Fort Siloso: 6-Inch QF Emplacement, No.1
Today, the No.1 6-Inch QF Gun Emplacement on Mount Siloso is not seen as it was when in service at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. During the upgrade of the Fort in the 1930s, the Gun well was filled in, and a small building was built on it. Restoration work carried out in the 1990s sadly meant the removal of the building, but it did not restore the the emplacement to its original condition. The restorers left a good representation of a QF Gun platform.
ABOVE: The No.1 Emplacement. A square shape can be seen in the centre of the platform. This is where the small building was.
Shells would be sent up a hoist from the magazine to a hatch at the rear of the platform. Cartridges containing the propellant charge would come up another hoist to a hatch to the side of the emplacement.
The building once on the No.1 Emplacement once housed instrumentation which supported
that installed in the nearby Battery Observation Post. It is most likely that this small building
was a PF (Position Finding ) Cell.
Pillars for mounting instrumentation in the building.
After the War, this building became a REME Workshop where Harold Dursley worked. He was working in the building when this photo was taken.
The No.1 Emplacement during restoration. The stairs on the right lead in to the side entrance
of the Battery Observation Post.
The Shell hoist on the rear of the Emplacement. The cover that is now over it is not original. Cartridges containing the propellant charge would come up another hoist to a hatch to the
side of the emplacement.
Harold Dursley told me,“In the autumn of 47 I was despatched with 2 large boxes of tools to Fort Siloso with lads from REME, Royal Engineers, Royal Signals and a small group of Royal Artillery tradesmen. We were told to set ourselves up as necessary to support the artillery as required. As the fitter of the group, I decided to move in quickly and set myself with a workshop, The small building was ideal. As we were not given materials, I became an expert at searching through all the old tunnels and magazines for my materials. There were plenty of old packing cases etc., from which I built a bench on which I was working when the photograph was taken”.