Battle for Singapore Heritage Tour: Attap Valley Bunker Tour

Watery path towards the bunker

Getting to the Attap Valley bunker was no easy feat. Yes, I initially thought that the provision of boots for us to wear was a bit of an overkill. But then, I started to realise that this visit was not your run-of-the-mill walk.

The first sign that things are not as normal as it seems started straight at the entrance. Mounted on the gates was the sign "No Trespassing". There's even a makeshift guard house to ensure that unauthorised people are denied entry. Next, there are no tarred roads, only mud roads. Now I'm starting to see why rubber boots were needed.

Kelvin the guide

Kelvin, our bubbly guide, was on-hand to provide the walking commentary. You can sense from a mile away that he's one guy who loves his job. From a 800 metres walk in, we then made a left turn towards the Number 4 bunker located below Talbots Hill.

The British-built bunkers was first constructed by building the main structure before the top of the bunkers were covered up and, thus becoming Talbots Hill. This ammunition bunker is one of seven ammunition bunkers that were laid into that hill. There were other hills with bunkers that made up the entire ammunition depot. Altogether, there were 18 bunkers in all. (1) During the Japanese occupation, the bunkers were used by the Japanese to store their own ammunition. (2)

Main Entrance to No. 4 Bunker

The bunker blended in well with its surroundings. Trees were growing above it, while overgrown shrubs helped to cover the cold concrete exterior walls. I'm not sure if the shrubs were present at that time, but definitely by cutting itself into a hill, the British had wanted to make sure that it was hard for enemy's aircraft to spot these bunkers. 

The ammunition storage depot is also located close to the Sembawang Naval Base and to move these large shells, it was said that there were railway tracks with carts to safely move them towards the naval base. (2) The bunkers must have been a hive of activity then.

Entrance to the bunker

After more than 70 years, the two-metre thick steel doors have succumbed to rust and wear. One of the doors has came out of its hinges, frozen in its final position.

Ankle-deep muddy water

To enter the bunker, we had to go pass the ankle-deep water. Kelvin warned us that we would feel the coldness of the water through our boots. Indeed! I was the first in line to enter the bunker and I had wanted to do that to feel the sense of solitude even in the midst of a crowd. The only light that I have was the light from my camera phone. It was a choice of whether I should use my light or take pictures. I chose the latter as I knew that there were others who would have stronger lighting than what I have.

Curved Entrance towards the main storage area

The walkway towards the bunker was still rather silty. From the water mark that was left on the wall, it seemed like the muddy water actually reached to a waist level. As you can see, there's a slight curve to walkway. This is to ensure that if there's an explosion, military personnel who ran towards these walkway would survive.

The inside of the bunker

We arrived at the elevated open bunker. As you can see from the photo above, the bunker is big enough to be a garage for at least six cars. To allow fresh air to come in, the British had incorporated an air vent that draws air from outside. 

Original lighting within the bunker

Above our heads were thick corrugated metal to ensure that items within the bunker were well protected. Many of the fittings were originals. Firstly, the lighting covers that were mounted on the ceiling of the bunker. Some of these lights were also mounted on the walls. It is thought that this was done after the war. In truth, that makes it much easier if one wants to change a burnt bulb.

Marshall, Fleming & Co. Ltd Gantry Crane

Instead of manually moving the explosives, the gantry crane aids military personnel in carrying crates of explosives and moving them neatly into position. A metal plate states that the crane was produced in 1937. 

Another interesting fitting was the pipe that was located along the walkway. I believe that these are pipes that were placed there to help pump away water. The pipe had a year 1936 stamped on it.

It was a real throw back into history as many things within the bunker laid as it is. It is unknown to public as to what had happened to the other six bunkers. Are they still around or have they been covered over and no longer accessible to public?

This outing also reminds us that there're still much to see and discover on our little red dot.


