Operation Zipper

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. 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. 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 to the north.

Operation Tiderace was instead put into action following the surrender of Japan. The Allied fleet departed Rangoon on 27 August 1945, as part of Vice Admiral Harold Walker's force. The fleet sailing for Penang was designated 'Task Force 11', and consisted of the battleship HMS Nelson, escort carriers HMS Attacker & HMS Hunter, light cruiser HMS Ceylon, destroyers HMS Paladin & HMS Petard and two Landing Ship, Infantry. They arrived in Penang on 28 August. HMS Nelson was the flagship of the fleet, and the articles of surrender were signed aboard the battleship on 2 September.

With the Japanese surrender, troops of the 25th Indian Division deployed to Malaya, Walker's fleet then sailed to Singapore to join up with the main convoy.