British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya in 1945
This article is about the overall plan of liberating Malaya and Singapore at the end of World War II. For the liberation of Penang, see Operation Jurist. For the liberation of Singapore, see Operation Tiderace.
During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it was never fully executed. Some of the proposed landings on Penang went ahead as planned to probe Japanese intentions, encountering no resistance.[1] The planned deception for this attack was called Operation Slippery, whilst a small Special Operations Executive team led by Tun Ibrahim Ismail which landed in October 1944 managed to convince the Japanese that the landings were to be on the Isthmus of Kra, 650 miles (1,050 km) to the north.[2]
The Japanese garrison in Penang surrendered on 2 September and the Royal Marines recaptured Penang Island the following day. Meanwhile, the Allied fleet arrived off Singapore on 4 September and accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces stationed on the island. A formal surrender ceremony was held in downtown Singapore on 12 September.
Bose, Romen, "The End of the War: Singapore's Liberation and the aftermath of the Second World War", Marshall Cavendish, Singapore, 2005
Christopher Bayly & Tim Harper, "Forgotten Wars: Freedom And Revolution in Southeast Asia", Penguin Group, United Kingdom, 2006, ISBN978-0-674-02153-2, ISBN0-674-02153-3