Krait Memorial - Operation JaywickPrint Page

The granite boulder has a plaque recording the details of Operation Jaywick and the names of the 14 men who took part in it.  Six of the men subsequently died in Operation Rimau.

On 2 September 1943, a captured Japanese motor sampan set out from Exmouth in Western Australia bound for Singapore, well inside Japanese controlled waters. By the time they returned nearly seven weeks later, the crew of 14 had carried out one of the most successful clandestine raids in Australian history.

The 68 ton Kofuku Maru had been seized by British authorities in Singapore following Japan’s entry into the war. In 1943 she was re-named Krait and assigned to the Services Reconnaissance Department, the parent organisation of the famed Z Special Unit, which was responsible for covert operations in enemy territory. The objective of Operation JAYWICK was for a group of Australian and British Z Special Unit members to attack Japanese shipping in Singapore using time-delayed limpet mines. The operatives and crew included 10 sailors and four soldiers.

Note: The plaque on this memorial is difficult to read

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