Our Films
Our Films
Great White Moose is in the progress of researching the for a feature length film “136”. Great White Moose wants to create a feature length film documenting the Canadian contingent of Force 136.
This is the true story of Canadians of Chinese decent during the Second World War. Blatant discrimination was directed towards Canadians of Chinese origin. In the decades preceding the Second World War, many Canadians of Chinese origin were not able to vote and had to register with authorities.
British Special Operations Executive (SOE), a clandestine organization looking to cause espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines was looking for individuals that could become highly trained and inserted behind the enemy lines to cause havoc. Individuals that were indigenous or could understand the local languages and blend in were highly valued.
The Canadian government provided little resistance when the SOE came looking for the unwanted and overlooked Canadian recruits of Chinese origin that were eager to support Canada in the Second World War. A commando training camp was established in Canada and a small group of Canadians of Chinese origin were trained. This training was increased to approximately 150 Canadians of Chinese origin.
These commandos underwent significant specialized training to provide them with the skills inserted by parachuting behind enemy lines, surviving in the jungle, and preforming their important tasks of infiltration and sabotage. Commandos carried cyanide pills to be used if captured, because as SOE agents they were not going to be afforded the same protections as prisoners of war. Captured agents would be interrogated, tortured and killed. Equally as threatening was the jungle that was out to kill those commandos that were living deep within it. The Jungle was easy to become disoriented, and is home to crocodiles, pythons, cobras, tigers and leopards. The jungle was also a source of disease especially malaria.
Why did these Canadians that were subjected to such discrimination and distain in Canada volunteer to serve, and to serve in one of the most dangerous and inhospitable theatres of the Second World War? The reality was that one of the primary motivating factors was that if the Canadian Chinese community would be seen to support Canada and the Dominion alongside the rest of the country that perhaps they may be treated better in the future. Perhaps Canadians of Chinese decent may be able to go to a public schools. Perhaps Canadians of Chinese decent may be able to go to the same schools as white Canadians. Perhaps Canadians of Chinese decent may be able to vote, and perhaps Canadians of Chinese decent may be able to live their life and enjoy many of the things that white people take for granted.
When the war ended, some of these Canadians of Chinese decent were not even provided transportation home, and had to work as deck hands on cargo ships to make their way home to Canada. After the War, it was difficult to inform Canadians of their significant contributions due to the fact that they were sworn to secrecy for 25 years. Yet through persistence, Canadian Chinese gained the right to vote.
This is a difficult part of Canada’s history. This is a part of Canada’s history that perhaps would rather be forgotten, omitted, glazed over due to the honest introspective account of this era is uncomfortable. However it is only through retrospective honestly that cultural indemnification may be achieved against those Canadians of Chinese origin that have weathered the discriminatory transgressions of our shared past.
Despite disfranchisement and blatant discrimination, Chinese men were largely refused at recruiting stations during the Second World War.
One important front of the Second World War was Southeast Asia. The Japanese
had occupied the collapsed British colony of Burma and were advancing on the British colony of India. The Burma campaign was quickly intensifying especially after several failed allied offensives.
