Captain R.K. Cheng
Born on 16 May 1915 Roger Kee Cheng went on to graduate as an electrical engineer from McGill University in 1938, be commissioned as the first Chinese-Canadian officer in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in 1941, and serve in Borneo as a member of the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) component of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1945.
Second-Lieutenant Cheng began his officer training on 3 October 1941, probably at the Officer Training Centre in Brockville , Ontario Kingston , Ontario
Lt Cheng was then posted to the Canadian Signals Experimental Establishment (CSEE) in Ottawa, and promptly attached to the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC), and seconded to the Master General of Ordnance (MGO) Branch of the Director of Electrical and Communications Design (DECD). On 1 October, 1943 he was made an Acting Captain. On 27 May 1944, he ceased his attachment and secondment, and was taken on strength of No. 11 District Depot in British Columbia
From 28 May until 26 August, 1944, at which time he started five days embarkation leave, it is probable that Lt Cheng, was a member of an original group of Chinese-Canadians who became known as the Kendall Group, and underwent special training in British Columbia 's Okanagan Valley
On 3 September, 1944, having finished his embarkation leave, Lt Cheng was promoted Captain, and posted to the "Q List", signifying that he was now officially on loan to the British forces. While details of his activities between then and 6 August, 1945, are sketchy, indications are that he, and five other Chinese-Canadians were landed, on that date, in Sarawk, in northern Borneo, by Catalina Flying Boat Upon arrival, the group joined a small British team which was gathering information on the movements of the Japanese as well as about conditions in prison camps in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, where about 25,000 British prisoners of war were being held. The day after the team landed, the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan Australia
On 31 October, 1945, Capt Cheng was attached for all purposes from the SRD to. No 1 Canadian Special Wireless Group, a signals intelligence organization that had arrived in McMillan's Road Camp, Darwin, Australia on 18 April, 1945. He returned to Canada
On 7 March, 1946, Roger Kee Cheng was discharged from the Canadian Army.
http://annkitsuet-chinchan.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/captain-roger-cheng.html My grand dad and Dad were eye witness to the Allied forces led by a Canadian Chinese Captain know to the locals as Captain Fong. But by the description, I wonder if Captain Fong was an alias. He was a big hero to the people of Sarawak.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a book with one chapter on the second world war.
From China to Borneo to Beyond.
do you have any contact address to the descendants of Captain Cheng, so I can tell them what a big hero he was.
ReplyDeleteRoger Cheng was recruited by Francis Woodley (Mike) Kendall into Force 136 for Operation Oblivion, a Special Operations Executive mission to insert a special operations team of Chinese Canadians into the Hong Kong region by submarine from Australia. The team underwent initial training at a temporary secret camp on Lake Okanagan north of Penticton, BC — today called Commando Bay.
ReplyDeleteThe Oblivion team underwent further training in Australia. However, when they were ready to be inserted into the Hong Kong area, their mission was cancelled because the Americans didn't want a British intelligence team in, what was at that time, their area of operations.
Of the original Oblivion team, Roger Cheng, Roy Chan, Louey King, Norm Low, and James Shiu were reassigned to Z Force, Special Operations Australia for Operation Hippo. They were inserted by by RAAF Catalina into Sarawak on the Rajang River near Kapit on August 11, 1945.
Further details about Roger Cheng and his activities with Force 136 and in Sarawak, can be found in Marjorie Wong's book, "The Dragon and the Maple Leaf: Chinese Canadians in World War II".
Note that at the end of the war, there were not 25,000 British prisoners of war in Kuching. The population of the Batu Lintang camp in Kuching upon liberation was 2,024: 1,392 PoWs, 395 male civilian internees, 237 civilian women and children: https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5413370. These captives were a mix of nationalities, not all British.
Many thanks
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