Operation Jaywick is, of course, well known to most Australians and some British military history enthusiasts.
It is generally regarded as a successful mission by a group of Australian and British commandos who, sailing on a disguised Japanese fishing boat, HMAS Krait, slipped through Japanese-held former Dutch East Indies waters to sink and damage several Japanese ships in the Singapore Straits.
It was a daring raid using Folboat canoes to deliver and attach limpet mines to the ships from Krait’s hiding place in the nearby Riau archipelago. What is not so well known, however, is the hideous aftermath to the raid.
The Japanese retribution was vicious, mis-directed, and largely ineffective. The Kempetai (secret police) officers who directed that retribution were brutal and not very bright.
This is the story of what actually happened during that irrational burst of obscene Japanese cruelty. The author has very thoroughly researched the story and uncovered numerous eyewitness accounts of the event.
Most involve first person reports from innocent people who were, wrongly, the prime suspects of the Kempetai. Many of them were impressively strong and actually went on to do wonderful things after the war and their horrifying experiences of Japanese cruelty.
The author records a previously little known series of events that provide a very useful warning to military leaders to think very carefully about the possible consequences of raids such as Jaywick. Barbarous enemies do not always respond rationally to such attacks and there can be considerable hurt to innocent victims.
Author: Tom Trumble
Available from Penguin Books Australia, Melbourne, Australia
Web: www.penguin.com.au