The Battle Box
Headquarters Malaya Command Operations Bunker 地下指挥中心博物馆 | |
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Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival |
The Battle Box is the popular name of the Fort Canning Bunker, formerly known as Headquarters Malaya Command Operations Bunker, constructed under
History
Given its position in the western Pacific ocean, Singapore had long been recognised as being strategically important for the
Fort Canning Hill was used by the British Army as their headquarters in Singapore, with a number of buildings built for this purpose in the 1920s. However, the lack of a headquarters combining all three services present in Singapore – the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force – was appreciated in 1936 by the then Colonel Arthur Percival, the Chief of Staff to General Dobbie, 'General Officer Commanding, Malaya'. To remedy this, a Combined Operations Headquarters was proposed for Fort Canning.[3]
Construction
Fort Canning Hill is a small hill in the
Located nearly 30 feet beneath the hill, the Fort Canning Bunker, also known as the Headquarters Malaya Command Operations Bunker,[6] was constructed in 1936 and completed by 1941. Sources vary as to the number of rooms in the bunker; one states 22,[7] while another, authored by the journalist who rediscovered the Battle Box, claims 29 rooms.[3] The bunker was constructed with one metre thick (3 feet) reinforced concrete walls to withstand direct hits from bombs and shells.[7] The complex included a telephone exchange connected to all military and most civilian switchboards in Malaya,[8] various signals and operations rooms, sleeping quarters and latrines. The bunker also included a cipher room for coding and decoding messages, but by the time of the fall of Malaya, this work had been shifted elsewhere and the cipher room was used as sleeping quarters.[9] The Commander of Fixed Defences, Brigadier Curtis, co-ordinated the coastal artillery strikes on naval targets from the bunker.[10]
World War Two
By 1941, the bunker was considered to be too small for its intended use.
The Japanese invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941 by moving south through Siam (now known as
The Sime Road location had to be abandoned during the Battle of Kranji,[15] with Lieutenant-General Percival shifting the Combined Operations Headquarters to Fort Canning Bunker on 11 February 1942.[16] By the latter stages of the battle for Singapore, the Japanese were bombing the Central Area of Singapore, including Fort Canning Hill, at will. Fort Canning Hill was also within range of the Japanese artillery, forcing personnel into the bunker. There were around 500 officers and men in the bunker in the latter stages of the battle.[17]
The decision to surrender Singapore was made by Lieutenant-General Percival in a meeting on the morning of 15 February 1942. Held in the 'Commander, Anti-Aircraft Defence Room' of the bunker,[18] a number of senior officers were in attendance, including Generals Bennett, Heath and Simmons. With diminishing water supplies, and no viable options for launching a counterattack, the decision was made to seek terms with the Japanese.[19]
The Fort Canning Bunker was later occupied by Japanese forces during the
Present day
After the war, Fort Canning Hill was again used by the British as the Singapore Base District Headquarters. The British handed over Fort Canning to the
The Fort Canning Bunker was developed into a museum depicting the final days of the Battle of Singapore. The museum, called the Battle Box, was formally opened on 15 February 1997, on the 55th anniversary of the surrender of Singapore.[22]
The Battlebox reopened to the public on 15 February 2024, operated by non-profit arts and culture organisation Global Cultural Alliance, who were awarded a contract by the National Parks Board on 20 February 2023 after an open tender. Admission to the Battlebox is currently free for all visitors. While admission is free, visitors will be charged if they wish to enjoy some of the enhancements such as an audio tour. To ensure the historical accuracy of its experiences, Global Cultural Alliance has put together an advisory team led by independent curator Tan Teng Teng, who was involved in establishing The Battlebox as a museum when it first opened to the public in 1997. [24]
See also
- Battle of Singapore
- Fort Canning
- Singapore strategy
Notes
- ^ McIntyre, 1979, p. 19–23
- ^ Elphick, 1995, p. 15
- ^ a b Bose, 2005, p. 40
- ^ Warren, 2002, p. 2
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 39
- ^ Heng, Wong. "Fort Canning Bunker (Battlebox)". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board Singapore. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ a b Smith, 2005, p. 22
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 45
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 48-49
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 60-61
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 70
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 74
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 87
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 92
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 101
- ^ Warren, 2002, p. 247
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 17
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 64
- ^ Elphick, 1995, p. 355
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 120
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 54
- ^ a b Bose, 2005, p. 127
- ^ Bose, 2005, p. 23-36
- ^ https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/free-entry-to-the-battlebox-in-fort-canning-park-from-oct-2023
References
- Bose, Romen (2005). Secrets of the Battlebox: The History and Role of Britain's Command HQ in the Malayan Campaign. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions. ISBN 978-981-261-064-5.
- Elphick, Peter (1995). Singapore: The Pregnable Fortress: A Study in Deception, Discord and Desertion. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-34061-316-5.
- McIntyre, W. David (1979). The Rise and Fall of the Singapore Naval Base. Cambridge Commonwealth series. London: MacMillan Press. ISBN 0-33324-867-8.
- Smith, Colin (2005). Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-91341-1.
- Warren, Alan (2001). Singapore 1942: Britain's Greatest Defeat. Singapore: Talisman. ISBN 978-981-04-5320-6.