Execution of Captured Rimau Commandos Plaque

What if a tiger’s roar was silenced before it could fully resound? Here, at the Execution of Captured Rimau Commandos Plaque, that tragic question hangs heavy in the air. The Execution of Captured Rimau Commandos Plaque stands as a stark reminder of a daring operation and its devastating end. Operation Rimau, meaning “tiger” in Malay, was intended to be a follow-up to the successful Operation Jaywick raid on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour in 1943. The Execution of Captured Rimau Commandos Plaque commemorates the ten Australian commandos who were executed here on July 7, 1945. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon, a man who bore a tiger tattoo on his chest, the Rimau mission was ambitious. It aimed to cripple Japanese shipping using innovative “Sleeping Beauties,” one-man submersible canoes, to plant limpet mines. The plan involved a clandestine journey aboard the submarine HMS Porpoise, a captured junk named Mustika disguised as a local vessel, and a hidden base on Merapas Island. However, just hours before the planned attack in October 1944, a Malay police patrol boat discovered the Mustika. The mission unraveled. Lyon scuttled the junk and the top-secret Sleeping Beauties. He divided his men into groups to escape back to Merapas. Lyon himself led a small team into Singapore Harbour. They managed to sink three Japanese ships, a small victory in the face of impending disaster. The Japanese, alerted to the commandos’ presence, launched a relentless hunt. Lyon and several of his men were killed in a fierce firefight on Soreh Island after holding off a much larger force for nine hours. Others were captured, killed in action, or perished during their attempted escape back to Australia. Eleven commandos were eventually imprisoned in Outram Road Prison in Singapore. One died of malaria. The remaining ten were subjected to a sham trial, found guilty of espionage and perfidy, and sentenced to death. Their execution took place near this spot, a brutal end to their courageous mission. The Execution of Captured Rimau Commandos Plaque serves as a poignant testament to their bravery, sacrifice, and the tragic cost of war. They rest now at Kranji War Memorial, their tiger silenced, but their story etched in stone.