28 March 2021
Other than Fort Siloso which has been restored for public visiting, there were a few other forts on the island of Sentosa. One of these was Fort Serapong, located at the top of a hill near Sentosa Cove. Now a popular tourist attraction, Sentosa had a dark past and was once named 'Pulau Blakang Mati', the island of death, and had been instrumental in the defence of Singapore in WWII. I had visited this fort twice, once on my own as well as together with an organised tour.
History
From the early 19th century, the hills of Siloso and Serapong, standing watch over the western and eastern approaches to Singapore respectively, had been identified as suitable sites for military fortifications. Mount Serapong was also the highest point on Blakang Mati (Sentosa), reaching 92 metres at its summit. In the early 1880s, the British War Office approved a new battery on Serapong, which became operational in 1887.
During World War II, Serapong Spur Battery was bombed by the Japanese in January 1942 and one of its 6-inch guns was damaged. The battery was manned at the time by gunners of the Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery, but its war diaries did not record any firing on Japanese targets, unlike the batteries of Siloso and Connaught. Over the last two days before capitulating to the Japanese on 15 February, British engineers destroyed the battery and its guns. Adapted from: https://www.roots.gov.sg/places/places-landing/Places/landmarks/Sentosa-Heritage-Trail---Forts/Fort-Serapong
Exploring Fort Serapong
1400 | Head up to Fort Serapong |
1430 | Explore the casement, gun emplacement, observation post and command post |
1445 | Explore a building without a roof |
1400 | Head up to Fort Serapong
We made a trip down to the island of Sentosa, then took a bus to Sentosa Cove. From there we walked along the main road then up a slip road - Serapong Hill Road which led uphill towards the service reservoir. We soon spotted a cluster of ruins to the left of the road with a signpost detailing the history of Fort Serapong. The ruins were in a derelict state, with broken concrete walls stacked precariously on top of each other. I carefully weaved through the fallen concrete walls to access the interior, praying that the walls will not fall and crush me. There seemed to be a number of storage compartments along the side walls. To the right of the ruins was stairs leading down to an open underground area, surrounded by a number of rooms. As the steps of the stairs were all broken, we could no longer access this area without additional equipment.
1430 | Explore the casemate, gun emplacement, observation post and command post
We continued uphill along Serapong Hill Road passing a row of refurbished storerooms, that were once barracks and dining halls for the fort. Near the end of the road, we entered through a forest trail and soon came upon the main area of Fort Serapong. In front of us was the casemate, a long building with individual rooms built into the side of the hill. I entered one of the rooms, and at the back was a locked door that seemed to lead even deeper into the fortress.
Passed the row of casemates was a huge circular indent in the ground, the now empty space used to be the gun emplacement for 9.2 in guns in the 1900s. Next to it was a building, likely the observation post. During my 2nd visit with the tour group, we were led to visit the interior of this post. The walls in the interior was painted light blue and it had 2 levels with long rectangular slit windows. The walls seemed to be riddled with holes, a fierce battle must have ensued.
The fort had deep trenches dug around for the soldiers to travel within the fort. Further down was an open space that had a partial view of the surrounding seas. We took a short breather while admiring this scene. We continued along the trail to a building entirely covered with tree roots, as if entangled in a web of roots. It was quite an interesting sight and showed the resilience of plants to adapt and conform to their surroundings. This was likely the command post. Walking to the back of the building we saw an entrance into the small room, the window slits were partially obscured by the roots. The end of the trail brought us back to the casemate.
1445 | Explore a building without a roof
Back on the main road we followed a flight of steps up to an old abandoned building. The building was missing a roof and in its place was tendrils and branches hanging down from the trees overhead. It had an odd kind of charm. We left the old fort and spend the rest of the day enjoying the sea breeze at Sentosa Cove, a modern upscale residential area, a stark contrast to the old forgotten fort.
My Thoughts
Compared to the refurbished Fort Siloso, the forgotten Fort Serapong had more of a raw kind of charm and a reminder of the war times now long past. It is somehow uncanny that an island with such a dark past is now a popular tourist attraction with flashy theme parks and high-end residential estates.
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