ARTEFACT of WAR
Sailing thousands of miles into enemy territory disguised as Singaporean fishermen, this Welshman and his comrades struck a devastating blow against Japanese shipping in WWII
The Welsh miner from Rhondda, Ronald George ‘Taffy’ Morris, began his military career as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1938. Once Japan declared war on the UK, Morris transferred to the Special Operations Executive’s (SOE) Orient Mission, working with the Harroweducated Captain Ivan Lyon. The two men gained experience in clandestine operations, going behind enemy lines to teach the art of sabotage to local groups. In autumn 1943, Morris took on his most daring challenge yet – Operation Jaywick.
Lyon and Morris were entrusted to lead a mission of immense strategic impor tance – a 48-day, 4,000 -mile (6,440km) round trip from Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia to destroy Japanese merchant shipping in Singapore Harbour. It was the deepest clandestine surface waterborne penetration behind enemy lines attempted during the Second World War. They were assigned a crew of Australian commandos, along with a small Japanese vessel that the Jay wick men disguised as a traditional Singaporean fishing boat. They renamed it the MV Krait, after a deadly variety of snake.
Setting off on 13 August 1943, the MV Krait weaved through waters controlled by the Imperial Japanese Navy and finally made it to Singapore on the night of 25/26 September. Six commandos then paddled folding kayaks into the harbour to set limpet mines. These exploded early on the morning of 26 September, sinking seven Japanese transport ships comprising 39,000 tons.
The need for sec
