Allied Attacks
Singapore was the target of various operations masterminded by Allied forces to disrupt Japanese military activities. On 26 September 1943, an Allied commando unit known as Z Force led by Major Ivan Lyon infiltrated Singapore Harbour and sank or damaged seven Japanese ships comprising over 39,000 long tons (40,000 metric tons). Lyon led another operation, codenamed Rimau, with the same objective almost a year later and sank three ships. Lyon and 13 of his men were killed after the Japanese discovered them. The other 10 who participated in the operation were charged with espionage in a kangaroo court and subsequently executed.
Lim Bo Seng of Force 136 led another operation, code named Gustavus, to establish an espionage network in Malaya and Singapore and gather intelligence about Japanese forces for the Allies. However, Operation Gustavus failed and Lim was captured along with his men. Lim died in prison due to ill-treatment.Force 136 was eventually disbanded after the war.
In August 1945, two midget submarines of the Royal Navy took part in Operation Struggle, a plan to infiltrate Singapore Harbour and sabotage the Japanese cruisers Takao and Myōkō using limpet mines. They inflicted heavy damage on Takao, earning Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser the Victoria Cross. From November 1944 to May 1945, Singapore was subjected to bombing raids by British and American long-range bomber units.
Read more about this topic: Japanese Occupation Of Singapore
Famous quotes containing the words allied and/or attacks:
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. Once and again one of those great influences which we call a Cause arises in the midst of a nation. Men of strenuous minds and high ideals come forward.... The attacks they sustain are more cruel than the collision of arms.... Friends desert and despise them.... They stand alone and oftentimes are made bitter by their isolation.... They are doing nothing less than defy public opinion, and shall they convert it by blows. Yes.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)