarine captain had elected to hunt for shipping. The submarine returned on the 22nd November and a shore party found evidence that the commandos had been there, but no one was to be found. The submarine never returned.

*Original burial site of the executed commandos*

Realising that the deadline had passed, the remaining commandos started to make their own way back to Australia. Eleven were captured by the Japanese and taken back to Singapore with the others being killed. On the 3rd July 1945, a trial on the charge of espionage was conducted for ten of the commandos as one had died of sickness while in prison. They were found guilty and sentenced to death. Four days later and a little over a month before the Japanese would surrender, all ten were taken from Outram Road Prison a short distance to Dover Road where they were executed.

Operation Rimau was thought to have little strategic value. However, it showed that the Japanese were not as invincible as thought in that a determined group of men could attack a target deep within enemy territory and heralded that the tide of war was turning in favour of the Allies.

Today, the “Krait” is moored in Darling Harbour in Sydney as part of the Australian National Maritime Museum, in remembrance of Operation Jaywick. At the Kranji Memorial (war cemetery) in Singapore, a row of headstones marks the final resting place of the ten who were executed on that faithful day in July 1945. The story of Operation Rimau and those gallant men is one of tragedy in the face of adversity. But little is remembered of them today. (Visit “Operation Rimau - Roll of Honour”)

Fall of Singapore: An Overview

Private Mick Johnston