Operation Rimau

In the last months of 1944, a group of elite Australian and British commandos was selected for the biggest Allied behind-the-scenes operation of the Pacific War.

Their mission: to devastate the enemy's shipping by destroying the Japanese ships at anchor in Singapore Harbour. Operation Rimau, Britain's last throw of the colonial dice in South-East Asia, was intended as a body blow to the Japanese and a signal to the world that she would reclaim her Eastern Empire. Britain was trying to reclaim past glory - while Australia's wartime prime minister, John Curtin, had turned to America. In this atmosphere, Operation Rimau was planned ...

Operation Rimau takes us inside the fierce conflict, and tells what really happened to these brave commandos - from the very beginnings of the operation through to their intense and courageous fighting in the South China Seas, and its aftermath. It exposes the sloppy planning behind the raid, and names the officers who betrayed and abandoned them in their hour of need, and details the political double-dealing which for so many years hid the real story behind red tape and bureaucratic lies.

About the Author

Dr Peter Thompson is the Sydney Mayer Lecturer in Early American History at Oxford University. He lived in the USA for 10 years, taking his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania before spending four years as Lecturer in American History at Princeton.