In 1943, a special branch of the Kenpeitai under Lieutenant Colonel Haruzō Sumida was charged with finding the culprits responsible for acts of sabotage in Singapore, mainly the cutting of telephone lines and the burning of warehouses.Sumida's chief suspect was British barrister Rob Heeley Scott, a prominent Foreign Office employee who had previously been detained for his anti-Japanese propaganda, released by the Kenpeitai, and then later sent to Changi Prison.It had been carried out by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon from Z Special Unit, a group of Anglo-Australian commandos who had sailed from Western Australia to Singapore in an old Japanese fishing boat, the Krait, named after a Malayan snake.Using limpet mines, they sank six Japanese ships of 2,000–5,000 tons, including several tankers, and then slipped away to their rendezvous with the Krait, finally returning successfully to Australia.As none of the suspects had even heard of Operation Jaywick, let alone been part of it, any confessions they made were meaningless, lacking any information about the raid itself, how it had been organised, or where the explosives had been obtained.The couple helped the Changi prisoners of war (POW) by passing on cash and parcels containing such things as fresh clothing, medicine and letters during their deliveries.He was later sentenced to six years' imprisonment in Outram Road Prison, the site where convicted sepoy mutineers had been detained and executed by the Singapore Volunteer Corps in 1915.[2] After a huge dossier of interviews had been compiled, the Japanese concluded that she was telling the truth and set her free; however, Khun Heng was sentenced to 12 years in Outram Road Prison.The suffering spread to the entire civilian population of Changi Prison; rations were cut, and games, concerts, plays and school lessons were forbidden for months.
The etched drawings on the heritage monument, near where the present YMCA building stands, depict what the
Old YMCA Building
looked like.