Dalforce Dalforce , or the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti - Japanese Volunteer Army ( 星华义勇军 ; " Xinghua Yi Yong Jun " ) was an irregular forces / guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II . Its members were recruited among the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore . It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force . The unit was known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce , after its chief instructor and commanding officer , John Dalley , whereas the Chinese in Singapore only knew it as the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti - Japanese Volunteer Army . This formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and some members conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation . The British noted how ferociously the Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought , earning them the nickname " Dalley ' s Desperadoes " . Origins . Dalley had suggested creating a guerrilla network in 1940 , but it was not until about a year later , when the Japanese invasion was imminent , did it become apparent that the official recruitment of the local Chinese against the Japanese was essential . The British Government relented and on 25 December 1941 , Dalforce was officially established , ignoring the fact that the existing Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti - Japanese Volunteer Army had been in existence under Chinese leadership since at least 1939 . John Dalley , together with his fellow British officers , began training in Johore in mid - January 1942 with a force of 200 men . By the time the Japanese invaded , Dalforce numbered 4 , 000 resistance fighters . Due to the divided leadership between the Communist Chinese and the Kuomintang , the army was divided into two sections . One is the Singapore Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army , which was mainly Communist and under direct command of Lieutenant - Colonel Dalley , and the smaller Guomindang Overseas Chinese Guard Force under the command of Chinese Nationalist Major Hu Tie Jun . Both sections comprised a total strength not exceeding 1 , 500 men , and the Overseas Chinese Guard Force was also trained by British officers . Ian Morrison , the Malayan correspondent for " The Times " in 1942 , also noted that they were “ trained , and placed in formations according to their political sympathies . There was one school where the Kuomintang adherents were trained , another where the Communists were trained . ” Development . Dalforce was not issued uniforms worn by Commonwealth troops . Instead , they had to wear tailored clothing and bandana s to prevent friendly fire . A few men tied a piece of red cloth to their right arms and a yellow one around their heads to reflect the unity of the Overseas Chinese with the Republic of China and Chinese tradition s . Most were issued Lee Enfield No . I Mk . III rifles , bayonet s and about 7 - 20 bullets each for those in the Communist wing and 24 bullets for those in the Chinese Nationalist wing . Only a small number wielded grenades and Bren light machine gun s . Others had to carry weapons used for hunting animals , such as sporting rifles and parang s . Military training lasted up until the Japanese invaded Singapore . Female members were given the responsibility of simple tasks like first aid , cooking , relaying messages and other menial tasks . The British actually intended to fully equip the troops in preparation for the invasion . This became impossible when the liner SS " Empress of Asia " , which carried the vital supplies for the men , was sunk by Japanese aircraft while on its way to Singapore from Bombay . According to officer Frank Brewer , the standard issue for each soldier would have been a combat shotgun , seven rounds of ammunition and two grenades . Training was also conducted at the SOE 101 Special Training School in Singapore , to prepare another unit of local Chinese for jungle warfare in Malaya in December 1941 . But because it was no longer possible to deploy them to Malaya , many were incorporated into Dalforce . Disposition of companies . Dalforce had a total of five companies in Singapore , each containing about a hundred troops : Combat History . Dalforce volunteers were deployed to the frontline on 5 February . They fought at Sarimbun Beach , Bukit Timah , as well as the Woodlands and Kranji areas . They were mostly used to patrol mangrove swamp s where enemy landings might be made . A Dalforce unit was also attached to the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade which took part in the Battle of Pasir Panjang . Company No . 1 , stationed at the end of Jurong Road was involved in action even before the invasion , repulsing two waves of Japanese patrol boats . In the first incident , the patrol boats retreated after taking fire . On the next day , the night of 6 February 1942 , the company exchanged fire with about thirty Japanese soldiers , but was also involved in friendly fire with the 44th Indian Brigade while both were retreating along the lower areas of the Jurong river . Company No . 2 ' s first military engagement also occurred on the night of 6 February 1942 . The company ’ s first and second platoons were able to repulse an approaching group of Japanese rubber boats ( each carrying one soldier ) , sinking three out of five of the rafts . They later returned with motorized rubber rafts , but were discovered and attacked by both the Australians and Dalforce , and were forced to retreat . Over sixty men ( out of about 150 ) from the company managed to survive the initial Japanese landings on the night of 8 February by retreating down Lim Chu Kang Road and then swimming across the tributaries of the Kranji river to make it to Choa Chu Kang Road . Madam Cheng Seang Ho , nicknamed the legendary " Passionaria of Malaya " ( after the passionaria of the Spanish Civil War ) , fought the Japanese at Bukit Timah together with her husband . Both were over 60 years of age when they volunteered , making their last stand at Bukit Timah heights exchanging fire with the Japanese from behind trees . Madam Cheng and her husband ’ s heroics at Bukit Timah earned them a certificate of recognition in 1948 , signed by Lieutenant - Colonel Dalley himself . Madam Cheng ' s husband was later captured and subsequently executed by the Kempeitai . The unit suffered severe casualties due to lack of training , equipment and armament . The Japanese despised Dalforce bitterly , deciding to use them as an excuse for their treatment of the Chinese population , although this behaviour was instigated by the Kempeitai rather than by Lieutenant - General Tomoyuki Yamashita . End of Dalforce . On 13 February 1942 , two days before General Arthur Percival ' s surrender of Singapore , Dalley assembled Dalforce troops at Kim Yam Road Headquarters and ordered them to disband . The surviving members were each paid ten Straits dollar s for their services . Dalforce is estimated to have suffered 300 casualties , of which 134 known killed were compiled by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1956 . Many men and women would be captured , tortured and executed in the Sook Ching massacre for their involvement in Dalforce . Quite a number of veterans were able to escape to India after Singapore fell . Others fled into the jungles and joined up with the Malayan Peoples ' Anti - Japanese Army during the occupation . After the war , Lieutenant - General Arthur Percival , who was General Officer Commanding Malaya , originally disparaged the Chinese community in his dispatch es for not assisting the British enough during the invasion . He later changed his opinion in his book , " The War in Malaya " , after his dispatches circulated in Singapore , causing an outcry among the local Chinese . He praised Dalforce , but still maintained that it had little impact in the battle . John Dalley was one of several key personnel who was ordered to be evacuated from Singapore before its capitulation . He boarded a forty - foot Royal Navy motor launch known as the Mary Rose at Keppel Harbour , where it would sail to Palembang , Sumatra , part of the Dutch East Indies . The Mary Rose , commanded by veteran naval officer Captain George Mulock DSO , RN left Singapore a little before midnight on 14 February . However , they were caught by two Japanese patrol vessels and were forced to surrender . Dalley survived the war , and submitted a positive report on the unit in 1945 - 46 . Media . Dalforce has appeared in the SBC 1984 television series The Awakening and the MediaCorp 2001 drama , A War Diary .