The British had predicted, by late 1930s, that Japan would attack resource-rich South-east Asia following its protracted military hostility towards China. Malaya and Singapore’s geographical locations made them ideal launch pads for Japan to perpetuate its southward expansion ambitions. This kick-started Singapore’s seaward defences in 1936.

WINSTON CHURCHILL,IN HIS EVALUATION OF THE JAPANESE THREAT IN 1939

It (Singapore) could only be taken after a siege by an army of at least 50,000 men... It is not considered possible that the Japanese... would embark upon such a mad enterprise.

A looming threat

Singapore’s governor, Sir Shenton Thomas, was con�dent that the island’s sea, air and land defences were able to repel enemy advancesSINGAPORE DEFENCES – A PSEUDO-FORTRESS

LAND DEFENCES

Ammunition supply• Shells and propellant cartridges are transported on carriages to the gun site

• A steam crane onan adjacent track then lowers the cartridges into the magazines

Davit craneFor manual loading of shells

Cartridge store

Shell store

Exhausts

Clear fumes from

the power room and

maintain air �ow

Power room

ShellsCartridges

Oil store

Dry passageIsolates the underground area from damp earth

Changi Railway tracks2.4km-long tracks transport ammunition from Fairy Point Pier to the three 15-inch guns

Entrance for gun crew

Sources: NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD, NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SINGAPORE, NATIONAL HERITAGE BOARD, FORTSILOSO.COM, PETER W STUBBS, BETWEEN TWO OCEANS: A MILITARY HISTORY OF SINGAPORE FROM 1275 TO 1971, REFLECTIONS & MEMORIES OF WARPHOTOS: IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA, ST FILE STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS: TIEN CHUNG PING, LIM YONG

SEA DEFENCES• Arrived in Singapore on Dec 2, 1941• Comprised two capital ships and four destroyers• Presence served as a deterrent against Japanese aggression

• Opened in 1938 and cost £60m• Designed to protect Singapore from a “back door” attack from sea• The base, a lynchpin in the British defence strategy in the Indian and Paci�c Oceans, held no permanent naval �eet as the plan was to send one down from the Royal Navy’s main �eet in the Atlantic only in the event of a threat

HMS Repulse• Battle cruiser built in 1916• Rehauled between 1936 and 1939• Part of the British Eastern Fleet with the HMS Prince of Wales as the �agship

LengthWeightSpeed

Crew

794 feet (242m)32,000 tons29 knots (54kmh)1,200

6-inch9.2-inch15-inch

Gun size comparison

A brief history of Japan’s march towards imperial supremacy in East Asia and the factors that prompted its military aggression against Singapore and other Asian territories.

1868 to 1869• The Boshin civil war restores power to the Japanese Emperor, ushering in a new imperialism in the country• This kick-starts the country’s modernisation and Westernisation to catch up to the Western powers

1937Second Sino-Japanese War erupts and by 1940 the �ghting is locked in a stalemate

Maximum speedMaximum range

483kmh1,530km

Armament 4 x 7.7mmmachine guns

Brewster Buffalo Fighter

AIR DEFENCESAircraft were outdated, in poor condition and vastly inferior to modern ones such as the Japanese Zero �ghter. Communication and coordination among the British armed forces were also hugely lacking.

FORCE ‘Z’

Maximum speedMaximum range

456kmh1,800km

Armament 2 x 7.7mm machine guns and 454kg bombload

Bristol Blenheim 1 Bomber

1940Sept 22Japan takes control of French Indochina (present-day Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam)Sept 27Japan signs the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy to form the Axis powers

LAOS VIETNAM

SOVIET UNION

KOREA

FORMOSA(TAIWAN)

HONG KONG

PHILIPPINES

JAPAN

SINGAPORE

CHINA

CAMBODIASIAM(THAILAND)

BURMA(MYANMAR)

MALAYA

D U T C H E A S T I N D I E S( I N D O N E S I A )

MANCHURIATerritories occupied or controlled by Imperial Japan

Prior to WWII

During WWII

1941August• Japan is slapped with oil and steel embargos after ignoring US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ultimatum on the withdrawal of its troops from China and French Indochina• This forces the military to look south tothe oil- and rubber-rich Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and British Malaya• War plans are drawn up against theUS Paci�c Fleet at Pearl HarbourDecember• Japan invades Hong Kong

