The Heroes : the true story of the Krait : Australian WW2 raids on Singapore

by Ronald McKie

Operation Jaywick

Genres: History

235 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Ronald Cecil Hamlyn McKie was a fifth generation Austrlian. He was educated at the Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, and then worked as a journalist on newspapers in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore and China. In WW2 he served in the AIF and as a war correspondent with the British in Burma, and with British/US armies in Italy, reporting on the Potsdam Conference in Berlin and the trial of Vidkum Quisling in Norway at the end of the war. In 1952 he was the first Australian journalist to receive a Smith-Mundt Fellowship from the US State Department and spent six months in the US.
His first novel The Mango Tree won the Miles Franklin award in 1974. His other books include best-welling war documentaries Proud Echo and The Heroes, and his political and social books include This was Singapore, Malaysia in Focus, The Company of Animals Bali, and Singapore.

Reviews

[MaryG2E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read The Heroes by Ronald McKie in the late 1970s, and the story has stayed in my memory ever since. I’m very glad I made the effort to track down a copy and re-read it, as a much older, perhaps wiser person. Interestingly, my reaction to the story today is very similar to what it was all those decades ago. This book is a great read, telling a story of exceptional bravery and professionalism by Australian and British servicemen in covert actions against the Japanese in World War 2.

Ronald McKie was an Australian journalist who heard rumours about extraordinary exploits of servicemen in undercover operations, and he used his research skills to exhaustively track down eye witnesses, military documents, correspondence and many other sources to compile this remarkable tale. Because he documented his research so carefully and disclosed his sources frankly, the book presents as a 100% authentic account of what happened to the two expeditions from Australian shores into Japanese-occupied waters to execute commando raids on Singapore harbour. With his journalistic skills to the fore, he crafted a compelling book, with a prose style that flows beautifully and keeps the reader engaged at all times. These days, I guess you would call The Heroes historical ‘FACT-ion.’

Operating from a secret base near Cairns, in far north Queensland, Z Special Unit was set up to train personnel for secret missions behind enemy lines. The operations detailed in this book, Jaywick and Rimau, were undoubtedly just two of many devious and creative ways devised by Z Unit to attack and weaken the enemy, using ingenuity and bravado.

The first raid, Operation Jaywick, in 1943, entailed the use of a creaky old Japanese fishing boat, renamed the SS Krait which came into the hands of the Australian Navy. The team sailed in disguise under the Japanese flag, into Indonesian and Malay waters and launched an undercover assault on Japanese shipping moored in Singapore Harbour. The raid involved using two-man canoes and limpet mines, with the crews paddling over dozens of miles of shark-infested waters to attach the mines then to escape quickly under cover of darkness to hide out in the dozens of tiny islands in that part of the South China Sea.

McKie documents the meticulous planning for Jaywick, and gives the reader a really strong flavour of how things were within the squad, both in training and on the Krait. His portrayal of the various characters involved is insightful, in particular that of the leaders. His main eyewitness for the Krait voyage, Naval Lieut Edward Carse, who captained the ship, is depicted as a strong but somewhat irascible chap, with a strong sense of discipline and duty. The leader of the expedition, British soldier Major Ivan Lyon, is examined in great detail, to give some insights into his rather difficult personality and the personal demons that drove him. Lyon’s personality is particularly relevant as he was crucial in the setting up of the second raid in 1944, Operation Rimau.

The bravery and determination of the Jaywick operatives is documented in detail and gives the reader a good sense of what it must have been like to paddle across many miles of open water in very flimsy craft into well patrolled enemy waters. The raid was a great success, with seven ships sunk and damage to the Japanese war effort. Thankfully all personnel returned home safely to Australia, and most dispersed to other theatres of war.

Driven by a burning passion to defeat the Japanese at Singapore, Lyon pushed for a second raid, and got his wish. In Operation Rimau, the Krait was replaced by a British submarine, which took the squad through the Lombok Strait into the Java Sea. There the force perpetrated an act of piracy, by taking over a native vessel, a junk called the Mustika. Loading all their provisions and gear, including several mini-submarines, the squad advanced on Singapore surreptitiously, again disguised as Japanese fishermen. As things turned out, the raiders never made it to Singapore because the operation went very wrong. It seemed that the men of Rimau had vanished without trace.

McKie explains in detail how his relentless searching for answers to what happened with Operation Rimau had him chasing documents and witnesses all over the world. He finally pieced together sufficient evidence to provide a cogent account of the events surrounding the raid and the fate of its servicemen. One of the key eye witnesses to the end of the Rimau commandoes came from the Japanese interpreter Mr Hiroyuki Furuta, who formed a strong bond with the captives.

The title of The Heroes comes not so much from admiration for the great success of Operation Jaywick, which remained a secret until McKie’s book was published in 1960. Rather it was the Japanese military commanders, the captors of the surviving raiders, who labelled these men as heroes. McKie expounds in some detail the mind-set and philosophy of the Japanese officers, with their heritage of Samurai bravery. According to Furuta, these officers admired the Rimau raiders as heroes, for their exceptional bravery in entering enemy waters, with the express intention of blowing up shipping. Such a daring act was beyond the capacity and imagination of the ordinary soldier or sailor, and thus was to be lauded. Furuta cites many examples of how the Rimau captives were treated very well, were given food, cigarettes, books, freedom of movement - in great contrast to the appalling deprivations being experienced by Allied prisoners of war a few miles away at Changi and other prisons. To the end, the Japanese commanders spoke in glowing terms of the raiders as heroes, which led McKie to make this the title of his engrossing book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of us Americans who think we know about the war in the Pacific in WWII should read this book. We don't deserve all the glory. We had allies and they worked hard to defeat the Japanese. Sydney Harbor was actually attacked by Japanese submarines. And the fall of Singapore was a disaster for our allies.

I would not have looked farther than US actions in the Pacific if I didn't have an Aussie mate. Thanks to her, I've begun looking more at Aussie history and what I'm finding is fascinating. For instance, this book.

McKie is a journalist so his style is breezy and easy to read. Like much of the journalism of the '50s. he adds as much dialogue and inner thoughts as possible, beyond the realms of pure research. But that just makes the book more interesting.

A VERY secret service in Australia planned an attack on Singapore in the spring of 1943, over 2,000 miles away through heavily held Japanese territory. They took an old junk looking like a Japanese fishing boat as far as they dared and then the 3 crews of 2 men each took special canoes into the actual harbor to set limpets on as many Japanese merchant ships as possible (the idea being to stop as much trade as possible). They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, bringing down 7 ships without losing a man.

The next spring a similar raid was planned which got as far as the islands surrounding the harbor before disaster struck. This raid is not well documented because many original documents were not kept on either the Australian or Japanese side. With much luck, McKie found a translator who knew the men who were captured (the others died during fighting). It took 2 months before the final 10 were captured and they became heroes to the Japanese. They were executed in honorable Japanese fashion (beheaded).

The stories are marvelous and the ideas behind these raids almost ridiculous. It's amazing that even one succeeded. But along with their fellow Aussies on land, these heroes made a dent in the Japanese war effort and should be remembered by all who are interested in WWII.

We in the US don't deserve all the glory. We had help.

[Long Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story of courage and heroism typical of any special forces personnel. Unfortunately it was written by a journalist and not a writer.

[Wayne Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible story of endurance & bravery by the secret Z unit during WW2.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some may feel that the writing is a little dated, it is still a very good read. These guys were brave, brave, brave