The Rotary Club of Erina commemorated the 80th anniversary of the successful return of the Special Operations Australia (SOA) Commandos from Operation Jaywick on October 19.
The club celebrated the extraordinary World War II battle in the south-eastern seas in 1943 with a ceremony of remembrance.
Club members met at the Point Clare memorial to commemorate the safe return of all 17 servicemen, joined by local Point Clare Public School student Thalia and her father Aaron, whose grandfather was a World War II veteran.
Thalia laid a wreath of rosemary sprigs, symbolic of remembrance on the Jaywick memorial sculpture.
Erina Rotary Club President Fiona Morrison spoke of the value and importance of the hope for peace in the world and actions such as those of the servicemen of Operation Jaywick, contributing to peace on the Australian mainland for nearly 80 years.
Operation Jaywick was an incredible achievement by SOA members of Z Special Unit, a group of Australian and British Commandos who trained for the dangerous secret mission in the creeks and mangroves of the Hawkesbury River and Brisbane Water.
Using a recommissioned Japanese fishing vessel they named the MV Krait, Z Special Unit sailed to Singapore to blow-up the Japanese ships moored in the harbour as part of a mission to disable Japanese shipping and as a tool of propaganda against the potential invaders.
The final part of the mission was achieved on the night of September 26, 1943, when 11 Australian and six British army and naval personnel in small kayaks were taken into Singapore harbour under the cover of night to attach limpet mines to the ships.
They were successful in sinking seven Japanese ships and returned on the MV Krait, arriving back in Australia on October 19, 1943.
MV Krait was fully restored in 1964 for Anzac Day and now is moored permanently at the Sydney Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour.
The memorial garden at Point Clare was originally installed in 2003 as part of a Work for the Dole project.
A dedication ceremony was attended by Horrie Young, the young telegraphist on the mission, who is one of the few surviving members of Operation Jaywick and a local Central Coast resident.
The stone that went into the construction of the main garden wall came from excavations at Erina Fair.
Erina Rotary Club Past President Greg Berry maintained the garden while he was Commanding Officer at TS Hawkesbury in 2007-09, including mowing the grass and weeding regularly.
“When I left in 2009, it seemed that no-one really attended the garden at all, and it became very overgrown,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to Hawkesbury very much as both of my sons had left the Unit and joined the RAN.
“In 2016 whilst driving around Australia, I visited two Operation Jaywick memorials, one just outside Exmouth in WA and the other at HMAS Stirling.”
Inspired by the national recognition of the local wartime initiative Berry was stirred to action once more.
“On my return I drove over to have a look at the garden,” he said.
“By that time, it was unrecognisable.
“Many people who walked past didn’t know that the area was a memorial garden at all.
“The overgrowth was so heavy that it completely covered the original dedication stone.
“I tried to get a couple of ex-cadets and staff interested in doing the renovation but without success.”
As a long-standing Rotary Club of Erina member, Berry raised the matter of the garden renovation at a meeting and the club happily agreed to support it.
This led to a project led by Gillian Winchester, raising funds from the NSW Government and Central Coast Council to recreate the memorial gardens.
There were two clean-ups before the renovation started, one in 2017 and one in 2018.
Artist Andrew Nicols created a sandstone sculpture and storyboard and the gardens were re-established.
The memorial garden re-opened in two stages.
Stage one took place on September 29, 2018, and was attended by Lucy Wicks as the then Federal Member for Robertson.
There was a commemorative paddle undertaken by members of the Australian Commando Association and a local kayaking organisation.
The official opening took place about 12 months later.
Both events were attended by Central Coast ex-serviceman’s associations and the Australian Commando Association.
The commemoration held on October 19 this year saw Rotary Club of Erina members hold a ceremony of remembrance, placing a wreath of rosemary at the Jaywick Rimau Memorial and sculpture at Point Clare and planting a rose named No Surrender, bred especially to commemorate and honour Australian servicemen and women.
For more information and a short film on the Memorial Garden project go to rotaryerina.org.au
For more information on Operation Jaywick go to awm.gov.au
Source:
Erina Rotary Club