The Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) was a communist guerrilla army that resisted the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1941 to 1945 in World War II. Composed mainly of ethnic Chinese guerrilla fighters, the MPAJA was the largest anti-Japanese resistance group in Malaya. Founded during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the MPAJA was conceived as a part of a combined effort by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the British colonial government, alongside various smaller groups to resist the Japanese occupation. Although the MPAJA and the MCP were officially different organisations, many saw the MPAJA as a de facto armed wing of the MCP due to its leadership being staffed by mostly ethnic Chinese communists. Many of the ex-guerrillas of the MPAJA would later form the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and resist a return to pre-war the normality of British rule of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960).
British Brigadier J J McCully inspects men of the 4th Regiment of the MPAJA guerrillas at Johor Bahru after the end of war in 1945.
MPAJA guerrillas marching through the streets of Johor Bahru during their disbandment ceremony in December 1945.
Thousands of MPAJA guerrillas during their disbandment ceremony in Kuala Lumpur after the end of war in 1945.
Force 136
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Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Oriental Mission in April 1942. The man in overall charge for the duration of its existence was Colin Mackenzie.
Two Force 136 operatives, Tan Chong Tee and Lim Bo Seng, during their commando training in India with the SOE. Both, along with other Force 136 operatives under the Operation Gustavus were later dispatched via submarine into Malaya to set up an espionage network in Malaya and Singapore.