This drawing belongs to part of a collection of artefacts related to the World War II underground resistance movement known as Force 136. The collection of materials was gathered by Tan Chong Tee (1916- 2012), who was a key member of this resistance group. The collection consists of original materials belonging to Tan and other members of Force 136 dating from the 1940s to new materials reproduced from memory by Tan Chong Tee, which date from mid 1990s to early 2000s. Force 136 was set up in July 1942 as part of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). It recruited and trained local guerrillas to gather intelligence and create an underground spy network to support planned British invasion of Japanese-occupied Malaya.This painting depicts the prelude to the attack at Pangkor Island by Force 136 and is executed from memory by Tan Chong Tee.
