In the last months of 1944 a group of Australian and British commandos was selected for the biggest behind-the-scenes operation of the Pacific War. Their mission: to devastate Singapore Harbour by destroying the Japanese ships at anchor. Operation Rimau, Britain’s last throw of the colonial dice in south-east Asia, was designed as a body blow to the Japanese and a signal to the world that she would reclaim her Eastern Empire. At the same time, Australia’s wartime prime minister, John Curtin, had turned to America and her most decorated soldier, General Douglas MacArthus, for his country’s salvation. KILL THE TIGER tells what really happened to the Rimau commandos from the very beginnings of the operation to their operation to their intense and courageous fighting in the South China Sea. And it names the men who betrayed them in their hour of need, and details the political double-dealing which for so many years hid the truth behind red tape and bureaucratic lies.

True account of Operation Rimau (Malay for ‘tiger’): the mission to devastate Singapore Harbour by destroying 60 Japanese ships at anchor. British and Australian commandos were selected in the last few months of 1944 to use one-man submarines to infiltrate the harbour. Describes the success of the mission and names the men who betrayed the mission. Includes maps, photos, bibliography and index. pp.306, illustrated #241115/1219