Double Tenth incident

In 1943, a special branch of the Kenpeitai under Lieutenant Colonel Haruzō Sumida was charged with finding the culprits responsible for acts of sabotage in Singapore, mainly the cutting of telephone lines and the burning of warehouses.

Sumida's chief suspect was British barrister Rob Heeley Scott, a prominent Foreign Office employee who had previously been detained for his anti-Japanese propaganda, released by the Kenpeitai, and then later sent to Changi Prison.

[2] The attack on Singapore Harbour was codenamed Operation Jaywick, the brand name of a popular lavatory deodoriser, and had nothing to do with guerrillas or fifth columnists.

It had been carried out by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon from Z Special Unit, a group of Anglo-Australian commandos who had sailed from Western Australia to Singapore in an old Japanese fishing boat, the Krait, named after a Malayan snake.

Using limpet mines, they sank six Japanese ships of 2,000–5,000 tons, including several tankers, and then slipped away to their rendezvous with the Krait, finally returning successfully to Australia.

After incriminating evidence including diaries of war news compiled from the BBC's radio broadcasts, self-made radios, and a tin box containing a substantial amount of money belonging to an ex-banker were unearthed, several more arrests were made, mostly of people who had been involved in monitoring news broadcasts and running a secret information service throughout the prison.

As none of the suspects had even heard of Operation Jaywick, let alone been part of it, any confessions they made were meaningless, lacking any information about the raid itself, how it had been organised, or where the explosives had been obtained.

The couple helped the Changi prisoners of war (POW) by passing on cash and parcels containing such things as fresh clothing, medicine and letters during their deliveries.

He was later sentenced to six years' imprisonment in Outram Road Prison, the site where convicted sepoy mutineers had been detained and executed by the Singapore Volunteer Corps in 1915.

[2] After a huge dossier of interviews had been compiled, the Japanese concluded that she was telling the truth and set her free; however, Khun Heng was sentenced to 12 years in Outram Road Prison.

The suffering spread to the entire civilian population of Changi Prison; rations were cut, and games, concerts, plays and school lessons were forbidden for months.

[1] In recognition of her valour and wartime effort during the Japanese Occupation, Elizabeth Choy was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in London in 1946.