FORT SILOSO
1878 - 1942
Royal Artillery
Cap Badge
Fort Siloso is a coastal artillery battery and one of the twelve coastal batteries which made up ‘Fortress Singapore’ at the start of World War Two. Although there are remains of other batteries to be found on Singapore, Fort Siloso is the sole restored battery. ‘Siloso’ is a Philippine word meaning ‘Jealous Person’.
Fort Siloso is located on western tip of the island of Sentosa (formerly called Blakang Mati — the ‘Island behind the Dead’) which is just south of Singapore Island. The Fort is one of four coastal gun batteries which were constructed on Blakang Mati by the British.
Fort Siloso on Google Earth. If you have Google Earth, there are links throughout the website which lead to Google Earth images. If you do not have Google Earth, the free download is at Google Earth Download. A broadband connection is required for Google Earth.
Of necessity this site contains many photographs. Please be patient as they download. Images with a white border can be clicked on to show a large version, many of which display extra information.
The photographs in this website have been taken over a period of years and this shows in the different colour schemes applied to buildings as seen throughout the site.
bbs.stardestroyer.net
For those contributors to the discussion on bbs.stardestroyer.net about the Defence of Singapore 1941-42.
Of the 6-Inch Batteries in Singapore and on Pengerang, only the Changi 16° Battery and the Sphinx 45° Battery had no overhead concrete cover. The Changi Battery, atop Gun Hill, where the airport radar now is, was probably without cover to enable the guns to traverse to follow targets up the Straits toward Sembawang. The Sphinx Battery on Pulau Tekong had the more modern Mk25/Mk5 Gun/Shield combination which enclosed the gunners, therefore did not require this cover. The concrete cover was nor very thick and was put up some time after 1939 to provide an element of cover the the gunners. It was nothing like the cover provided to the German guns along the Normandy coastline.
The No.2 Gun Emplacement on Serapong was hit by a Japanese bomb on the 18th January 1942. The gun itself was destroyed along with the overhead cover, the gun being replaced from Reserve. The Pasir Laba Battery was put out of action by Japanese bombing and shell-fire on 9th February 1942. The 9.2-Inch and 15-Inch Batteries did not have overhead cover.
About This Website
The website is not an official one, but is approved by the Sentosa Leisure Group who own the Fort. Their assistance with information and photographs is much appreciated. If you can provide any additional information about the Fort, or can help to eliminate any errors, please e-mail me.
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