While doing some follow-up research after publishing my video on the Battle of Bukit Batok (previous article), I happened to come across a vintage photo on the Australian War Memorial photo collection site.
It was untitled and undated and at first glance you would probably think it was just some kampong somewhere in Singapore or even Malaya then.
On closer examination, the hair on the back of my head literally stood up! It was precisely what I was searching for, and even better was that it had a very rare view of the area before it was called Hillview.
This is the vintage photo which must have been taken before the end of 1947 or earlier.
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| Source: Australian War Memorial. Public domain. Captions by hjtann. |
The photo shows a cluster of buildings beside a major road. This was Upper Bukit Timah Road at the 14km, or then the 9-1/2 milestone point.
The buildings are not of a kampong but were the Public Works Department (PWD) office and staff quarters at the junction with Dairy Farm Road. Dairy Farm Road is on the far right of the picture. The PWD had its offices there because it was near where they obtained granite gravel from the Dairy Farm quarry for their road building projects.
The buildings are not of a kampong but were the Public Works Department (PWD) office and staff quarters at the junction with Dairy Farm Road. Dairy Farm Road is on the far right of the picture. The PWD had its offices there because it was near where they obtained granite gravel from the Dairy Farm quarry for their road building projects.
My grandfather, Louis Goh, worked as a mandore (foreman) with the PWD and had his office there. He was supervising the building of roads in the 1960s.
I was sourcing for exactly a picture like this because during the 2nd World War in Singapore, a British Army unit, the Argylls and Sutherland Regiment, occupied the buildings as its field Regiment HQ.
The unit attempted to stop the Japanese tanks from going down Bukit Timah Road to the city by blocking the road just 600 yards away near St. Joseph Church.
What may be more interesting to some of you is that the photo shows the Hillview ridge before the building of Hillview Road just across the road from the PWD offices. Hillview Road was built in early 1948 by cutting across the ridge from Upper Bukit Timah Road. You can see part of the KTM railway line running alongside the road.
p.s. I just added in an additional photo to show what the area would later become.
This is an aerial photo taken from the National Archives collection (NAS Photo no. 267628) that shows the same area in 1963. I have rotated the photo to try and orientate for easy comparison. The PWD buildings are on the bottom left of this added photo.
I was sourcing for exactly a picture like this because during the 2nd World War in Singapore, a British Army unit, the Argylls and Sutherland Regiment, occupied the buildings as its field Regiment HQ.
The unit attempted to stop the Japanese tanks from going down Bukit Timah Road to the city by blocking the road just 600 yards away near St. Joseph Church.
What may be more interesting to some of you is that the photo shows the Hillview ridge before the building of Hillview Road just across the road from the PWD offices. Hillview Road was built in early 1948 by cutting across the ridge from Upper Bukit Timah Road. You can see part of the KTM railway line running alongside the road.
p.s. I just added in an additional photo to show what the area would later become.
This is an aerial photo taken from the National Archives collection (NAS Photo no. 267628) that shows the same area in 1963. I have rotated the photo to try and orientate for easy comparison. The PWD buildings are on the bottom left of this added photo.
