The Secret History of Force 136: Chinese Canadian Soldiers Behind Enemy Lines

During the Second World War, a group of Chinese Canadian soldiers trained for some of the most dangerous assignments in the Allied campaign against Japan. They learned espionage, parachuting, demolition, wireless communications and jungle survival. Their mission was to operate behind enemy lines, support local resistance movements and disrupt Japanese military supply networks.

They were recruited in a country that had spent decades discriminating against people of Chinese descent. Some had previously been discouraged or excluded from military service because of their background. Yet approximately 150 Chinese Canadians volunteered for secret operations in Asia, including assignments connected to Britain's Force 136 and Australia's Services Reconnaissance Department.

Their history is receiving renewed attention in 2026 after Canada Post unveiled a Remembrance Day commemorative stamp honouring the Chinese Canadians who served in Force 136. The stamp brings attention to a wartime contribution that remained largely unfamiliar to many Canadians for decades.

What was Force 136?

Force 136 was the Far Eastern branch of Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE), an organization created to conduct clandestine operations in territories occupied by Axis powers during the Second World War.

Its work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, communications and the organization and support of local resistance movements. In Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, Allied planners needed operatives who could communicate with local populations and operate without attracting the attention that unfamiliar European agents might draw.

Chinese Canadians were considered valuable recruits because some spoke Cantonese and English and had cultural and linguistic backgrounds that could help them work with Chinese communities across the region. According to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society, approximately 150 Chinese Canadians were recruited and assigned to the British SOE in Southeast Asia between 1944 and 1945.

Historical records assembled by the University of Toronto's Canada Declassified project also document the recruitment process, including the military camps across Canada where candidates were interviewed and selected.

They volunteered despite discrimination at home

The circumstances surrounding their recruitment make their service particularly significant.

Chinese Canadians faced institutional discrimination throughout much of the early 20th century. The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, effectively prohibited most Chinese immigration to Canada. Chinese Canadians also faced restrictions on political participation and access to certain professions.

The University of Toronto's archival research documents how these restrictions shaped the experiences of Chinese Canadians who volunteered for military service. Some were motivated by their opposition to Japanese aggression in China, while others saw military service as an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to Canada and challenge the discrimination they experienced.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Canada describes how Chinese Canadian volunteers were selected for special operations and sent overseas for missions against Japanese forces.

The contradiction was striking: men who did not enjoy equal treatment in their own country were being recruited for missions that demanded exceptional courage and carried the risk of capture, torture or death.

Training for operations behind Japanese lines

Force 136 recruits underwent specialized preparation that went far beyond ordinary military training.

According to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society, their training included parachuting, jungle survival, demolition, espionage, wireless communications, reconnaissance and methods of working with local resistance groups. They also faced the physical challenges of operating in unfamiliar tropical environments, including extreme heat, humidity and disease.

Some teams were organized into small groups with different specialist responsibilities. Their tasks could include gathering intelligence, communicating with Allied forces, identifying enemy supply routes and helping local resistance fighters carry out sabotage operations.

The Chinese Canadian Museum describes the approximately 150 Chinese Canadians recruited for Force 136-related operations as guerrilla fighters who were trained to disrupt Japanese military activity in occupied Southeast Asia.

Operation Oblivion: The mission that was cancelled

One of the most dramatic chapters in the story involved a specially selected group of 13 Chinese Canadian volunteers assigned to a planned mission known as Operation Oblivion.

The group was intended to enter Japanese-occupied China, establish contact with anti-Japanese resistance forces and conduct clandestine operations. The recruits underwent intensive preparation for a mission that carried serious risks.

However, Operation Oblivion was cancelled in April 1945 before the planned deployment into China could take place. The cancellation did not mean that all Chinese Canadian special-operations personnel were withdrawn from the wider Allied effort.

Canada's Department of Veterans Affairs explains that Force 136 and Australia's Special Operations Australia prepared for other assignments in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. Chinese Canadian personnel subsequently supported operations in places including Borneo and Malaya.

It is important to distinguish the planned Operation Oblivion mission from the operations that actually took place. The 13-man group was selected and trained for a dangerous assignment, but its intended deployment into China did not happen.

What happened in Southeast Asia?

Some Chinese Canadian operatives were involved in covert missions in 1945, supporting local resistance movements and helping disrupt Japanese supply lines and equipment.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, four Chinese Canadian sergeants took part in SOE operations in Borneo, while ten were involved in operations in Malaya. Their responsibilities included supporting and training resistance groups in sabotage activities.

Following Japan's surrender, some of these personnel also helped with the release of Allied prisoners of war and the administration of areas previously occupied by Japanese forces.

The historical record is more complicated than the image of a single, fully deployed guerrilla force. Some recruits served in different organizations, some remained in training when the war ended, and the planned missions did not all proceed as originally intended.

How their military service connected to civil rights in Canada

The story of these soldiers did not end when the war was over.

Chinese Canadians returned to a country where major legal barriers remained in place. The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1947, two years after the end of the war, and Chinese Canadians gained the right to vote in federal elections.

Their military service was part of a wider history of Chinese Canadian efforts to challenge discrimination and secure equal citizenship. It would be inaccurate to attribute the repeal of discriminatory laws to the soldiers alone, but their contribution became an important part of the community's broader struggle for recognition and equal rights.

Research published by the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada documents the scale of Chinese Canadian military participation during the war and the discrimination that shaped their experiences.

Why Canada Post is bringing their story back into public view

On November 3, 2026, Canada Post unveiled a new Remembrance Day stamp honouring Chinese Canadians who volunteered for Force 136 and other secret Allied operations in Asia.

The stamp features a black-and-white photograph of Chinese Canadian soldiers awaiting repatriation in 1945. A red phoenix insignia associated with Force 136 is incorporated into the design, alongside the unit's name in English, French and traditional Chinese.

Canada Post said approximately 150 Chinese Canadians served in Force 136 or Australia's Services Reconnaissance Department. The stamp was made available beginning November 4, 2026.

The commemorative issue is more than a tribute to a military unit. It provides an opportunity to examine a part of Canadian history in which military service, racial discrimination and the struggle for equal citizenship intersected.

A legacy beyond the battlefield

Force 136's Chinese Canadian recruits occupied an unusual position in the Allied war effort. They were selected for missions requiring skills and backgrounds that could help them operate in parts of Asia where other agents might struggle to blend in. Yet many had experienced exclusion in the country they were volunteering to defend.

Their story also illustrates why military history cannot always be separated from the social history of the country involved. The wartime contribution of Chinese Canadians took place alongside a broader campaign for recognition, political rights and equal treatment.

More than eight decades later, the renewed attention surrounding the Force 136 stamp offers Canadians another reason to remember these volunteers—not only for the risks they accepted overseas, but also for the barriers they faced at home.

Sources & References

• Canada Post – New Remembrance Day stamp honours Chinese Canadians of Force 136 (November 3, 2026).
• Veterans Affairs Canada – Force 136 and other Special Operations Stories in East Asia.
• University of Toronto, Canada Declassified – The Recruitment of Chinese Canadians for Force 136, 1944–45.
• Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society – Force 136.
• Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada – Chinese Canadian Secret Warriors in the Pacific, 1944–46.
• Chinese Canadian Museum – Canada Post unveils Remembrance Day stamp.