Four Chinese Canadian Commandos. One Hidden Chapter of History.
New digital story uncovers the wartime experiences of four men who served in secret missions across Asia.
More than 80 years later, their stories are coming to light.
The Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society (CCMMS) has launched The Untold Stories of Force 136 – From Canada to Borneo, India, and Malaysia, a bilingual digital story revealing the remarkable experiences of four Chinese Canadians recruited for clandestine operations in Japanese-occupied Asia during the Second World War.
Through family photographs, personal stories and previously difficult-to-access military records, the story follows Captain Roger Kee Cheng of British Columbia, Sergeant Billy Kong Lee of Manitoba, and New Brunswick brothers Corporal Charles Joseph “Chuck” Fong and Private George (Georges) Fong.
Developed with the support from Digital Museums Canada, an investment program managed by the Canadian Museum of History, the story draws on a digital research archive of approximately 4,000 records. The archive includes original documents from The National Archives in London, England, reproduced with permission and made freely accessible online.
Their stories reveal not only the courage of four servicemen, but also a little-known chapter of Chinese Canadian history shaped by war, discrimination and service to Canada.