Pasir Panjang Pillbox

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Pasir Panjang Pillbox
Part of World War II-era Defence of Singapore
Singapore
Pasir Panjang Machine-Gun Pillbox 2, Nov 06.JPG
Pasir Panjang Pillbox, here photographed in 2006.
Coordinates1°17′20″N 103°46′41″E / 1.289°N 103.778167°E / 1.289; 103.778167
Site information
Controlled byBritish military (former)
Open to
the public		Yes (externally only; access inside the pillbox is not allowed)
ConditionGood
Site history
Builtpre-WWII
Built byBritish military
MaterialsConcrete (reinforced) and steel
Battles/warsBattle of Pasir Panjang
EventsSecond World War
Garrison information
Current
commander		None
Past
commanders		Unknown
Garrisonoccupied by British military forces in Singapore (former)
OccupantsBritish military (former)

Pasir Panjang Pillbox is a strengthened-concrete defensive structure from WWII, located in Pasir Panjang in the southwestern area of Singapore.

Background and history[]

In advance of the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore between 1941 and 1942 during World War II, a number of concrete-built defensive pillboxes were built along Singapore's eastern and western coasts. These pillboxes had machine guns installed within that could fire in most, if not any, directions. They also housed troops fighting against an enemy force and offered the former adequate protection from return-fire or shelling by their opponents. Typically oriented towards the sea or the shoreline, they were positioned at strategic intervals so that their fields of gunfire (from emplaced machine guns and rifles) would be overlapped against enemy troops, thereby reinforcing each other and covering almost the entire coastline with defensive fire to effectively repel enemy attacks.

This machine gun pillbox at Pasir Panjang is one of the few in Singapore that have survived from the end of WWII to the present day (many others having been demolished, destroyed in battle or simply abandoned and subsequently forgotten). It lies within the area defended by the 1st Malaya Brigade during the battle and may have possibly been used by the British-commanded Malay Regiment in their fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army's (IJA) 18th Division on Pasir Panjang Ridge (renamed as Kent Ridge since the 1950s) nearing the middle February 1942.[1]

Gallery[]

  • The Pasir Panjang Machine Gun Pillbox.

  • An angled defensive-wall behind the pillbox offers protection to those defending the rear of the structure (albeit having little to no protection over their heads without a roof).

  • A memorial plaque established by Singapore's National Heritage Board (NHB) in front of the pillbox commemorating the history of the structure.

  • The memorial plaque's content shown here.

  • The entrance-door into the pillbox, now having been sealed up and access inside prohibited.

  • The rear-area of the pillbox, with square holes placed in the defensive-wall provided to allow troops to fire on approaching enemy soldiers getting too close to entering the structure.

  • The entrance-door shown here together with one of the pillbox's gun embrasures.

  • Two gun embrasures shown together with the rounded observation cupola on the roof of the pillbox.

  • A wide-angle view of the Pasir Panjang Pillbox.

  • Another wide-angle view of the historic structure.

  • The entrance-door of the pillbox with the top of the observation cupola also seen.

  • The front of the pillbox towards which an enemy force would face.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ National Heritage Board, Singapore's 100 Historic Places, p. 122, Archipelago Press, Singapore, 2007.
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