WHAT WAS FORCE 136? Some of the nine surivivors of Force 136 as they are today. Here they are receiving commemorative silver ingots from Rear Admiral (NS) Teo Chee Hean (then Acting Minister for the Environment and Senior Minister of State for Defence), in a ceremony held at the Singapore Mint in Boon Lay. Mr Tan Chong Tee is second from right. Force 136 was a British-led underground resistance group that operated in Malaya during World War II. There were about 50 members in the group which performed acts of sabotage and espionage against the Japanese. Mr Tan Chong Tee was a member of Operation Gustavus which was sent to set up an intelligence network in Malaya. Throughout the operation, he had no knowledge of which unit he was under. It was only after the Japanese surrender that he found out he belonged to Force 136. His British officer, Col John Davies, told him that due to the good work put in by everyone involved in Operation Gustavus, the Allied Forces had decided to group them into Force 136. Force 136 disbanded when the war was over, but tales of its members’ heroic acts and bravery are legendary, and live on till this day. Chee Beng's start page Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.