Double Tenth Incident

Operation Jaywick

The Krait Crew in Operation Jaywick
On September 26th, 1943, the Allied Z Special Unit, which consisted of Australia, Dutch East Indies, New Zealand, Timorese, and Indonesian soldiers, launched Operation Jaywick. This operation required soldiers to disguise themselves as Indonesian civilians by painting their skin brown.This expedition was a success for the Allies because seven Japanese shipping vessels destroyed and it was called “one of the most successful clandestine raids in Australian history.”

What triggered the Double Tenth Incident?

The repercussions of the achievements of the Operation Jaywick sent Japanese officials on a wave of arrests, torturing, and executing civilians and prisoners in Singapore. The Japanese army assumed the attack had been carried out by local saboteurs, most likely the Chinese Guerrillas or British prisoners of war, since many of the detainees in the Changi Prison had worked as doctors, engineers, and police officers before the occupation. Therefore, on October 10th, 1943, they ordered those suspected to be involved, in any way, to be arrested.
​The Kempeitai took the civilian internees from Changi Prison as well as other suspects to their headquarters in the YMCA where and estimated 57 civilians were subjected to brutal torture and interrogation. 

Elizabeth Choy: Survivors of Double Tenth

Elizabeth Choy
During the occupation, Choy and her husband were working as canteen operators at hospital. They secretly passed food, medicine, and messages to the British internees. After her husband had been detained, Mrs. Choy went down to the YMCA demanding to see him. She was later arrested as well and was tortued for nine months. These conditions would likely be enough to break most prisoners and often did, but Elizabeth held her resolve and confessed nothing.

Related Book

Fall of Singapore: 
The Undefeatable British Fortress Conquered

The fall of Singapore is the greatest defeat of the British empire in the Pacific.
​On February 15, 1942, the British surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army and handed over Singapore and surrounding Malaya countries. The conflict began on December 8, 1941 when Japanese forces bombed Singapore and continued to make their way through the treacherous Malayan jungle. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated during the attack, “the worst disaster and the largest capitulation in British history”. Singaporeans were immediately ordered to come in for questioning after the Imperial Japanese Army took over. During the interview, their homes were looted and destroyed by the Kempeitai, the secret Japanese police. 
During the occupation, there were many tragedies. An example is the Sook Ching Massacre. Sook Ching Massacre, literally meaning “purge through cleansing”, began on February 21, 1942. The mass murder of Singapore residents ages 18 to 50, was targeted at eradicating anti-Japanese sentiments. Victims of the massacre were either Chinese, suspected of being pro-Chinese, anti-Japanese, or Communist. Men and women were questioned and if found guilty, they were taken to one of Singapore’s beaches and murdered. The death toll shows less than 5,000 according to the official Japanese record, while Singaporean officials claim the number of victims was at least 50,000.​