Fort Siloso, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
Fort Siloso
Fort Siloso is one of the forts built on Sentosa Island that included Fort Serapong, Fort Connaught and the Mount Imbiah Battery. Of these, only Fort Siloso remains today. The name Siloso is said to be derived from the Filipinon word Seloso, meaning jealous person. Today Fort Siloso is restored and is open as a museum.
As Japan began to emerge as a serious military threat to British interest in the Far East, Britain's Overseas Defence Committee chose Singapore as the site for a naval base. The Overseas Defence Committee had expected that any attack would come from the sea. They therefore put together a strategy that includes a series of 12 coastal artillery batteries. This strategy however was a disastrous mistake because the Japanese later invaded from the north.
