After the fall of Singapore, General Yamashita, commanding officer of the invasion force, ordered the construction of a memorial for the Japanese dead. Bukit Batok was chosen as the site because it overlooked Bukit Timah, where the fiercest fighting took place.
The Japanese memorial, named the Syonan Chureito, was built by 500 Allied Prisoners-of-War (PoWs). It was unveiled and dedicated on Thursday, 10 September 1942. It consisted of a 40-foot wooden pylon crowned in a brass cone. At the rear was a small tiled hut, surrounded by a wooden fence. Ashes of a soldier who perished in the Battle for Bukit Timah were placed within this hut.
While building the Syonan Chureito, the Allied PoWs were inspired to build a Christian monument to honour their own war dead. Japanese permission was granted and the remains of the dead were searched for in the Bukit Timah area. Several corpses were found in the jungle. These were cremated and the ashes placed in a wooden box wrapped in a white cloth. This box was placed in front of the altar in Saint Andrew's Cathedral and later transferred to the Allied memorial when it was completed. The Allied memorial, standing a short distance behind the Japanese memorial, was represented by a wooden cross approximately 10 feet tall.
Both memorials were demolished by the Japanese before the British returned.