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From Oblivion to Triumph

@force136ca.bsky.social

Telling the story of the Battle for Hong Kong, #SOE Force 136, and the making of modern Canada by Rick Green. - https://linktr.ee/force136ca

250 Posts94 Follower245 Folgt
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 19h ago

#LestWeForget🍁 Henry Albert “Hank” Wong (1919–2019), “The Trigger,” was a London, Ontario-born union auditor. He was one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert #SOE mission in southern China under #Force136. Read Hank's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Hank’s father, Tom Wong, ran the two locations of Wong’s Café with his brother Lem. Hank’s mother, Chin Yee Fong, died of Spanish flu when he was only a few months old. His father placed Hank in a Methodist orphanage until he was old enough to work at the café. He didn't learn to speak Chinese.

Wong’s Café on Ontario Street in London, Ontario, in 1920. (courtesy Stratford-Perth Archives photo)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 2d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 John Ko Bong (1912–2008) — “The Handyman” — was a Victoria-born shopkeeper and one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert #SOE mission in southern China under #Force136. Read John's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

John’s father, Ko Bong, was a devout Christian and an associate of Dr. Sun Yat-sen who helped rally overseas Chinese in support of the Nationalist revolution. After moving from Victoria to Vancouver, he opened G.B. Simon Jewellers & G.B. Simon Sporting Goods on Main Street in Chinatown.

Storefront of G.B. Simon Jewellers at 534 Main Street, Vancouver, owned by George Bong Simon (also known as Ko Bong), John Ko Bong's father. (courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 3d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 Roy Sin Twe Chan (1916–1998), “The Liberator,” was a Victoria-born musician who became one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert SOE mission in southern China under Force 136. Read Roy's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Roy’s family owned the Panama Café in Victoria, a popular restaurant serving Western food that once hosted Guy Lombardo. Music ran in the family. Roy and his brothers formed the Celestial Gents, one of the first Chinese-Canadian swing bands to perform publicly in the 1930s.

Roy Chan and his brothers Ira, Herby, and Paul, playing in the popular swing band, the Celestial Gents.
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 4d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 George Thomas Sing Wah Lock (1916–2003), “The Extractor,” was a Toronto-born pharmacist and one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert Special Operations Executive mission in southern China under Force 136. Read Tom's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Tom grew up in Toronto’s Chinatown, spending time at the College Street YMCA, playing badminton at the Bay Street Mission, and basketball at the Chinese Young Men’s Christian Institute. From Jewish friends, who were also bullied, he learned Yiddish and did their household duties on the Sabbath.

A streetcar on Elizabeth Street in Toronto's Chinatown is delayed by a truck parked on tracks without a rear wheel, January 10, 1934. (courtesy City of Toronto Archives)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 5d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 Edward “Eddie” Chow (1919–1999), “The Entertainer,” was a Vancouver-born performer and one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert #SOE mission in southern China under #Force136. Read Eddie's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Eddie moved with his family from the West Coast to Toronto as a teenager. When WWII broke out, he tried to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After sitting in the recruitment centre for two days watching others called in for an interview, he was informed that the RCAF did not take Orientals.

Royal Canadian Air Force Second World War recruitment poster. (courtesy McGill University Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, WP2.R16.F3)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 6d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 Norman Mon Low (1923–1960), “The Wire,” was a Vancouver-born radio operator and one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert SOE mission in southern China under Force 136. Read Norman's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Norman grew up outside Chinatown, where his father worked at a produce store, then a farm, before the family opened Lowe’s Fruit Market in West Vancouver. He joined the Canadian Armoured Corps at Camp Borden, Ontario, where Roy Chan, Louey King, and James Shiu also trained in tank support.

The C.I. 45 immigration card issued for Norman Mon Low (Low Chew Mon) on 5 June 1924. Even though he was born in Canada, he was not considered a citizen. (courtesy of University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections / Geoffrey Low Family)
SMH Historians@smh-historians.bsky.social · 6d ago

The Society for Military History and the CSIS Project on Military and Diplomatic History invite graduate students to submit essays exploring how military history can inform today’s international security challenges.

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 6d ago

#Force136 #SOE Imagine getting married, but your wife's country won't accept you and your country won't accept her. Keith Lock screens his parents' story next week in Vancouver: RELICS OF LOVE AND WAR Chinatown Storytelling Centre Nov. 3, 3:30 - 5 PM Tickets: www.eventbrite.ca/e/relics-of-...

