by placing limpet mines on ships. It was intended that motorised semi-submersible canoes, known as Sleeping Beauties, would be used to gain access to the harbour. Lyon led a Services Reconnaissance Department party of twenty-two men. They left their base in Australia aboard the British submarine on 11 September 1944. When they reached the island of Merapas, which was to be their forward base, it was discovered to be inhabited. To ensure that their stores would remain undiscovered by the natives one of the officers from the Porpoise, Lieutenant Walter Carey, remained on Merapas as a guard. The party then commandeered a Malay junk named Mustika, taking the Malay crew aboard the submarine. The SRD men transferred their equipment to the junk and the Porpoise departed. Lyon decided to drop off four more men with Carey: Corporal Colin Craft, Warrant Officer Alf Warren and Sergeant Colin Cameron. Meanwhile, the Mustika neared its target. On the day of the planned attack, 10 October 1944, disaster struck. A Japanese patrol boat from the Malay Heiho challenged the Mustika and someone on board opened fire, killing three Malays. Their cover blown, Lyon had no option but to abort the mission. After scuttling the junk and the Sleeping Beauties with explosives, he ordered his men back to Merapas. Unbeknownst to Lyon, two Malays had escaped overboard during the firing and had made their way ashore to report the incident. The Hoehn Mk III folboats stored in the Mustika were deployed to make the party's way to Merapas. Using these folboats, Lyon led a small force of six other men—Lieutenant Commander Donald Davidson, Lieutenant Bobby Ross, Able Seaman Andrew Huston, Corporal Clair Stewart, Corporal Archie Campbell and Private Douglas Warne—into Singapore Harbour, where they are believed to have sunk three ships. Lyon and twelve others were killed in action soon afterwards, and the remaining ten men were captured and later executed by beheading in July 1945. Operation Copper Operation Copper was one of the last Z Special operations in New Guinea. On the night of 11 April 1945, eight operatives were landed near Muschu Island by HDML patrol boat. Their mission was to paddle ashore and reconnoitre the island to determine the status of Japanese defences and validate reports that two 140 mm long-range naval guns were still in position. Intelligence suggested that these weapons were back in service and could prove dangerous during the