A bronze plaque with inscription mounted on a concrete plinth.

Operation Rimau (the Malay word for ‘Tiger’) was originally part of a larger operation code-named ‘Hornbill’ that was aimed at attacking Japanese shipping in Singapore and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). However, ‘Hornbill’ was abandoned when resources were diverted to the invasion of Europe but preparations for Operation Rimau still went ahead. Undertaken by commandos of the British and Australian Z Special Unit and led by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon, who had also led the successful ‘Operation Jaywick’ in 1943, it’s mission was to commandeer a local fishing boat to gain access to Keppel Harbour in Singapore undetected then, upon entering the harbour, special one-man motorised submersible canoes, known as Sleeping Beauties, would be used to plant limpet mines on the enemy ships.

The attack, scheduled for the night of 10 October 1944, did not meet with the same success as ‘Jaywick’. Leaving Western Australia aboard the British submarine HMS Porpoise on 11 September 1944, the 23 British and Australian members of Z Special Unit headed to the island of Merapas, which was to be their forward base and rendezvous point with a pick-up submarine. Disaster struck on the day of the planned attack when a police patrol boat challenged the comandeered fishing boat (the Mustika) and one of the commandos opened fire. With the operation compromised, Lyon had no option but to abort the mission as planned, blow up the Mustika along with all the equipment and head back to Merapas. Lyon, deciding to continue the operation with an alternative plan, led a small force of six men into the harbour and succeeded in destroying three enemy ships.

In the ensuing battle, the raiding party was detected by the Japanese and either killed in action, died while attempting to escape or were captured. The main party, who had returned to Merapas, met the same fate while attempting to make their way back to Australia through enemy occupied territory. Of the 23 members of Z Special Unit involved in 'Operation Rimau' 13 were killed, including Lyon, and ten were captured. The ten were imprisoned at Outram Road Prison in Singapore and on 3 July 1945, were put on trial for espionage, found guilty and beheaded on 7 July - barely a month before the war came to an end. These ten men, Lyon and four others are buried in Kranji War Cemetery. The bodies of two more members of the operation killed on Merapas Island were found and buried with full military honours at the cemetery on 27 August 1994. The remaining members are commemorated on the Singapore Memorial to the Missing.

No information available at this time.

9 Woodlands Road, Kranji, Singapore.

The memorial stands in the carpark adjacent to the entrance of the Kranji War Cemetery, 22 kilometres from the city of Singapore, on the north side of Singapore Island overlooking the Straits of Johore.