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A new acquisition of national significance
Operation Jaywick material related to Lt Hubert Edward ‘Ted’ Carse, RANVR
Operation Jaywick was the codename for an incredible feat of daring that occurred on the night of 26 September 1943, when members of Z Special Unit, aboard a small boat named Krait, carried out a clandestine incursion against Imperial Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour. The museum recently acquired an important collection relating to the raid and the life of Krait’s commander, Lieutenant Hubert Edward ‘Ted’ Carse of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve. By Dr James Hunter and Daina Fletcher.
OPERATION JAYWICK IS LEGENDARY as one of the most audacious operations of World War II. A 14-man team of Z Special Unit commandos motored from Australian waters deep into Japanese enemy territory, disguised as local fishermen aboard a Japanese-built fishing vessel renamed Krait. Six of the men then launched their attack using folding kayaks and limpet mines. The mission was a complete success, resulting in damage to, or destruction of, seven Japanese ships, with no Allied losses. A nationally significant collection of items owned by Krait’s commander, Ted Carse – service medals, personal papers, a military-issue knuckle knife, and a fake Japanese flag flown from Krait as it traversed enemy waters – was recently acquired by the museum. This was made possible with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account and the Australian National Maritime Museum Foundation, and through the generosity of the families of Ted Carse’s brothers. The Carse collection was formally accepted into the National Maritime Collection on 20 April by the Honorable Paul Fletcher, Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, in the presence of the Carse family and special forces veterans. Minister Fletcher noted that the collection ‘contributes to our understanding of an extraordinary mission of remarkable courage ... with challenges unimaginable in ordinarily civilian life in peacetime’.
Fake Japanese ensign, reportedly flown aboard Krait as a form of subterfuge during Operation Jaywick, and souvenired by Ted Carse after the raid. It was one of two made in secrecy by Fay Manderson, the wife of Special Operations Australia operative Harry Blyth Manderson. She created the deep red of the circle by dyeing fabric in the family’s bathtub in Melbourne. ANMM Collection 00055854 All objects 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 ‘The bloody brains behind the mission never appreciated what it was like to hide in view of the enemy while the canoes were raiding’
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01 Four medals awarded to Carse for his WWII military service: 1939–45 Star, Pacific Star (with Burma clasp), War Medal 1939–45 (with Mentioned in Despatches oak leaf), and Australia Service Medal (1939–45). Shown at far left is the Commando Association Cross of Valour (with Operation Jaywick clasp), an unofficial military decoration awarded to Carse posthumously in 1978 to commemorate members of Z Special Unit who participated in Operations Jaywick and Rimau. ANMM Collection 00055851 and 00055852
02 Portrait of Ted Carse in later life. Photographer unknown. ANMM Collection 00055859
Minister Fletcher unveiled the historic objects and a replica of the fake Japanese flag flown on Krait during the mission. This historic replica will be used in education programs for school students across the country to help explore the role of Operation Jaywick in World War II. The original was made in secret by Fay Manderson at her Melbourne home. Fay was the wife of Special Operations Australia (SOA) operative Harry Blyth Manderson, who was involved in planning and supplying the operation. The education program, including an online resource, is being developed with the support of Jonathan Herps, in honour of his father, World War II Z Special Unit commando Sergeant Douglas Herps, and Mrs Patricia Herps. In the 1960s, Douglas Herps campaigned with Ted Carse and other former commandos for Krait’s preservation as an historic vessel. Former members of Australia’s special forces who met Ted Carse in the 1960s were represented by Allan Miles OAM, who recalled another of Ted’s stories about the mission:
The bloody brains behind the mission never appreciated what it was like to hide in view of the enemy while the canoes were raiding. The stress of just waiting to be discovered was a bitter taste in the mouth for every one of us aboard for each hour of daylight … The Z Special operatives were giants in the eyes of us as newly minted commandos and as the years passed, we came to understand who they really were and the debt we owed for their courage, their service and in so many cases, their lives. Lieutenant Hubert Edward ‘Ted’ Carse was assigned command of Krait in September 1943. He largely ensured that the former fishing vessel successfully navigated the 4,000-mile return voyage between Exmouth, Western Australia, and Singapore Harbour. The mission took 48 days to complete, most of it in enemy waters. Carse was also responsible for the successful insertion and extraction of Operation Jaywick’s commando team under the cover of darkness. Carse was born on 28 May 1901 at Rutherglen, Victoria, one of six sons. He joined the Royal Australian Navy as a 13-year-old cadet midshipman on 31 December 1914, following the outbreak of World War I. He was appointed midshipman (in his words, a ‘snotty’) on 1 January 1919 and seconded to the Royal Navy’s base at Portsmouth on HMS Renown, eventually transferring back to Australia. There he served aboard HMA Ships Brisbane (I), Australia (I) and Geranium before being posted to the new submarine base at Geelong, Victoria. But the life of a submariner was not for Carse: ‘After one submerge, I resigned,’ he later noted. He left naval service on 17 December 1921.1 In subsequent years Carse spent time on tramp steamers, pearling luggers in Australia’s north, sailing in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, prospecting for gold, camel racing and running a betting shop. When World War II broke out, Carse was mobilised by proclamation and he reported for duty on 28 September 1942 with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR). He was promoted to Lieutenant (provisional) on 4 January 1943 and joined Z Special Unit later the same month. Following Operation Jaywick, Carse married Patsy Millane in Sydney. He continued to work with the special forces and went on to command the Services Reconnaissance Department vessel HMAS Alatna. Carse was described, while stationed at Townsville’s HMAS Magnetic in 1944, as ‘exemplary in his duties. A pleasant if somewhat rugged personality, with a strongly developed sense of humour. So popular with his messmates.’
Tragically, many of his fellow commandos from Operation Jaywick were killed in a follow-up raid on Singapore Harbour in October 1944, called Operation Rimau. Carse was mentioned in despatches for gallantry the same year and discharged in 1946, ending military service that spanned two major international conflicts. One of the few members of Operation Jaywick to survive the war, he dedicated himself to honouring his fellow covert operatives by compiling ‘a true historical account’ of Operations Jaywick and Rimau. He once again took Krait’s helm when it motored into Sydney Harbour from Borneo in 1964. The vessel was acquired by the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in 1985. Today it is moored at the museum’s wharves, where it is held in safekeeping on behalf of AWM and the nation. Ted Carse spent the remainder of his life in Sydney, where he was a regular attendee at Z Special Unit reunions and commemorative functions. He died at Newtown in 1970.
This important collection joins other material in the National Maritime Collection that belonged to Lieutenant Ted Carse, including his RANVR dress uniform, which was donated by Joe Millane, the brother of Ted’s wife, Patsy. His service medals, knuckle knife and the fake Japanese flag are currently being prepared for display in the museum’s Navy Gallery. 1 Ted Carse letter to Tom Mitchell, MLA for Corryong, 1967, family papers, private collection.
Dr James Hunter is the Museum’s Curator, Royal Australian Navy Maritime Archaeology, and Daina Fletcher is the Head of Acquisition, ANMM Foundation
