Gallery – The Untold Stories of Force 136

The Untold Stories of Force 136

Chinese Canadian Military Museum

Chapters

document image showing page 1 of a typed Malaya situation report, dated 25 July to 6 August 1945, with references to Operation Carpenter and sub-operation Snooper

Situation Report

document image showing page 2 of a typed Malaya situation report, dated 25 July to 6 August 1945, with references to Operation Carpenter and sub-operation Snooper

Situation Report

document image showing an organizational chart for Force 136 in Malaya, dated 6 August 1945, listing Canadian-born Chinese interpreters and their assigned operations

Organizational Chart

document image showing the cover page or file cover for HS1/245, an SOE Far East Australia operations file for Operation Hippo

Document image showing a typed Hippo report dated 28 July 1945 with named Canadian Chinese Force 136 members including Shiu, Chan, Low, King, and Cheng.

Document image showing an excerpt from a typed Hippo report dated 28 July 1945 listing Canadian Chinese Force 136 members assigned to Hippo I and Hippo II

Document image showing the cover page or file cover for HS7/115, a Force 136 training file for India, 1942 to 1945

Document image showing an organizational chart for HQ Force 136 in India and Ceylon, dated November 1945.

Organizational chart

document image showing a typed training syllabus excerpt for basic para-military training at Eastern Warfare School, Poona, India, page 9

document image showing a typed training syllabus excerpt for basic para-military training at Eastern Warfare School, Poona, India, page 10

document image showing a typed training excerpt from the Advanced Operational Training School at Horana, Ceylon

Document image showing a typed basic weapon training syllabus from Eastern Warfare School, Poona, India, page 3

document image showing a typed basic weapon training syllabus from Eastern Warfare School, Poona, India, page 4

Document image showing a typed advanced demolition syllabus excerpt from the Advanced Operational Training School at Horana, Ceylon.

document image showing the file cover for HS7/88, an SOE history file on Special Operations Australia, 1942 to 1945

document image showing page 1 of a typed SRD history of the operational groups

Document page 1 of 3

document image showing page 2 of a typed SRD history of the operational groups

Document page 2 of 3

document image showing page 3 of a typed SRD history of the operational groups, including a note that Captain Cheng was deployed with Crocodile party

Document page 3 of 3

document image showing the file cover for WO 203-4332, a South East Asia Command military headquarters file from the Second World War

document image showing an excerpt from a typed report on Force 136's Operation Mastiff, sub-operation Snooper, dated 27 December 1945

Report on the Force 136 effort in Operation Mastiff

document image showing an excerpt from a typed report on Force 136's Operation Mastiff, sub-operation Snooper, dated 27 December 1945

Report on the Force 136 effort in Operation Mastiff

Portrait of Captain Roger Cheng, age 29, in military uniform, about 1944.

Group photo of Force 136 members in Australia preparing to board a submarine, about 1945. The men are arranged in two rows and identified by name in the description.

Operation Oblivion

Paper ID issued by the British Army. Photo of William Chong on the right occupation and other details on the left. The ID is divided in half, right site in Chinese characters and left side english.

William Chong ID

Colourized group photograph of thirty Chinese Canadian Force 136 advanced trainees at Poona, India, in 1945. This image is an AI-generated colour version of a black-and-white original image.

Image of Force 136 Men in India

Two men during Operation Oblivion training in Australia, firing a Japanese machine gun, about 1944.

Force136-Operation Oblivion-Training Australia

Sergeant B.K. Lee, date unknown

Head-and-shoulders portrait of Private George Fong, age 25, in military uniform, about 1944.

Collage of C.I. 5, C.I. 30, C.I. 44 and C.I.45 Certificates. Various certificates issued during 1923 with photos of the person required for all Chinese in Canada

C.I. Certificates Collage

1943 Image of Lily Young Pearson and unknown woman going to work. They are wearing overalls to work in a manufacturing plant.

Lily Young Pearson and Unknown Woman Going to Work

Report showing number of Chinese admitted into Canada from 1906 - 1949

Public Archives RG 76 Immigration 1906-1949

Letter from Premier Patullo to Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

1940 Patullo Letter

The men of Operation Oblivion and various weapons. 1944, Okanagan, BC. National Archives, London, HS-133 Operation Oblivion. Used with permission.

The Men of Operation Oblivion

The men of Operation Oblivion in small arms training (identified as 9 mm Browning pistols and possibly Japanese Nambu pistols). Several men holding pistols and pointing at a target.

Small Arms Training

Force 136 members, Eddie Chow and instructor cleaning a M1 rifle on a table.

Force 136 Member Eddie Chow

Photo of a KIS submachine gun. It was developed by engineers in the underground workshops and based on the British Sten MkII with modifications.

