The Big Picture
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THE BIG PICTURE 22 23 PRE-SAF HISTORY Kuldip Singh From Volunteers to People’s Defence Force SOME OF THE EARLIEST references to first Governor, Raffles outlined detailed plans [PREVIOUS] Singapore as Temasek come from when it was for its defence against the Dutch in Indonesia. Members of the Singapore under the Srivijayan Empire of the 7th to 11th A small fort was to be built at the mouth of the Royal Artillery century. Ancient Chinese documents record Singapore River with a battery of artillery to (Volunteer), that the successor to Srivijaya – Majapahit, the protect the new settlement. This materialised as 1928. Siamese and the Melaka Sultanate – all showed Fort Fullerton in 1829. interest in controlling this sea town of Temasek. Throughout its early British administration, [FACING] Why all this bother with a small island with Sepoys of the Bengal or Madras Native Infantry The Colours of the Singapore hardly any populous or resources of note? were employed for the protection of the growing Volunteer Corps. Temasek’s importance came from its location European community amidst the exponential at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and growth of Asian traders seeking to make their [BELOW] its proximity to the Indonesian Spice Islands. fortunes in this fast-growing port. The Singapore This allowed it to become a noted centre for trade By 1850, troops from native regiments in Volunteer Corp and Straits and an independent port of call under its own British India were made available and additional Settlements monarch in the 13th century, making it a target gun batteries built, one each at Mount Palmer and Volunteer Force for invasion. Indeed, it had its own defence fort Mount Faber, and later the gun batteries at Fort headquarters on at one time, with a fortification wall almost 5 m Siloso in Pulau Blakang Mati (Sentosa), remnants Beach Road. wide and some 3 m high radiating eastwards and westwards from Bukit Larangan (present-day Fort Canning) to the coast in the south, with a sea frontage of about 1.6 km. By the 14th century it was widely known as Singapura. As a small trading port, it did not attract much attention from European colonisers until Stamford Raffles. Upon his arrival in 1819, Raffles secured the initial agreement of protection with the Temenggong for some 3,000 Spanish dollars, and thus established a settlement in the name of the East India Company to challenge Dutch trading supremacy in the region. This set the stage for modern Singapore. Even as he left Singapore in the hands of its 24 25 of which can still be seen to this day. Frequent ethnic disturbances in the growing Asian communities resulted in some European residents securing the formation of the first volunteer military unit in the British Empire in 1854 – the Singapore Rifle Corps. An Act passed in the Legislative Council of India in 1857 formalised the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps (SVRC) as a Rifle Class unit and specified rules including dark green uniforms. It is not certain if this green is the same tone as the “Temasek Green” that the early Full-time National Servicemen wore, but it nevertheless draws a tantalising link. The concern over sea-borne attacks led to the development, in the later 1800s, of further [ABOVE] fortified gun batteries in Pasir Panjang in the west Singapore [TOP LEFT] to Tanjong Katong in the east, and Fort Canning Volunteer Singapore to the north of the city. Yet, by the 1860s, it was Artillery Volunteer seen that the 200-odd Sepoys, a few European Corps Maxim Artillery Corps soldiers and some SVRC volunteers were hardly machine gun troops make a mounted on sufficient to defend the city since the gun batteries steep ascent at a motorised Bukit Panjang could obviously not be used for inland fighting, vehicle. with ponies and for example, as observed in the communal riots local help, 1903. amongst the immigrant Chinese. [BELOW] The strength of the SVRC was boosted to more Singapore [BOTTOM LEFT] Singapore than 100 men with increased shooting practices Volunteer Corps Albion Volunteer and competitions after the introduction of a new Six Wheeler Artillery Snider Carbine rifle to replace the muzzle-loading armoured car, Corps officers, Enfield in 1869. Still, it was not until 1872 that the 1931. including first European regular troops arrived to protect MAJ Callum Singapore. (standing left) and SGT Although there was concern that almost half Makepeace the colony’s revenue was being expended on (seated second military defence, the SVRC added an artillery left), after section in 1868 with two 12-pounder Howitzers whom roads on loan from the regular artillery. Ironically, it was are named in Singapore, perhaps the resulting formation of the Singapore 1896. Volunteer Artillery Corps (SVAC) in 1881 which led