Fort Siloso Singapore

Legendary

Built by the British, it played an important role defending Singapore in WWII.

Photo by Michael Spencer

There's a famous story that Singapore's big coastal guns pointed out to sea and couldn't turn around when the Japanese attacked from land. It isn't true.

Most of these guns could swing almost all the way around. During the fighting in February 1942, the gunners at Fort Siloso turned them inland and fired at Japanese troops advancing across the island.

The fort sits on the western tip of an island now called Sentosa. Its older name was Pulau Blakang Mati, which means "Island Behind Death" in Malay.

Britain built the fort to protect Singapore's harbour. Trade had exploded after the Suez Canal opened in 1869, and the port needed defending.

Work began in 1878 on a hill called Mount Siloso. Engineers actually blew the top off the hill to create a flat platform for the guns.

By the 1880s the guns were in place. Bigger ones arrived in the 1890s and again in the 1930s.

Fort Siloso was one of three forts on the island and one of twelve around Singapore. It's the only one that survives today.

During the battle for Singapore in February 1942, the fort was one of the busiest gun positions on the island. Its guns also blew up nearby oil refineries so the Japanese couldn't capture the fuel.

Then, at 5 a.m. on 14 February 1942, British soldiers destroyed their own guns. Singapore surrendered the next day.

Under Japanese occupation, the fort became a prisoner-of-war camp holding British and Australian soldiers. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the British took it back and used it to hold Japanese prisoners instead.

The guns stopped being useful in 1957, and the fort passed to Singapore in 1967. It became a museum in 1974, and in 2022 it was named a Singapore National Monument.

Walk the Skywalk, a raised path through the treetops leading to the fort with views across the strait. Explore the underground tunnels where ammunition and supplies were stored. Visit the Surrender Chambers, where wax figures recreate both the British surrender in 1942 and the Japanese surrender in 1945.