The other Siloso

Posted by angela under Heritage Sites and Trails
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Fort Siloso Tram

Continuing my Sentosa adventure, I decided to visit the Fort Siloso museum. There’s definitely more to “Siloso” than Siloso Beach, as I learnt from my visit to Fort Siloso. This is no ordinary tourist attraction; it involves a self-guided walking tour during which you’ll see what a soldier’s life was like, and preserved parts of the Fort, as well as pick up interesting history snippets. A tip: comfortable shoes are a definite plus.

First, we were picked up in a little tram (above) which took us up to the actual touring area. On the way, our friendly guide shared with us little snippets about the Fort, as well as some advice on how to go about our tour.

Fort Siloso is divided into 3 sections, where you can see 1)Original tunnel complexes in the fort which now house various re-creations of Fort Siloso’s activities, 2)Re-creations of how the soldiers lived 3)The museum’s large collection of guns (Outdoor), 4)Exhibits on the history of Fort Siloso and World War II.

I decided to check out the guns first. Getting to the guns was not an easy task - I had to tread the wooden platforms in high heels :S (OK, so I wasn’t prepared… -_-) But the sight was worth it.

The walk down… erp :S

This is a Japanese gun, believed to have been used during WWII, found abandoned some time after the war ended.

At the site of the British gun above, you can hear the sounds of a firing re-enactment.
Perhaps during its useful life, the scene would’ve looked like this:

Source: National Archives of Singapore via Wikipedia

An interesting read awaited in the various exhibition rooms…

Force 136 Exhibition room

The Battle for Singapore

Japanese Occupation Exhibition room

Fort Siloso History Exhibition room

The rooms were full of new facts to discover. For example, I found out that Sentosa, in its military days, used to be called Pulau Belakang Mati, which roughly translated from Malay means “The Island of Death from Behind”. There are various stories about the origin of this ominous name; one such story is that it is rooted in the island’s history of piracy.

The casemates below were also an interesting sight, having been build into the hill where Fort Siloso is located so as to better withstand enemy attacks:

There were also various exhibits re-creating the British soldiers’ living quarters:

The cookhouse

The laundry room

The tailor’s shop

Soldiers’ barracks
If you’re wondering about those pieces of cloth on the ceiling of the barracks, they actually act as crude ceiling fans, flapping mechanically to provide some ventilation for the soldiers in our humid weather.

Surrender Chambers
Both WWII Singapore surrenders (neither of which took place at Fort Siloso), are recreated here.

The British surrender in 1942, which took place at the Ford Factory in Bt. Timah.

The Japanese surrender in 1945, which took place at the Municipal Building (now known as City Hall)

However, perhaps the most interesting exhibits in Fort Siloso are its 3 Tunnel Complexes, where scenes from Fort Siloso’s heydays are re-created.

Entrance to Tunnel A complex, the longest tunnel in Fort Siloso

Descending into the tunnel…

The tunnels are a unique experience. Perhaps the most authentic fort setting, they are exactly what you would expect military tunnels to be - narrow, stuffy and a little dusty - and definitely a must go at Fort Siloso.
I was rewarded with several interesting sights…

Not exactly exhibits per se, this team of NUS archaeologists are currently processing and studying exhibits excavated from Sentosa grounds in a bid to discover local heritage and develop Fort Siloso as a historical site.

And I found a “hole in the wall”…

Where does it lead to?

Oh, it’s a ladder leading up!

The smaller tunnels have some interesting exhibits as well…

Ammunition hoists re-created (Tunnel C Complex)

All in all, there is lots to see at Fort Siloso, but be prepared to do some walking! Perhaps if you are lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the odd peacock preening:

Hehehe…. ^_^