KIS Submachine Gun

Chinese-Canadian soldiers firing a Bren gun during winter training at Camp Shilo, Manitoba, 1944. Dick and Yvette Yip fonds, private collection. Used with permission.

Chinese-Canadian soldiers

Photo of a woman in a factory welding Bren gun magazines.

Woman Welds Bren Gun Magazines

Group of seven soldiers in India. Five are standing and two crouching in the front. The men appear to be holding six American M1 carbines and one 9mm Browning pistol.

The Men of Force 136, India

Two Chinese men working on the Young farm, hand tilling fields of vegetables.

Two Unnamed Men Working on the Young Farm

Eight men in uniform standing outdoors under palm trees near the ocean during Force 136 training in Australia, about 1945.

Force 136 Operation Oblivion Training in Australia

Portrait of Captain Roger Cheng, age 30, in military uniform, about 1945.

Victory over Japan Day Parade. Hundreds of people filled the streets in Chinatown Vancouver to watch the parade.

Lori Leong and crowd of people celebrating on the streets on VJ day 1945. They are cheering and waving flags.

1945 August VJ-day Celebration

Four Chinese men and three women dressed in formal wear receiving their Canadian Citizenship. Certificate in their hands.

Proud Milestone

Cpl. Gordon Wong hugging his two sisters at a reception to welcome 49 Chinese Veterans returning from service.

Welcome Chinese Veterans

Group photo of four men during training at Fraser Island, Australia, about 1945. Back row: Harden Lee and Dick Lam. Front row: Ed Fong and Georges Fong.

Training at Fraser Island

Black and white portrait of Sergeant B.K. Lee, date unknown

Sergeant B.K. Lee, date unknown

Image of file folder cover, File Force 136: SOE training in India 1942-1945, The National Archives, London, UK. Used with permission.

<span data-sheets-root="1">Brown file folder cover for HS1/217, a Force 136 file of London weekly newsletters dated June to August 1945.</span>

Cover of HS1/217, SOE, Far East India Report

Image of Cover, Force 136: Special Forces Development Centre 1943-1945, HS7-117 report.

Photo of the Young family farm house with large evergreen trees in background. The farm house is single storey wood structure, very basic with large logs randomly lying around structure.

Young Family Farm

Image of Force 136 men in India. From left: Willie Chong, Tommy Wong, Dick Yip, Maurice Jang, Ed Lee, and James Mar. 1945. They are posing in front of a large military truck leaning on a push cart.

Force 136 – India

Page from a report showing a standard medical set listing all the contents designed to meet the needs of a small number of men up to 240 days.

HS7 – 117 Medical Sets Page 1

Image of Malaya map showing the varying "levels" of Japanese occupation depending on the region.

Image of Malaya map

Black and white map showing location of Poona, on Kharakvasla Lake, southwest of Mumbai, India

Portrait of Capt.Roger Cheng in uniform with medals and badges after the war.

Capt. Roger Cheng

Cover of Operation Oblivion Archives Report

HS 1-133 Op Oblivion

Image of Plaque commemorating Commando Bay, Okanagan Lake, BC, undated.

Operation Oblivion – plaque

Roger Cheng hanging from a parachute during training.

Roger Cheng Parachute Training

Roger Cheng lying on the ground with Bren light machine gun on a stand aiming to shoot.

Roger Cheng Bren Light Machine Gun Training

Map of S.E. Asia, Malaysia (Malaya), and Borneo

Map of Southeast Asia

List of medical supplies

HS7 – 117 Medical Sets Page 4

List of medical supplies for an individual soldier.

HS7 – 117 Medical Sets Page 5

List of medical supplies.

HS7 – 117 Medical Sets Page 2

Brown file folder cover for HS1/217, a Force 136 file of London weekly newsletters dated June to August 1945.

Cover of HS1/217, SOE, Far East India Report

Google map of the world with locations of where the men of Force 136 were deployed for training and missions. This is a coloured map with a layover with icons representing training locations verses missions.

Map of the World

Head-and-shoulders portrait of Corporal Charles Joseph Fong, age 23, in military uniform, about 1944.

Black-and-white photograph of Roger Cheng seated at the controls of a field telephone wire truck, steering with his left hand and operating the wire-laying lever with his right. He wears a flat metal helmet and overalls, with a canvas bag slung across his body. The front wheel of an outrider’s vehicle is visible at the top of the frame.

Captain Roger Cheng training

Map showing the location of the Fraser Commando School, Fraser Island (now K’gari)

Map Showing the Location of Fraser Island

Sepia-toned AI-generated image based on a historical photograph of four Force 136 members training on Fraser Island. Two men stand behind two others among tall grasses and tropical trees.

List of medical supplies

HS7 – 117 Medical Sets Page 3

Map showing the location of the Fraser Commando School, Fraser Island (now K’gari)

Map Showing the Location of Fraser Island