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Force 136

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret organisation established by the British War Cabinet in 1940. Its main task was to train agents to recruit small groups in enemy-occupied territory to carry out sabotage of a limited tactical nature, and was largely active in India, China and the Far East. In Southeast Asia, the SOE was better known as Force 136.

Force 136 was led by British officers and senior ranks, who were specially trained in espionage, surveillance and sabotage tactics. Because they could not move about these Asian countries disguised as locals or speak the local languages, they had to recruit local men into the Force. Canadians and Australians of Chinese or Japanese descent were similarly recruited to operate in these countries.

Suitable local men were often difficult to find. Many of them were either indifferent towards their Japanese occupiers, or were antagonistic toward the British who were their former colonial masters. Those who were accepted, mostly Burmese, Indians and some Chinese and Siamese; were trained in India and sent secretly into Malaya to help organise and support local resistance movements in their fight against the Japanese. One of these men was Lim Bo Seng, a prominent Singapore businessman who was actively involved in fighting the Japanese.

Members of Force 136 would contact and co-operate with local resistance movements such as the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) to harass the Japanese. They were regularly supplied by submarine and airdrop. Hit-and-run guerrilla warfare ensured that the Japanese were kept busy maintaining law and order.

Besides conducting anti-Japanese activities, Force 136 was also involved in laying the groundwork for a planned Allied invasion of Malaya. However, the surrender of the Japanese after the bombing of the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant that the invasion never took place. Force 136 later assisted in the search and recovery of former Japanese prisoners-of-war (POWs) scattered about in prison camps. They also served to accept the surrender of Japanese units and helped maintain public order until a civilian government could be restored.



Author
Daniel Goh



References 
Crickshank, C. G. (1983). Special Operations Executive in the Far East. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 940.5425 CRU)

Tan, C. T. (1995). Force 136: Story of a WWII resistance fighter. Singapore: Asiapac Books.
(Call no. : RSING 940.54865951TAN)

Taylor, C. G. (1989). The forgotten ones of "South East Asia Command" and "Force 136". Ilfracombe: Stockwell.
(Call no.: RSING 940.5481059 TAY)

Trenowden, I. (1994). Operations most secret. SOE: The Malayan theatre. Cornwall: Crecy Books.
(Call no.: RSING 940.548641 TRE) 

Veteran Affairs Canada. (n.d.). Force 136 - S.O.E. in Asia. Retrieved November 6, 2002, from www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/courage/asia 


Further Readings
Gough, R. (2001). Outposts of the empire. Singapore: Raffles.
(Call no. : RSING 940.5425 GOU) 

Ong, H. Y. (Director & Producer). (1995). Force 136 [Videotape]. Singapore: Television Corporation of Singapore.  

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Biographies>>War Personalities
Special forces (Military science)--Singapore
World War, 1939-1945
History>>Asia>>Southeast Asia>>Singapore

Librarian Recommendations
>> Lim Bo Seng
>> Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA)


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