Xpidemix visited Fort Siloso to have a closer look at the decommissioned coastal artillery battery in Sentosa, Singapore. It consists of 12 such batteries which made up “Fortress Singapore” at the start of World War II, and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. We are joined by one of our Bolt Action player Rudy who gave us a short tour and flourished us with historical facts of the site!
As part of the planned fortifications, Mount Siloso’s top was blown off to flatten it for the installation of coastal-artillery gun platforms. By the 1880s, several gun batteries were located on Mount Siloso and Mount Serapong (facing north towards mainland Singapore on Sentosa’s northern coast) on Pulau Blakang Mati, becoming a stronghold of British naval defences in Singapore.
The British developed and intoduced the 25 pounder Howitzer gun in the late 1930s as a new artillery weapon combining functionalities of the gun and howitzer. It could operate as a field gun, firing direct at visible targets and as a howitzer by shooting over obstacles. It remained in British service until 1967 when it was relegated to training units.
There were other guns seen here at Fort Siloso… so we will not reveal any spoilers. Exploring the various tunnels, bunkers and command posts will give you a glimpse of the past and the kind of enviroment it was back in the day.
Fort Siloso was then converted into a military museum in 1974, displaying its history and various naval guns. Other coastal guns (both British and Japanese) from different parts of Singapore, such as a pair of Japanese naval cannons discovered and brought over from Mandai, were put here for display. It had previously held the display of the British surrender of Singapore in February 1942 until its relocation to the former Ford Motor Factory (the actual site of the British surrender) in Bukit Timah in February 2006.
Fort Siloso was gazetted as a national monument on 15 February 2022.
