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The historic and important Second War 'Operation Jaywick' M.M., 'Special Operations Executiv...

In Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

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‘Almost a single-handed endeavour of extremely bold pattern, one day these exploits will be disclosed, and they will read stranger than fiction.’ Admiral Christie, Commander of the United States Pacific Submarine Operations, on the success of Operation Jaywick. The historic and important Second War ‘Operation Jaywick’ M.M., ‘Special Operations Executive - Orient Mission’ B.E.M. group of nine awarded to Acting Sergeant, later Major R. G. Morris, Royal Army Medical Corps, attached S.O.E. and Special Operations Australia, who was awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry and distinguished service as Medical Orderly in the MV Krait during her hazardous and highly audacious 48-day 4,000 mile round trip Commando raid, under the Command of Major Ivan Lyon, Gordon Highlanders, on Japanese occupied Singapore Harbour in September 1943, resulting in the sinking and destruction of seven enemy ships totalling 37,000 tons - the deepest surface waterborne penetration behind enemy lines undertaken by special forces in the Second World War. With no uniforms, no identity tags, and flying the Japanese flag, there would only have been one outcome for the crew if they were captured - failure was not an option. Remarkably, Morris had previously been awarded the B.E.M. for his services in the South-West Pacific, almost certainly for his devotion to duty during the Fall of Singapore when, having helped establish an escape route through Sumatra, and with his medical skills to the fore, he tended to the hundreds who came ashore at Durian during the exodus from Singapore in February 1942, before finally evacuating the island with Ivan Lyon in a tale of daring-do, first by sail to Sumatra, then by car across the mountains, before securing passage on the last ship out of Padang Military Medal, G.VI.R. (7264507 A/Sjt. R. G. Morris. R.A.M.C.); British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (7264507 Pte. Ronald George Morris); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (7264507 Sjt. R. G. Morris. M.M. B.E.M. R.A.M.C.); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Borneo (Lt. R. G. Morris. M.M. B.E.M. RAMC.); Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., 1st issue, Regular Army (7264507 W.O. Cl.2. R. G. Morris. B.E.M. M.M. R.A.M.C.) mounted court-style as worn, cleaned and lacquered, light contact marks, generally very fine and better (9) £60,000-£80,000 --- M.M. London Gazette 19 September 1946: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field (to be dated 23 November 1944).’ The Operation Jaywick File at the PRO (ADM 1-16678 gives the following Recommendation: ‘Corporal R. G. Morris, R.A.M.C., and Corporal A. Crilly, A.I.F. These two men were members of the ship’s crew, Corporal Morris the Medical Orderly, and Corporal Crilly as cook. Both performed their duties with great cheerfulness and their bearing throughout was of the highest standard in most trying and hazardous conditions. I recommend that if awards to the above men are approved, their published citation should only state that these awards are for outstanding conduct in the presence of the enemy, but that no fuller citation can be published for reasons of military secrecy.’ Morris’ Military Medal was approved by H.M. the King on 17 May 1944, on the Secret List, with the instruction that it was not to be published in the London Gazette until it had been taken off the Secret List. B.E.M. London Gazette 4 May 1943: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific.’ Ronald George ‘Taffy’ Morris was born at Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley, on Christmas Day 1918, and after leaving school at the age of 14 was employed as a miner. After five years in the South Wales pits he attested for the Royal Army Medical Corps on 30 May 1938, and after Japan entered the War he was recruited as a Medical Orderly to join the Special Operations Executive, Orient Mission, arriving in Singapore on 19 April 1941. Here he met fellow S.O.E. Operative, the charismatic old Harrovian Captain Ivan Lyon, Gordon Highlanders. The pair of them were soon part of an unorthodox group undertaking clandestine missions, training up local groups in the art of sabotage to be undertaken behind enemy lines, as well as establishing an escape route through Sumatra, should the unthinkable happen, and Singapore fall to the Japanese. In early February 1942, Lyon and Morris, together with a handful of other operatives, were ordered to leave Singapore to establish a base on Pulau Durian, one of the handful of small islands between Singapore and Sumatra. Here they acted as a makeshift staging post for the mass exodus out of Singapore, with Morris’ medical skills to the fore, as many who came ashore had severe injuries from Japanese bombing raids. ‘He set about making splints, setting broken bones, stemming bleeding, suturing gashes, and removing shrapnel embedded in flesh. all without anaesthetic.’ (The Tiger’s Revenge, by the recipient’s son, Evan Morris, refers). The work undertaken by the various S.O.E. teams saved hundreds stranded on the islands during this period, and on Durian Lyon and Morris worked tirelessly for days without a break. Then, on 17 February, two small ships arrived at Durian with the bad news. Singapore had fallen. The last of the survivors from Singapore having been evacuated, Morris and Lyon then left themselves in a small sailing vessel, and made their way by boat to the mouth of the Indragiri River, up the river to Rengat, and then across the Sumatran mountains by car, to Padang. Here, Morris, owing to his medical skills, was ordered onto what was the last ship to leave the island, on board the Dutch steamer the S.S. Palopo, bound for Ceylon. Against all odds, the ship made it to Ceylon on 11 March, from where Morris was posted to No. 55 Combined Military Hospital in Colombo. He was advanced Acting Sergeant on 10 July 1942 and, for his gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific, was awarded the British Empire Medal. Understandably, given the secretive nature of his work, no citation exists. Lyon, meanwhile, had also made it, via an extraordinary 1,000 mile journey in a fishing ketch, to Ceylon, from where he proceeded by steamer to Bombay. It was from here that he, along with Major Jock Campbell, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and a 61 year old Australian civilian, Bill Reynolds, conceived an enterprising idea to have their revenge upon the Japanese in Singapore. Operation Jaywick Under the plans hatched by Lyon, Campbell, and Reynolds in Bombay, commandos would travel to Singapore harbour in a vessel disguised as an Asian fishing boat. They would then use collapsible canoes (folboats) to attach limpet mines to Japanese ships. General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, known for his enthusiasm for unconventional warfare, approved the plan. However, given the necessary secrecy required for the operation, and the fact that India was known to harbour an extensive network of Japanese spies, to embark from the sub-Continent was out of the question. Instead, another embarkation point was require, and in July 1942, Lyon set off for Australia to organise the operation. But first he had to secure the services of a key member of his team - Ronald Morris. Flying to Colombo, Lyon attempted to secure Morris’ release from his hospital duties, but his meeting with the Commanding Officer of No. 55 Combined Military Hospital in Colombo for once did not go to plan, and the C.O. refused to agree to Morris’ release. Undaunted, Lyon then flew back to Delhi and, having obtained an official order sanctioning Morris’ release,...
‘Almost a single-handed endeavour of extremely bold pattern, one day these exploits will be disclosed, and they will read stranger than fiction.’ Admiral Christie, Commander of the United States Pacific Submarine Operations, on the success of Operation Jaywick. The historic and important Second War ‘Operation Jaywick’ M.M., ‘Special Operations Executive - Orient Mission’ B.E.M. group of nine awarded to Acting Sergeant, later Major R. G. Morris, Royal Army Medical Corps, attached S.O.E. and Special Operations Australia, who was awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry and distinguished service as Medical Orderly in the MV Krait during her hazardous and highly audacious 48-day 4,000 mile round trip Commando raid, under the Command of Major Ivan Lyon, Gordon Highlanders, on Japanese occupied Singapore Harbour in September 1943, resulting in the sinking and destruction of seven enemy ships totalling 37,000 tons - the deepest surface waterborne penetration behind enemy lines undertaken by special forces in the Second World War. With no uniforms, no identity tags, and flying the Japanese flag, there would only have been one outcome for the crew if they were captured - failure was not an option. Remarkably, Morris had previously been awarded the B.E.M. for his services in the South-West Pacific, almost certainly for his devotion to duty during the Fall of Singapore when, having helped establish an escape route through Sumatra, and with his medical skills to the fore, he tended to the hundreds who came ashore at Durian during the exodus from Singapore in February 1942, before finally evacuating the island with Ivan Lyon in a tale of daring-do, first by sail to Sumatra, then by car across the mountains, before securing passage on the last ship out of Padang Military Medal, G.VI.R. (7264507 A/Sjt. R. G. Morris. R.A.M.C.); British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (7264507 Pte. Ronald George Morris); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (7264507 Sjt. R. G. Morris. M.M. B.E.M. R.A.M.C.); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Borneo (Lt. R. G. Morris. M.M. B.E.M. RAMC.); Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., 1st issue, Regular Army (7264507 W.O. Cl.2. R. G. Morris. B.E.M. M.M. R.A.M.C.) mounted court-style as worn, cleaned and lacquered, light contact marks, generally very fine and better (9) £60,000-£80,000 --- M.M. London Gazette 19 September 1946: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field (to be dated 23 November 1944).’ The Operation Jaywick File at the PRO (ADM 1-16678 gives the following Recommendation: ‘Corporal R. G. Morris, R.A.M.C., and Corporal A. Crilly, A.I.F. These two men were members of the ship’s crew, Corporal Morris the Medical Orderly, and Corporal Crilly as cook. Both performed their duties with great cheerfulness and their bearing throughout was of the highest standard in most trying and hazardous conditions. I recommend that if awards to the above men are approved, their published citation should only state that these awards are for outstanding conduct in the presence of the enemy, but that no fuller citation can be published for reasons of military secrecy.’ Morris’ Military Medal was approved by H.M. the King on 17 May 1944, on the Secret List, with the instruction that it was not to be published in the London Gazette until it had been taken off the Secret List. B.E.M. London Gazette 4 May 1943: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific.’ Ronald George ‘Taffy’ Morris was born at Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley, on Christmas Day 1918, and after leaving school at the age of 14 was employed as a miner. After five years in the South Wales pits he attested for the Royal Army Medical Corps on 30 May 1938, and after Japan entered the War he was recruited as a Medical Orderly to join the Special Operations Executive, Orient Mission, arriving in Singapore on 19 April 1941. Here he met fellow S.O.E. Operative, the charismatic old Harrovian Captain Ivan Lyon, Gordon Highlanders. The pair of them were soon part of an unorthodox group undertaking clandestine missions, training up local groups in the art of sabotage to be undertaken behind enemy lines, as well as establishing an escape route through Sumatra, should the unthinkable happen, and Singapore fall to the Japanese. In early February 1942, Lyon and Morris, together with a handful of other operatives, were ordered to leave Singapore to establish a base on Pulau Durian, one of the handful of small islands between Singapore and Sumatra. Here they acted as a makeshift staging post for the mass exodus out of Singapore, with Morris’ medical skills to the fore, as many who came ashore had severe injuries from Japanese bombing raids. ‘He set about making splints, setting broken bones, stemming bleeding, suturing gashes, and removing shrapnel embedded in flesh. all without anaesthetic.’ (The Tiger’s Revenge, by the recipient’s son, Evan Morris, refers). The work undertaken by the various S.O.E. teams saved hundreds stranded on the islands during this period, and on Durian Lyon and Morris worked tirelessly for days without a break. Then, on 17 February, two small ships arrived at Durian with the bad news. Singapore had fallen. The last of the survivors from Singapore having been evacuated, Morris and Lyon then left themselves in a small sailing vessel, and made their way by boat to the mouth of the Indragiri River, up the river to Rengat, and then across the Sumatran mountains by car, to Padang. Here, Morris, owing to his medical skills, was ordered onto what was the last ship to leave the island, on board the Dutch steamer the S.S. Palopo, bound for Ceylon. Against all odds, the ship made it to Ceylon on 11 March, from where Morris was posted to No. 55 Combined Military Hospital in Colombo. He was advanced Acting Sergeant on 10 July 1942 and, for his gallant and distinguished services in the South West Pacific, was awarded the British Empire Medal. Understandably, given the secretive nature of his work, no citation exists. Lyon, meanwhile, had also made it, via an extraordinary 1,000 mile journey in a fishing ketch, to Ceylon, from where he proceeded by steamer to Bombay. It was from here that he, along with Major Jock Campbell, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and a 61 year old Australian civilian, Bill Reynolds, conceived an enterprising idea to have their revenge upon the Japanese in Singapore. Operation Jaywick Under the plans hatched by Lyon, Campbell, and Reynolds in Bombay, commandos would travel to Singapore harbour in a vessel disguised as an Asian fishing boat. They would then use collapsible canoes (folboats) to attach limpet mines to Japanese ships. General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief, India, known for his enthusiasm for unconventional warfare, approved the plan. However, given the necessary secrecy required for the operation, and the fact that India was known to harbour an extensive network of Japanese spies, to embark from the sub-Continent was out of the question. Instead, another embarkation point was require, and in July 1942, Lyon set off for Australia to organise the operation. But first he had to secure the services of a key member of his team - Ronald Morris. Flying to Colombo, Lyon attempted to secure Morris’ release from his hospital duties, but his meeting with the Commanding Officer of No. 55 Combined Military Hospital in Colombo for once did not go to plan, and the C.O. refused to agree to Morris’ release. Undaunted, Lyon then flew back to Delhi and, having obtained an official order sanctioning Morris’ release,...

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

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