Changi outerAMTB battery*

Fairy PointPier

Changi innerAMTB battery*

Gun 1180° arcof fire

Gun 2

Gun 3

Changibattery

SelarangBarrack

Teloh PalouCamp

280°arcof fire

ChangiRailway

Changi Gaol(prison)

Johorebattery

BetingKusahbattery

TAMPINES ROAD

*Armed with rapid �ring guns designed to engagefast-moving targets such as torpedo or gunboats.

TypeLengthWeight

ElevationRange

Rate of �re(per minute)

Coastal defence gun16.52m101.6 tonnes45 degAbout 34km*

Two rounds

SPECIFICATIONS

*Further if not for the limitation of ranging instrumentation

CHANGI’S MONSTER 15-INCH GUNSThe 15-inch gun emplacements were constructed during the mid-1930s, and the last of the three guns was mounted in 1938. The graphics below depict Gun 3 of the Johore Battery, named in 1935 in recognition of the Sultan of Johore’s contribution of £500,000 to the British government.

Gun crewAbout 20 men

SINGAPORE NAVAL BASE AND THE SINGAPORE STRATEGY

Defence structures and gun batteries, built along Singapore’s coastline, were only partially completed when the Japanese attacked.

Reach of the 15-inch guns

Buona Vistabattery

Batam

I N D O N E S I A

MALAYA

Bintan

Johorebattery

Northern shoreLacking in defence works

Beaches on theeast and south coastsWell forti�ed with barbed wires, pillboxes, anti-tank obstacles and heavy artillery batteries

RAF Tengahairfield

Causeway

Pulau Ubin

Pulau Tekong

Pasir Lababattery

Buona Vistabattery

S I N G A P O R E

MALAYA

Labradorbattery

FortSilingsing

battery

Serapongbattery

KeppelHarbour

BetingKusahbattery

Refer toenlarged areaon the right

Sphinxbattery

Siloso battery

Johorebattery

Fort Connaughtbattery

TekongBesarbattery

Changibattery

Pulau Blakang Mati (Sentosa)

KallangCivil Airport

SingaporeNaval Base

Sembawangairfield

RAFSeletarairfield

Pengerang batteryLocated at the south-eastern tip of Malay Peninsula, it came under the Changi Command

Singapore’s main defences as at Dec 1941The 29 coastal artillery guns wereorganised into two �re commands:

Defended the eastern approach to the Naval BaseGuarded Keppel Harbour against landings on the southern coast

Changi

Faber

Three turrets withtwo 15-inch guns each

12 four-inch guns

Carries four aircraft

Six- to nine-inch armour plate on waterline

Ten 14-inch guns

Carries four aircraft

HMS Prince of Wales• Battleship built in April 1941• Nicknamed “HMS Unsinkable” as she was cladded with the most advanced protective armour

NOTE: The Japanese controlled the sea as well as the air during the Malayan Campaign after the sinking of these two capital ships off the coast of Kuantan, Malaya on Dec 10, 1941.

LengthWeight

739 feet (225m)35,000 tons

SpeedCrew

30 knots (56kmh)1,422

Hoist cage

Breech

Overhead crane

Barrel atloadingposition

Barrel atmaximumelevation

Cartridges on trolleyFour cartridges, each weighing 49kg, make up a full explosive charge for blasting

Shell• Weighs 879kg• Armour-piercing(for use against warships)

Handlingroom

Groundlevel

4

1

2

Hydraulicrammer

3

Cartridges Hoistcage

Shell

1

2

3

4

The hoist cage, containing the shell and cartridges, is lifted though a �ash door.

• It then rotates to a horizontal orientation asit is conveyed up to the breech at the top.• The breech door opens up to receive the ammunition.

A hydraulic rammer pushes the shell, followed by the four cartridges, into the breech.

• The breech door closes and the gun barrel swivels to its pre-determined �ring position and angle.

• The gun is �red remotely, via electric signal, from the Battery Observation Post or manually by a gunner.

FIRING THE GUN