to the disbandment of the SVRC in December 1887. The SVAC with their khaki uniforms opted to retain the SVRC motto In Orient Primus and trained on guns mounted at Fort Siloso and Fort Tanjong Katong. In 1889, they added a Maxim Gun Section. Four of these first recoil-operated 26 27 the war to 687. marshalled their forces and received the support of A major test of the defence of Singapore and the French, Russian and Japanese warships in harbour, SVC came in 1915 from a mutiny by some of the and, of note, 150 men of the Johor Military Forces Sepoys within the Indian 5th Light Infantry. This led by the Sultan of Johor himself. was during WWI and troops were being sent by The rebellion was quelled within five days Britain to fight Germany and the Ottoman Empire but only after some 44 soldiers and civilians lost (now Turkey). Muslim soldiers of the 5th Infantry their lives. A total of about 90 mutineers were who thought they would be sent to fight fellow apprehended or gave themselves up, while some Muslims in Turkey were instigated to mutiny by drowned while trying to escape to Johor. a senior non-commissioned officer who felt by- The mutiny brought home the inadequacy passed in promotion. In fact the troops were being of the local defence forces. A Town Guard was readied to be sent to Hong Kong. therefore established and immediately drew 423 The mutiny erupted on 15 February during the volunteers. Riding on this, the Administration put Chinese New Year. Some of the defenders mistook in place the first-ever compulsory military service the shooting for fire crackers and were slow to imposed on British subjects in any British Colony machine guns were bought, two through public react. The Sepoys captured the ammunition through the “Reserve Force and Civil Guard donations and one each donated by His Highness stores and killed two of their own officers and any Ordinance” of 16 August 1915. This required all Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor and by Cheang Hong civilians they came across. British subjects in Singapore, between the ages Lim, a prominent businessman and philanthropist The small contingent of Sikh policemen, 18 and 55 and who were not members of the of Singapore. The guns were pulled by horses that artillerymen and the SVC rallied to protect the uniformed services, to register. Those between 18 the volunteers provided from their own stables. European families and members of the British and 40 years were posted to the SVC and the rest Drill was held by the volunteers at the Drill Administration. Almost 400 European and into the Civil Guard. Hall built in the 1890s at the site of Fort Fullerton. Japanese civilians were deputised and armed to The inter-war years saw the Volunteers grow This was dismantled and re-erected in 1908 at assist in tracking down the mutineers who had under a new Ordinance in January 1921 that put the new Volunteer Headquarters at Beach Road started to disperse into the jungles. The British all volunteer forces under a Straits Settlements because of reclamation works around the fort in 1906. [LEFT] Events in Europe and the region brought Bingo game at [TOP] an increased sense of vulnerability. This led to the Volunteers The Straits Officers’ Mess, members of the public who were not interested in Settlements circa 1950s. Volunteer Air joining the SVAC to appeal for a Volunteer Rifle Force, formed unit to be re-formed. With the active support of 1936. the editor of The Straits Times, Arnot Reid, it led to the revival of the Singapore Volunteer Rifles [ABOVE] in 1901. To these were added the Singapore Inshore Patrol Volunteer Engineers, and a Bearer (medical) Boat RSS Panglima. Section, all of which necessitated the formation of the Singapore Volunteer Corps (SVC) HQ. Native units were also formed: Singapore Volunteer Infantry No 1 Company (Eurasian), and Singapore Volunteer Infantry No 2 Company (Chinese), and a Volunteer Infantry Company (Malay) in 1911. These units were grouped under the SVC. By the outbreak of World War I, the strength of the Corps stood at some 450, growing by the end of 28 29 Volunteer Force (SSVF) command. A signals section was added to the Volunteer Artillery while the Singapore Volunteer Rifles added a Scottish Company. TheA rtillery and Engineer volunteer units were also granted the “Royal” title in 1923. In 1928, the SSVF was again reorganised. Two battalions were formed, each with their complement of rifle companies, a machine gun company and a signals section. The volunteers added an armoured car section in 1931, and a new Straits Settlements Volunteer Force HQ was established at Beach Road in 1933. The Straits Settlements Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (SSRNVR) was formed in April 1934 and from the following year, former Royal navy vessels were presented to this force, among them the Laburnum and the Panglima.