Lawatan RAF Seletar ke Kota Tinggi

Pesawat jenis Supermarine Southampton yang mula beroperasi di RAF Seletar sekitar tahun 1929.

Ini adalah antara rakaman filem terawal markas udara Royal Air Force (RAF) di Seletar, Singapura, dan juga lawatan mereka ke air terjun Kota Tinggi. Ianya dibuat pada tahun 1938 iaitu 3 tahun sebelum Jepun menyerang Tanah Melayu. Dari apa yang dirakam, bahagian pertama menunjukkan persekitaran sungai tempat kapal terbang mendarat di RAF Seletar. Diikuti dengan aktiviti riadah menaiki kapal layar sekitar Selat Tebrau dan muara sungai Johor. Bahagian seterusnya menunjukkan lawatan anggota RAF Seletar ke air terjun Kota Tinggi. Kemungkinan besar pendaratan pesawat dibuat di sungai berhampiran bandar Kota Tinggi di mana mereka dibantu perwakilan British untuk menggunakan jalan darat ke air terjun yang terletak lebih kurang 15 km dari kawasan bandar.

Kota Tinggi adalah antara penempatan penting bagi British kerana ianya mengeluarkan hasil getah dan bijih timah. Ketika itu juga hasil bumi Semenanjung Tanah Melayu menyumbang 30% kepada ekonomi British. Sekitar awal abad ke-20 sudah terdapat beberapa ladang getah milik warga Inggeris dan juga Jepun di Kota Tinggi. Sebelum wujudnya jalanraya, barangan dan penumpang diangkut dengan bot dan kapal secara terus dari Singapura ke Kota Tinggi.

Pasukan RAF dari Seletar ini juga adalah pasukan tentera yang terawal mendaratkan kapal terbang di Melaka iaitu di muara sungai Melaka pada 5.3.1932. Ketika itu mereka dalam misi mencari lokasi sesuai untuk mendirikan lapangan terbang berhampiran bandar Melaka.

Rujukan:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.
2. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19320305-1.2.70

Muzik latar: ’Semalam Di Malaya’,Tuty Daulay & Orkes Saiful Bahri (1961).

RAF Tengah Air Base

RAF Tengah in 1938 (Source: Imperial War Museums)

This footage from the Imperial War Museums shows scenes shot during the construction of the Royal Air Force (RAF) air base in Tengah, Singapore. It was shot by Wing Commander Robert Milward, while serving in RAF 39 Squadron on air policing duties and training in Singapore in 1938.

In 1932, an air field was initially constructed in Tengah to give air cover to the naval base in Sembawang. Upon completion of the required infrastructure, it was commissioned as RAF Tengah in 1939 with “Chergas” (Malay for ‘Active’) as its station motto. The air base was constantly improved upon to prepare it for the increasingly sophisticated aircraft that was coming in.

RAF Tengah Station Badge (Source: Wikipedia)

RAF Tengah in 1941 (Source: Wikipedia)

RAF Tengah was the target of carpet bombing when Japanese Navy bombers conducted the first air raid on Singapore, shortly after the Battle of Malaya began in December 1941. It was also the first airfield to be captured when Japanese forces invaded Singapore. After days of fierce fighting, the Japanese forces, led by Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita (a.k.a. Tiger of Malaya), settled in RAF Tengah on 11.2.1942.

After the Japanese capture of Singapore, Tengah came under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force while the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service took over the other two RAF stations of Sembawang Air Base and RAF Seletar. This effectively ensured that the Japanese Army took control of the south, including the administrative hub and population centre of Singapore City, while the Japanese Navy took command of the north, which included the Royal Navy dockyard at Sembawang.

During the Malayan Emergency, RAF Tengah was used to house Avro Lincolns of the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force and Bristol Brigands of RAF 84 Squadron which performed bombing sorties on communist terrorist hideouts of the Malayan Communist Party deep in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula.

It was renamed Tengah Air Base in 1971 when it was handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command (SADC). From 1971 to 1976, under the Five Power Defence Arrangement, Tengah Air Base became home to the British, Australian and New Zealand forces.

Tengah Air Base is currently the most important airfield of the Royal Singapore Air Force (RSAF) as it houses the majority of the RSAF's fixed-wing frontline squadrons, home to all of RSAF's Airborne early warning and control (AEWC) assets, most of the F-16C/D Fighting Falcons and many UAVs. It is currently undergoing further expansion wherein about 100ha of land would be acquired. This includes privately owned farms as well as graveyard area comprising of 45,500 Chinese graves and 35,000 Muslim graves.

Source:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengah_Air_Base

Kallang Airport

Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was Singapore’s first purpose-built commercial airport. It was opened on 12 June 1937 in the Kallang Basin area. It was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, then chief architect of the Public Works Department. The announcement to build Kallang Airport was made by Governor Cecil Clementi on 31 August 1931. The decision was made in anticipation of Singapore turning into a major aviation hub.

Construction of the Kallang Airport began in 1931 with 300 acres of mangrove swampland being reclaimed. It resulted in the displacement of a large Malay community consisting of about 5,000 individuals from 5 villages along the Kallang River.  Most of the residents resettled into Kampong Melayu Jalan Eunos.

Boasting an anchorage area for seaplanes along its perimeter, the Kallang Airport was dubed as "the finest airport in the British Empire" at that time. Famous aviator Amelia Earhart once described it as "an aviation miracle of the East". It contains a two-storey terminal building with a large viewing gallery and a circular control tower in the middle, two side blocks with attached hangars, a circular grass landing field, and a slipway for seaplanes. Overall, Kallang Airport took five years to complete at a cost of $9 million.

During World War II, the Kallang Airport was the only operational airfield in Singapore capable of supporting Allied campaigns against the Japanese forces. It was during the Japanese occupation period that the airport's grass landing zone was upgraded into a concrete runway and extended to 5500 feet.

As early as 1950, plans were made to build a new airport at Paya Lebar (the current Paya Lebar Air Base) as the Kallang Airport was unable to cope with the increase in air traffic  and larger planes despite being expanded. The Kallang Airport finally closed in 1955.

Source:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallang_Airport

3. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19370613-1.2.213