The remarkable story behind the secret Canadian guerilla force you've never heard of

Résumé détaillé

It's 1944. Britain's secretive Special Operations Executive decides it wants to build a covert force to send into Japanese-occupied Asia. Needing soldiers who can blend in — with language skills — they ask Chinese Canadians. Despite being originally barred due to racism, about 150 said yes.

Brent G. Hoy's father, Charles Hoy, didn't talk much about what he did during the Second World War.

It wasn't just that it was difficult. He also was part of a covert Chinese Canadian force, sworn to secrecy.

Force 136, part of Britain's Special Operations Executive, was trained in espionage, guerilla warfare and jungle survival for parachute deployment behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia.

These soldiers wore a Canadian uniform and were prepared to sacrifice their lives, despite being shunned by their country, both in law and daily discrimination.

"Fighting for a country that really didn't want you, but nevertheless having that deep sense to contribute," Hoy said of his father.

That complicated legacy is being spotlighted in a black and white photograph selected by Canada Post for a new stamp, to commemorate the country's military history.

It shows 10 out of about 150 Chinese Canadian soldiers who served the Allied war effort with Force 136 and, after the war was won in 1945, came home to become part of a broader push to change how their community was treated. In 1947, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed and the entrenched racism Chinese Canadians experienced began to shift.

It was a double victory, says Catherine Clement, a historian and curator whose work excavates stories of the Chinese Canadian experience.

"Helping the Allies win the war, but also helping the Chinese community to win the right, like equal rights, full rights of citizens of Canada".

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