Meet the enigmatic Major Ivan Lyon of the renowned Gordon Highlanders. Coming from a long history of military men dating back to 1513, Ivan finds himself embedded in Singapore as the war rages all through Europe. Considered an impregnable fortress, Singapore is about to fall to the formidable and vicious Japanese imperial forces – something well understood by Ivan and his MI6 handlers.

With a passion for sailing and a personality perfectly suited to ‘alternative warfare’, Ivan spends every spare moment reconnoitering an escape route from the city in the event of invasion. Sailing the 2-tonne yacht Vinette, Ivan and his beautiful French wife Gabrielle navigate the complex and beautiful jungle islands leading into Singapore harbour. We could be mistaken for thinking this was a honeymoon voyage for the clearly loving young couple if it weren’t for the meticulous note-taking of Ivan, listing beaches, fresh water and village life.

On their return to the luxurious mansion home of Ivan’s father-in-law and member of the Free French resistance, Ivan is compelled by MI6 intel to pay a visit to a nearby Japanese spy posing as a local butcher. Chancing upon evidence of maps and a secret radio, the spy takes to Ivan with a boning knife. With the cool-headed and lethal remove for which he would become known, Ivan deftly disarms his attacker, who now cornered, saves his honour by committing suicide with a broken bottle. 

As Ivan collects evidence and cleans the blood from his hands, the sound of an air raid siren pierces the air, the distant drone of Japanese bombers breaking through the city soundscape.

With devastating speed, Japanese forces cut a swathe through Allied forces all the way from Malaya with one target in mind – the Fortress of Singapore. As Japanese planes drop dozens of bombs on the city and bicycle riding soldiers devastate attempts to slow their progress, both ineptitude and terror ensue. Ivan wastes no time in evacuating his wife and child ahead of what will become a stampede toward the safety of evacuation ships.

Australian, British and Indian troops, untrained in jungle warfare do their best to slow the advance, but it soon becomes obvious that this rearguard attack will be as successful for the Japanese as it is humiliating for the British. Under the orders of Maj. Jock Campbell, Lyon with the help of medical officer Taffy Morris sail toward the nearby islands to prepare for the safe evacuation of soldiers and civilians from the burning city. 

Lyon and Morris could never have conceived of the carnage the Japanese would inflict on fleeing civilians. Of the 44 ships that left the city in the last days of the invasion, only 4 made it past the encirclement of Japanese destroyers and patrol planes. Morris and Lyon watched in horror as three civilian ships were destroyed in quick succession immediately in front of them, over 700 survivors swimming to the relative safety of their tiny island.

Treating and feeding hundreds of survivors, Lyon and Morris worked 80 continuous hours as the city of Singapore burned on the horizon. Facilitating an escape route to safety, the two men soon rejoined Jock Campbell on a nearby island and were ordered to escape to Ceylon before the area was completely overrun by Japanese. This was where Ivan met the master mariner and outrageously brave Bob Reynolds. With colourful language and a short fuse, Lyon and Reynolds connected immediately, both driven by a desire to help survivors and avenge this devastating defeat. A plan for a return to Singapore was devised between the two men, but meanwhile, escape from the Tigers mouth was of more pressing concern.

With a shortage of seaworthy vessels, Lyon commandeered a yacht that was unsuited to anything more than island hopping, and set sail for Ceylon through the gauntlet of Japanese destroyers, patrol planes and the dangerous local storms. This was to be the beginning of a 54 day voyage that would see Lyon and his ramshackle crew pushed to the very limits of survival and pickup some shipwrecked cannibals. It is from this crucible of overwhelming difficulty that an iron would be forged in Lyon’s spirit – a steel that would endear utter loyalty from those that chose to follow him on future missions.

From a short reprieve in Ceylon, Lyon enlists the support of the senior military using his family connections to gain support to embark on his proposed mission into enemy territory. Originally thinking the raid would be conducted from Ceylon, he is convinced by more experienced leaders that coming through the Lombok Straits from Australia would be the last thing the Japanese expect. The plan is set in motion and Lyon leaves for Australia to put together a team.

