In 1942, the Hong Kong Independent Battalion was established in Sai Kung under the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrillas Force (reorganised to the Dongjiang Column of the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force in 1943). Fighting units were subsequently established in Sai Kung, Sha Tau Kok, Yuen Long, Lantau Island, and urban areas.

During the early stages of the Japanese Occupation, the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column broke through enemy defences, successfully rescuing groups of prominent figures in various sectors, and enabling them to continue contributing to the war of resistance against Japanese aggression. Over the three-year and eight-month dark period, the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column braved life-and-death dangers to engage in combat with the Japanese army, penetrating deep into enemy territories and waters to restrain and attack enemy forces. At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in Yan’an in 1945, Zhu De listed the South China Anti-Japanese Column (of which the Dongjiang Column was a unit) as one of the “mainstays of China’s resistance”.