Relics of Love and War

A wartime love story reveals a hidden chapter of Chinese Canadian history, told through rare archival footage and personal memories.

eventbrite.ca

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 7d ago

#WWII Burma was an interesting case of experimentation in how to best employ special forces — such as #Force136 and the Chindits — in support of regular units. Those interested in Commandos, can learn more about Lucy's "Jungle Commandos" on #WW2TV at www.youtube.com/live/u6Qgnt6....

Jungle Commandos: The Battle for Arakan, Burma 1945

YouTube video by WW2TV

youtube.com

Lucy Betteridge-Dyson@lmbd1418.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’m chuffed to announce that Jungle Commandos has won the Royal Marines Historical Society's Derek Oakley Literary Award! A book on Burma was never going to have the reach of a book on the Nazi’s or Normandy or whatever - Arakan is a niche campaign, in a theatre known as the forgotten war

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 7d ago

#LestWeForget🍁 Douglas Hin Wah Jung (1924–2002), “The Insider,” was a prominent Victoria-born lawyer and Member of Parliament. He was one of 13 Chinese Canadians recruited for Operation Oblivion, a covert #SOE mission in southern China under #Force136. Read Douglas's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Douglas was the youngest of 3 sons born to kindergarten teacher, Elizabeth Chan. His father, Jung Yik Ching, was drawn to Canada by stories of the Klondike Gold Rush, but it ended just as he arrived. He worked as a labourer & carpenter in Victoria. He named Douglas after the city's main street.

Jung family portrait from when the sons were teenagers. (courtesy Chinese Canadian Military Museum)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last wk.

#LestWeForget🍁 Roger Kee Cheng (1915–1990) was the first Chinese-Canadian officer in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals — and the first recruit chosen by Mike Kendall for Operation Oblivion, a covert mission under Britain’s #SOE, known in Asia as #Force136. Read Roger's story 👇🏻

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last yr.

Born in Lillooet, BC, Cheng was not recognized as a Canadian citizen but registered as a “Chinese immigrant” under exclusion laws. After earning his Electrical Engineering degree from McGill in 1936, he was denied work in his field because he was Chinese.

This certificate shows that Roger Kee Cheng is registered as a Chinese immigrant as required by the Chinese Immigration Act. (Courtesy of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum)
From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · last wk.

Tom Lock's #WW2 service in #Force136 enabled him to become Toronto's first Chinese pharmacist & bring his microbiologist wife to Canada. Their story coming to Vancouver next week: RELICS OF LOVE AND WAR Chinatown Storytelling Centre Nov. 3, 3:30 - 5 PM Tickets: www.eventbrite.ca/e/relics-of-...

Relics of Love and War

A wartime love story reveals a hidden chapter of Chinese Canadian history, told through rare archival footage and personal memories.

eventbrite.ca

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 4w ago

#histbookchat Konrad doing stellar service in make primary sources accessible to Asia-Pacific war researchers, e.g. 👇🏻 "This collection of U.S. State Department diplomatic records...documents the rapid crisis and collapse of party-led parliamentary democracy in prewar Japan..."

Konrad Lawson@kml.muninn.net · last mo.

Created a website (using Opus 5.5, Mistral OCR and PaddleCOR) for browsing/searching OCRed pages that make up a good chunk of the the "Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Japan, 1930–1949" available on internet archive froginawell.net/reference/ja...

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#histbookchat #booksky Just finished reading "Beyond Operation Oblivion". Bartley has done important research on Mike Kendall, the clandestine war in southern China, and his role in recruiting Canadian Chinese to #SOE #Force136 that impacts Canadian politics. heritagehouse.ca/products/bey...

Beyond Operation Oblivion

Beyond Operation Oblivion tells the life story of Francis “Mike” Kendall, a prickly Canadian adventurer who found himself in Hong Kong in the turbulent years leading up to the Second World War and end...

heritagehouse.ca

From Oblivion to Triumph@force136ca.bsky.social · 3mo ago

An interesting timeline from the perspective of the Japanese with 20,266 entries spanning February 1904 - January 1945.

Konrad Lawson@kml.muninn.net · 7mo ago

Created a timeline comprised of events found in various english language publications from pre-1945 Japan. It is not a neutral timeline: it captures the perspectives of sources that served or were censored by the Japanese state, but hopefully interesting to explore: froginawell.net/reference/em...