Meanwhile, Bill Reynolds takes Kofuku Maru in for a refit to prepare for the mission and promises to have her in Australia in time for departure. Tragically, due to slow communications, Lyon’s wife and child have left Australia to meet him in India, unaware that he was on his way to them. Intercepted by the Germain raider Thor, their ship is attacked and they’re taken into custody by the Japanese, now bound for an internment camp in Tokyo.

Lyon receives the news of the loss of his wife’s transport ship, and doubles down on his planned revenge. Struggling through a completely different military hierarchy, through sheer will, Lyon secures a budget and carte blanche to assemble a team. Selection and training begin in earnest, the remote Refuge Bay designated as their training grounds for the next 8 months. This is where ordinary soldiers will be put through inhuman hardships to reveal their mettle, dedication and resilience. They begin to a train in a way never before tried in modern warfare. Death dealing, subterfuge and guerrilla tactics are developed in what some later referred to as ‘the art of ungentlmanly warfare’.

Creating a completely new approach to battle tactics, Lyon and his second in command Lt. Davidson begin pushing the men to their limits, teaching them how to kill silently and with stealth. This mission is about subterfuge and by flying the Japanese flag, Lyon knows they abandon hope of imprisonment, the Geneva convention allowing for their summary execution under the clause of espionage.

Discussions with the men are frank and while the nature of their mission remains top secret, they’re told that the use of a cyanide pill in the event of their capture is crucial if they’d rather escape torture and beheading. Training without reprieve has the men paddling up to 50 miles a day in fold up canoes (folboats) and learning how to quietly use a knife to deadly effect.

Meanwhile, delays have impinged the arrival of Bill Reynolds and his fishing vessel. With multiple replacements and continued failures of various engine components, both Bill and Lyon are beginning to lose patience and actively seek out an alternative craft. With the help of the naval yards in Bombay however, this is soon resolved and the MV Krait is put aboard a ship bound for Australia.

After 8 gruelling months of training, the team of 14 is consolidated, Krait has arrived and they make their way to Exmouth to embark on what is still a mission known only to Lyon and Davidson. With engine troubles continuing to plague their transport, Bills temper gets the best of him and he takes a firm swing at one of the team, knocking them to the deck and thus ending his involvment in Operation Jaywick. With a heavy heart, Lyon sends Reynolds on his way and finds a suitable replacement in the highly experienced Ted Carse.

With the help of the American navy at their Exmouth departure point, the Krait is given a final touch up and they sail toward Singapore with an eagerness that belies the incredible danger of the mission.

Navigating searchlights, patrol planes, destroyers and dangerously powerful tides and local storms, the team of 6 take their two-man canoes and hide out on islands close to Singapore while the Krait retreats to safer waters under the continued guise of Malay fishers. 

With tides and patrols thwarting their first few attempts on the harbour, the six men, led now by Davidson, silently enter Singapore, plant 9 limpet mines on 7 ships, and stealthily leave before the fuses burn out. At 5am on the morning of September 26, 1943, explosions tear through the night as over 39,000 tonnes of Japanese shipping is damaged or destroyed.

Despite missing their escape window, Krait braves an extra two nights near their departure point, picking up four of the late returning team – including Lyon. They make for Australia with a haste that needs to appear casual, the men jubilant, but still on edge, Japanese planes and destroyers desperately searching for the saboteurs. 

With a patrol boat shadowing. them as they neared safety, the mean thought the end had come, but without notice, the dark ship peeled off and left them unmolested. MV Krait re-entered the safety of Exmouth port having successfully achieved an impossible mission. A 2 month, 4,000 km round trip mission into the heart of enemy territory, Lyon and his band of brothers struck a magnificent blow to the enemy without them ever knowing who or how it happened. On the dark side of success was the Double Tenth event where the humiliated Japanese occupiers enacted a vicious and arbitrary revenge on the local populace. This is the story of Elizabeth Choy and her effort to support the Allies at immeasurable cost.