- Joined
- Oct 11, 2010
- Messages
- 12,712
- Reaction score
- 7,467
- Age
- 61
Chinese resistance fighter Lim Bo Seng (born 1909) is regarded as a war hero in the country. When the war broke out in 1937, he and other Chinese in Singapore boycotted Japanese goods and raised funds to support the war effort in China. He and other volunteers put up a fierce fight against the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore.
He went to India where he was trained to fight in the jungle and later recruited resistance fighters for Force 136. Force 136 was a special operations force formed by the British in June 1942 to infiltrate and attack enemy lines.
After Lim Bo Seng had organised everything in China and India, he sent the first batch of Force 136 agents to Japanese-occupied Malaya in 1943 to set up an an intelligence network in the urban areas in Pangkor, Lumut, Tapah and Ipoh. According to historical sources, to avoid detection by the Japanese, secret messages were smuggled in empty tubes of toothpaste, salted fish and even in the Force 136's members' own diaries. To avoid identification by the Japanese, Lim Bo Seng even pretended tp be a businessman at checkpoints. He used the alias Tan Choon Lim. Unfortunately, there were many traitors who led to the downfall of Force 136 and Lim Bo Seng.
Lai Teck, one of Force 136's members who was a triple agent between Force 136, the British and Japanese, betrayed Force 136 and Lim Bo Seng. He leaked out valuable information that allowed the Kempeitai (Japanese secret police) to pick up coded messages from Force 136. This led to the captures of many of the members in Force 136.
Lai Teck, the traitor.
Lai Teck eventually betrayed Lim Bo Seng in March 1944. Lim Bo Seng was captured by the Japanese. Despite being tortured by the Japanese, Lim Bo Seng refused to reveal the names of the people who worked with him against the Japanese.
The fearsome Japanese Kempetai, known to be Japan’s own version of the Gestapo.
In prison, Lim Bo Seng often shared his food with the other prisoners. Due to the lack of food and unhealthy living conditions in the prison, Lim Bo Seng fell ill. On 29 June 1944, he died in Batu Gajah jail in Perak at the age of 35.
Lim was posthumously awarded the rank of Major-General by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China.
On 13 Jan 1946, the British brought Lim’s remains to Singapore and reburied him with full military honours at MacRitchie Reservoir, where his grave still lies today. There is a 3.6-metre-high octagonal pagoda made of bronze, concrete and marble which is the only structure in Singapore that commemorates an individual from WW2.
He went to India where he was trained to fight in the jungle and later recruited resistance fighters for Force 136. Force 136 was a special operations force formed by the British in June 1942 to infiltrate and attack enemy lines.
After Lim Bo Seng had organised everything in China and India, he sent the first batch of Force 136 agents to Japanese-occupied Malaya in 1943 to set up an an intelligence network in the urban areas in Pangkor, Lumut, Tapah and Ipoh. According to historical sources, to avoid detection by the Japanese, secret messages were smuggled in empty tubes of toothpaste, salted fish and even in the Force 136's members' own diaries. To avoid identification by the Japanese, Lim Bo Seng even pretended tp be a businessman at checkpoints. He used the alias Tan Choon Lim. Unfortunately, there were many traitors who led to the downfall of Force 136 and Lim Bo Seng.
Lai Teck, one of Force 136's members who was a triple agent between Force 136, the British and Japanese, betrayed Force 136 and Lim Bo Seng. He leaked out valuable information that allowed the Kempeitai (Japanese secret police) to pick up coded messages from Force 136. This led to the captures of many of the members in Force 136.
Lai Teck, the traitor.
Lai Teck eventually betrayed Lim Bo Seng in March 1944. Lim Bo Seng was captured by the Japanese. Despite being tortured by the Japanese, Lim Bo Seng refused to reveal the names of the people who worked with him against the Japanese.
The fearsome Japanese Kempetai, known to be Japan’s own version of the Gestapo.
In prison, Lim Bo Seng often shared his food with the other prisoners. Due to the lack of food and unhealthy living conditions in the prison, Lim Bo Seng fell ill. On 29 June 1944, he died in Batu Gajah jail in Perak at the age of 35.
Lim was posthumously awarded the rank of Major-General by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China.
On 13 Jan 1946, the British brought Lim’s remains to Singapore and reburied him with full military honours at MacRitchie Reservoir, where his grave still lies today. There is a 3.6-metre-high octagonal pagoda made of bronze, concrete and marble which is the only structure in Singapore that commemorates an individual from WW2.