Lim Bo Seng was held in high regard by the British and other members of Force 136 for his patriotism, leadership and organizational abilities. After receiving training from the British in India, the men of Force 136 were allocated into Malaya through submarine in groups. Lim Bo Seng was ill at that time, having just gone for an operation in India before arriving in Malaya.

Following the surrender of the Japanese in Malaya in September 1945, the accolades for Lim Bo Seng began to flow in. The british cluster after their disastrous capitulation and plans were afoot to regain their lost territories. However, they lacked intelligence on the Japanese troops in Malaya and this could only be reminded if they had a good intelligence network on the ground. With Lim Bo Seng’s help, the British joined forces with Nationalist China to recruit and train the Force 136 members, which consist of overseas Malayan Chinese. The first team, Gustavus, departed for Malayan on 11th May 1943 and landed in Tanjong Hantu on the 24th. Following groups were landed along the west coast of Malaya. Later on, in the war, Force 136 members were landed into various Malayan States.

Lim Bo Seng was then captured and tortured by the Japanese military police for not revealing the names of leaders who work with him.