Post-script:

1. "The Nipah Palm, or Attap, lends its name to Attap Valley Road and Jalan Nipah. Its unripe seed, or attap chee, is soaked in syrup before becoming an additive to ice kachang, a local dessert. A mangrove palm, it can be found in the swamps of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Pasir Ris Park's mangrove area, Pulau Ubin, and Pulau Tekong." (3)


2. The bunker was not an unknown entity. In 2003, JTC Corporation proposed that the Number 4 bunker be converted to either a club or a restaurant. (4)



References

1. Zaccheus, M. January 29, 2015. Pre-war British bunkers to open its doors to public. The Straits Times. Retrieved on: February 21, 2015. http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/pre-war-british-bunker-open-its-doors-public

2. Zaccheus, M. January 28, 2015. Secret British bunker in Woodlands will be open to public for the first time in 70 years. The Straits Times. Retrieved on: February 21, 2015. http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/secret-british-bunker-woodlands-will-be-open-public-firs

3. What's in a name? Going back to the roots. July 9, 2007. The Straits Times. Retrieved on: February 25, 2015.

4. Tan, H. Y. August 28, 2003. Doorway to a club or restaurant. The Straits Times. Retrieved on: February 25, 2015.

[Military] Steel Pot Warriors

My fellow recruits and I were super elated to have completed our field training

The Singapore Armed Forces started issuing Kevlar helmet from January 1987 onwards. (1) But when you are a recruit, you will never get the best of anything. Actually, you will get all the remaining army stores. So instead of getting those lightweight Kevlar helmets, the recruits received what the army termed as steel pots. Thinking back, I am glad that we had a chance to own those Vietnam War-like steel pots. To add on to that Vietnam War aura, we were issued with well-worn M16s rifles.

Now back to our steel pots. 

Though it made good memories, these steel helmets were the bane of soldiers. Looking back at all the recruit photos that I'd taken, none of them saw me wearing my helmet. Why?

It was heeeaaavy! It was so heavy that a pioneer soldier of 1967 counted his lucky stars as he was a Sikh and was exempted from wearing the steel helmet. (2)

"The old steel pot helmets were very uncomfortable! In a way I was very lucky because I was wearing a turban! You know, I think their helmets were heavier than my turban! You could actually hear them go 'clang'!" (2)

Source: Army Museum Singapore

The helmet consisted of three parts. One was the plastic inner layer that you wear under your steel helmet, and the other part was the steel helmet itself. The third part was the camouflage cloth. We had to use a thick black rubber band to hold it in its place. The rubber band was also used to slot in leaves and ferns when we were learning how to camouflage ourselves.

For recruits, there were something more that we had to include on our helmets. When we inherited these steel pots on Day 1, we were told to write our names on masking tapes using a black marker and stencils. Once that was done, we had to waterproof it using transparent sticky tape. I was not allowed to use my Christian name, only my initials and my surname, which read W. A. Phuah or in hokkien lingo "I'm Phuah". These initials and surname thingy really embarrassed some people, especially the Chinese. We had K. A. Chng (Bottoms), S.H. Chong (Taxi Chong as taxis' number plates start with SH) and A. H. Lee (Ali).     

The worst time to have these helmets on were in the afternoons with the sun in full glory, and during our Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) where we were asked to do a 50m run, clear eight obstacles, and then complete the entire SOC with a 600m run. Running caused our helmets to wobble back and forth and that caused us great discomfort.

My Buddy and I zoning out after completing our SOC

We were also required to wear our helmets when we were digging our little trenches or what is known as shell scrape. I remember a funny incident where we were told by our sergeant to dig a shell scrape. He gave us an hour to complete our digging. After 30 minutes of digging, and with the helmets giving us grief, I told my buddy that I'll be taking off my steel pot and will just wear the helmet liner. He said in hokkien, " Mai Xiao Lah" or "Don't be crazy". I replied," Nevermind lah, Sergeant not here mah", not knowing that Sergeant Rajah had somehow ghosted into our vicinity and he was just standing behind me. Let just say that the punishment I'd received included running around like a mad man, and strengthening my arm power with countless push ups.

So as a tribute to all soldiers past and present, whether it was steel pot or Kevlar helmets, thank you for your dedication and for protecting our homeland. Have a good SAF Day.

Training to be soldiers, fight for our land
Once in our life, two years of our time.
Have you ever wondered, why we must serve
Because we love our land, and want it to be free, to be free. 


References

1. Cyber Pioneer Issue 109 (Nov 1986).
2. Army Museum Singapore. Retrieved on July 1, 2014. http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/army/microsites/armymuseum/stories/Personal_Stories/The_Swinging_60s/Karam_Singh.html


Other references
1. Remember Singapore. Once in our life. Retrieved on July 1, 2014. http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/once-in-our-life-two-years-of-our-time/

2. Run-down of the SOC Course. Retrieved on July 1, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91xC-JiiudM