Johnson, Eugene Morris: my Army recollections (April 29, 1983)
PublicAn interview/narrative of Eugene Morris Johnson's experiences during World War II. Captain Johnson served with the Malacca Volunteers, the Canadian Intelligence Corps and Special Operations Executive, Force 136. Interview took place on April 29, 1983.
Interviewee: Johnson, Eugene Morris
Interviewer: Stafford, David A. T.
Rank: Captain.
ABSTRACT: Capt. Eugene Morris Johnson Malacca Volunteers Canadian Intelligence Corps Special Operations Executive, Force 136 Johnson_E_0085_01.mp3 (Tape 1, a ninety-minute cassette with fifty-one page transcript) Johnson was educated in Victoria, then sent to a job in a rubber plantation (Dunlop's) in Malaya, arriving on New Year's 1936/37. He describes his work and experiences in the position of assistant manager of a rubber plantation. He joined the militia, becoming a sergeant in command of a section of Vickers machine guns. Among the first in action against the Japanese at the Pahang River in northern Malaysia, they were quickly outflanked and started a retreat which ended in the defence of Singapore. A member of an official escape party he was transported to Sumatra on Feb. 14, 1942, then to Java, and by passenger-liner (bombed, but not sunk) to Australia. Some discussion follows about feelings of defeat and humiliation suffered by the white man which effectively opened the eyes of the indigenous peoples. He returned to Canada where he was put through basic training again before his posting to the Japanese Language School in Vancouver. Johnson_E_0085_02.mp3 He comments on the effectiveness of the school's one-year course, instructors, etc., and the treatment of Japanese-Canadians. He was commissioned upon graduation and sent to India. He describes the Canadian "mutiny" at the jungle warfare training camp in Poona. In Aug. 1945 he was sent to Malaysia where he joined Force 136. He returned to Pahang, where he had been before the war, as part of the British administration. He makes considerable comments on the Malayan People's Army (Chinese) who were a well-organized guerrilla force. Many were disarmed, but by no means all, by purchasing arms and ammunition for gold and/or food. He sympathized with the M.P.A. and did not like to see the old colonial government methods being reinstated by both the British and the Malays. However, the latter, with a good deal of British aid, were able to keep the lid on communist aspirations for the time being, although serious trouble broke out in a few years. In retrospect he was glad that he did not stay in Malaysia after the war.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 48.4359, -123.35155
- One original sound cassette (ca. 90 min. ) : standard, mono. in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- JEM_085
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/david-stafford-fonds
- June 12, 2007
- Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 22 kHz. In .mp3 format at 64 kbps and 22 kHz. Digitized by AN, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Transferred from audio reel to audio cassette between 1987-1997. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2007. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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