Letter to Under Secretary of State, War Office, from Lieutenant Carse
Date1950s
Object number00055855
NameLetter
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 350 × 208 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account and the Australian National Maritime Museum Foundation through the generosity of the families of Ted Carse's brothers.
DescriptionOne page typed letter in black ink addressed to The Permanent Under Secretary of State, War Office, in London, from Lieutenant Ted Carse.
In the letter, Carse requests a translation of the records of the Japanese Military Court which sentenced to death a number of British and Australian prisoners in Singapore on July 5th 1945, only a month before the end of the war.HistoryLieutenant Carse wrote this original typed letter to The Permanent Under Secretary of State at The War Office, Whitehall, requesting a translation of the records of the Japanese Military Court that sentenced members of the Operation Rimau raiding party to death. He also was seeking to clarify who controlled and financed the Services Reconnaissance Department and its status in the war.
After the success of Operation Jaywick in September 1942, it was decided to attempt a similar but larger mission in September 1944. Operation Rimu consisted of 22 operatives, including six Jaywick veterans. The mission used a combination of motorised, submersible canoes and folboats but was ultimately unsuccessful. Members of the mission were separated and after altercations with Japanese troops were captured or died trying to make their escape. Of the eleven members captured by the Japanese, one died in captivity and ten were sentenced to death. This sentence was carried out at an execution ground near Passir Panjang on 7 July 1945.
Hubert Edward Carse joined the Royal Australian Navy as a 13-year-old Cadet Midshipman on 31 December 1914. He was appointed Midshipman on 1 January 1919, promoted Acting Sub-Lieutenant on 15 January 1921 and resigned his commission on 17 December 1921. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he was mobilised by proclamation and reported for duty on 28 September 1942 with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. He was promoted Lieutenant (provisional) on 4 January 1943, joined Z Force later the same month, and was assigned command of KRAIT during Operation Jaywick.
Following the raid’s successful conclusion, Carse continued to work with Z Force. Carse was one of the few Jaywick operatives to survive the war, was mentioned in despatches in 1944, and discharged from military service in 1946. He was later instrumental in facilitating the return of KRAIT (which had also survived the war and ended up in Borneo) to Australia during the 1960s. KRAIT is a nationally significant object in the collections of the Australian War Memorial, but has been on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum since 1988. Carse died at Newtown, New South Wales in 1970.SignificanceThis typewritten request by Lieutenant Carse for official Japanese documents about the sentencing and fate of his former Operation Jaywick colleagues, shows his efforts to seek answers about the mission and its tragic outcome.
