Operation Cleeves, SOE's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy in Thailand

by Kathleen Reid-Smith

Southern Thailand, 1941. This is the story of Operation Cleeves. A daring and long forgotten SOE Far East mission, where a handful of tin miners risked their lives fighting against the onslaught of Japan on the eve of World War Two in Southeast Asia. Using declassified documents, previously undiscovered records and extensive original research, Kate Reid-Smith provides an intimate yet harrowing look into a most secret and turbulent operation shrouded in mystery. Where vivid and powerful accounts of tremendous courage in the face of resilience and redemption, uncovers how an eclectic mix of European civilians and Indian soldiers all marooned amid danger, violence and bloodshed, were suddenly confronted by unspeakable survival choices, as the circumstances of war catapulted them into an unimaginable world of horrific atrocities. Some of their stories are told for the very first time in this revelatory book, uncovering perilous undertakings requiring daring and sang-froid bravery, and how using only their wits for survival, all bore the full brunt of Japan’s initial invasion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2025

Reviews

[Wayne Abrahamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Operation Cleeves, SOE’s Forgotten Wartime Tragedy in Thailand (2025), Kate Reid-Smith provides a well-written narrative behind a forgotten-about Special Operations Executive (SOE) mission on the eve of World War Two in Southeast Asia. Using declassified documents, recently discovered records, and extensive research, Reid-Smith reveals what happened to a collection of European civilians, mostly tin miners, and Indian soldiers stranded in southern Thailand during Japan’s invasion of the Malay peninsula and their drive on Singapore. While uncovering, and presenting, the bravery of these victims, most of whom the SOE recruited to deny the Japanese access to Thailand’s vital tin mines as a form of economic, and irregular, warfare, Reid-Smith skillfully explores the reason behind the tragic loss of those civilians and Indian soldiers. That reason centered around the hesitancy of the British traditional military hierarchy in southeast Asia to receive, properly execute, and use a new concept of warfare. Kate Reid-Smith’s work is an informative read, and a must-have for any reader, researcher, or historian intent on understanding the beginnings of British special, or irregular, warfare operations in World War Two.
Wayne Abrahamson, US Navy (ret.) and author of Black Silver, Sergeant Dooley and The Submarine Raiders, and The Martian Sentence.