Remains of the deadly day
Who would have thought that cycles could win wars? In 1942, during World War II, the Japanese army penetrated Singapore on cycles. The‘Bicycle Blitzkrieg’ navigated uneven roads and broken bridges with such speed that the over-confident British, who thought they were impenetrable on the island, were forced to abandon it in 73 days after the Japanese invasion. The British ran in such a hurry that they left one of their largest bunkers with 26 rooms, built over three years, from 1936 to 1939, almost intact, formally known as The Headquarters Malaya Command Operations or the Battlebox. Located under Fort Canning Hill in Singapore, it’s where Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival decided to surrender Singapore to the Japanese, marking one of the biggest defeats in British military history.
The Battlebox is also the closest one can get to the workings and horrors of the war (September 1939 to September 1945). The narrow, low entrance, leading to the descending stairs, takes you to a time when men in khakhi uniforms, and boots made decisions that cost several thousand lives. Inside the bunker, soldiers were not allowed to venture beyond the rooms. The Orderly room was probably the only one that provided respite from the tense environment of other rooms. Next, the Cipher Office. Coding and decoding messages was a crucial part of the defence of Singapore. It has blackboards with elaborate maps, typewriters and several warnings in forms of posters reminding soldiers to not discuss crucial information with anyone. One poster has a picture of a semi-nude woman surrounded by three men. Its text reads, ‘Keep mum. She’s not so dumb. Careless talk costs lives’.
There is also the Operations Room. It’s here where one really understands the intensity and the pressures of making decisions in a war. The most surreal, however, is the Day Before room. It utilises mapping projections to let the viewers see the strategies of Allied and Japanese forces. You also hear voices of soldiers thinking of their family in anticipation of death and torture once the Japanese infiltrates the bunker. Evidence show they did.
The Battlebox reminds one of the destructions of war, making it a must-visit museum in this divided world.