Peter Chan guest-blogs on Good Morning Yesterday to bring you Part 7 of the Bukit Timah Heritage Trail – featuring the gun battery at Chestnut Drive, which provided Singapore with anti-aircraft cover during the Confrontation.
I must have been around 9 years old when Confrontation started between Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore was then a part of Malaysia. The British were responsible for the external defense of Malaysia and this included the presence of the military bases such as RAF Tengah (now RSAF Tengah) and RAF Gombak (now MINDEF HQ). To protect British air bases from hostile Indonesian aircrafts, Bofor guns were placed at strategic locations around Singapore, including Changi Beach. This was a low-level air defense umbrella to protect critical military installations. I remembered very well the gun battery site at Chestnut Drive because I happened to live there.
Read about Peter’s memories of the gun battery here.
Tags: Chestnut Drive, Bukit Timah Heritage Trail, Indonesian Confrontation, gun battery
2 Responses
I remember Chestnut Drive very well. I served on 63 (LAA) Squadron, RAF Regt. The 2 airmen in the picture were from ‘B’ Flight. I was on the gun crew (A4) who helped to establish the gun site. We started with tents and ‘modified’ packing crates as ‘living quarters.’ Names such as Sgt ‘Taff’ Jones, Harry Jones, ‘Geordie’ Nichols, ‘Jack’ Minshall were great lads to be with out there. Other sites around the RAF Bukit Gombak radar site were at Bluestone Quarry and at the top of the long flight of steps leading up to the TV Singapura transmission masts. It is my intention to visit Singapore on a nostalgic visit.
Posted on October 11th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Geordie Charlton.I remember this well.I was on C@r Flight and we used to the plotting of incoming aircraft.A few panics but all well in the end.I remember all the above names as well.Regards.
Posted on February 9th, 2011 at 4:07 am
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