Operation Rimau

Operation Rimau
Part of the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II

Operation Rimau commemorative marker, Rockingham, Western Australia
Date10–16 October 1944
Location
Singapore Harbour; Riau, Indonesia
Result Mission failed
Belligerents
 Empire of Japan Z Special Unit
Commanders and leaders
N/A United Kingdom Ivan Lyon 
Strength
N/A 23 commandos
1 junk
Casualties and losses
claimed 3 ships sunk 1 junk scuttled
13 killed or died in custody
10 executed

Operation Rimau was an attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, carried out by an Allied commando unit Z Special Unit, during World War II using Australian built Hoehn military MKIII folboats.[1] It was a follow-up to the successful Operation Jaywick which had taken place in September 1943, and was again led by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, an infantry regiment of the British Army.

Originally part of a much larger operation called Operation Hornbill,[2] the aim of Rimau was to sink Japanese shipping by paddling the folboats in the dark and placing limpet mines on ships. It was originally intended that motorised semi-submersible canoes, known as "Sleeping Beauties", would be used to gain access to the harbour, however, they resorted to folboats. After the raiding party's discovery by local Malay authorities, a total of thirteen men (including raid commander Lyon) were killed during battles with the Japanese military at a number of island locations or were captured and died of their wounds in Japanese captivity. A group of ten commandos were transported to Outram Road Jail in Singapore after capture by the Japanese, were tried on charges of perfidy and espionage in a Japanese kangaroo court and executed on 7 July 1945.[3][4]

  1. ^ Attestation of 7 Commissioned officers of 'Z' Special Unit that Hoehn folboats were used in Operation Rimau. NAA K1214-123/1/06.
  2. ^ "Operations Hornbill, Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)". Ozatwar.com. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  3. ^ Success and failure in the port of Singapore—Z Special Unit and the Jaywick and Rimau raids (PDF), ANZAC Day, archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2006
  4. ^ Rimau Historic Marker, Lynette Ramsay Silver OAM, 11 January 2012