Knuckle Knife and leather scabbard issued to Lieutenant Hubert Edward 'Ted' Carse for Operation Jaywick
Date1940s
Object numberV00055853
NameKnuckle Knife
MediumSteel, copper-alloy
DimensionsOverall: 55 × 262 × 15 mm
ClassificationsArmament
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.
DescriptionSteel 'knuckle knife' and leather scabbard issued to Lt H.E. 'Ted' Carse by Australia's Special Reconnaissance Department for his involvement in Operation Jaywick.HistoryThe 'knuckle knife' in this collection was issued to Lt H.E. 'Ted' Carse, RANVR as a Z Special Unit operative during the Second World War, and specifically for his involvement in Operation Jaywick (as the commander of MV Krait).
Operation Jaywick:
On the night of 26 September 1943, six members of Australia’s Z Special Unit carried out a daring clandestine raid against Imperial Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour. To avoid detection, the men had been transported deep into enemy territory aboard a Japanese-built fishing vessel, assumed the appearance of local fishermen, and launched their attack using folding kayaks and limpet mines. The mission, Operation Jaywick, was a complete success, resulting in the damage or destruction of seven Japanese ships and no Allied losses.
Operation Jaywick was the brainchild of W.R. ‘Bill’ Reynolds and Major Ivan Lyon, both of whom fled Singapore ahead of the Japanese advance in February 1942. Reynolds was a civilian who secured possession of a Japanese fishing boat, Kofuku Maru, and used it to transport approximately 1,100 Allied evacuees to Sumatra following the Fall of Singapore. Following the surrender of the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) in March 1942, he escaped with the vessel to Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka). It was there that he met Lyon, a British Army officer affiliated with the Allied Intelligence Bureau. The two men devised a plan to attack Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour with a team of specially-trained commandos disguised as the crew of an Asian fishing vessel. Operatives would use collapsible kayaks called ‘folboats’ to approach Japanese ships under cover of darkness and attach time-delayed limpet mines to their hulls.
Members of Operation Jaywick were assigned to Z Special Unit (also known as ‘Z Force’), a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit formed by British Special Operations Executive officers who escaped Singapore. Although predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit also included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian nationals among its ranks. Training for the raid took place at Refuge Bay, a remote and inaccessible area located along the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales. Kofuku Maru’s background as a fishing vessel made it an ideal candidate for the covert role of Operation Jaywick’s ‘mother ship’. Following its selection for Operation Jaywick, the vessel was renamed Krait after a venomous snake indigenous to Southern and Southeast Asia.
Originally slated for the first half of 1943, Operation Jaywick was postponed until 1 September 1943, when Krait departed for Singapore. After passing through Lombok Strait on 6 September, the vessel proceeded to the Java Sea, at which point the crew and commando team adopted subterfuge—including use of Japanese ensigns, wearing sarongs, and covering their bodies in dark makeup to give the appearance of local fishermen—to avoid detection. After crossing the Java Sea, Krait coasted along the coast of Borneo before setting a course for the Lingga Archipelago, a group of islands south of Singapore. On 18 September, six commandos disembarked in their two-man folboats at the island of Pulau Panjang. Krait then departed for Borneo with orders to rendezvous with the operatives on the night of 1-2 October.
The commandos prepared for the attack, and then island-hopped northwards through the archipelago to Pulau Dongas, where they arrived on the evening of 22 September. Two days later, Japanese shipping totalling approximately 65,000 tons gathered near the entrance to Singapore Harbour. On the night of 26 September, three folboats silently approached the anchorage and diverged to attack selected targets. Despite two close calls, each team successfully attached limpet mines to their targets and fled the anchorage undetected. Early the next morning, seven explosions shattered the darkness and resulted in an equal number of Japanese ships—totalling between 37,000 and 39,000 tons—either sunk or severely damaged. Krait made its way back to the rendezvous point on 2 October and picked up all three folboats and their crews. It then quietly retreated across the Java Sea, through Lombok Strait, and back to Exmouth, where it arrived on 19 October 1943.
Lieutenant Hubert Edward ‘Ted’ Carse, RANR (1901-1970):
Hubert Edward Carse was born on 28 May 1901 at Rutherglen, Victoria and 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. Most of the commandos who participated in Operation Jaywick were tragically killed in a follow-up raid on Singapore Harbour called Operation Rimau. 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.SignificanceThe 'knuckle knife' is highly significant due to its association with Lt H.E. 'Ted' Carse, who acted as MV Krait's master and navigator during Operation Jaywick, and was largely responsible for the vessel's successful return voyage to Singapore Harbour (and by extension the successful outcome of the raid). Knuckle knives of this type were only issued to the 14 service personnel who participated in Operation Jaywick, and only one other example is known to exist in the collections of an Australian public museum. This knife along with the Carse medals joins material in the NMC related to Lt HE Carse including his RANVR uniform, papers and photographs.
