This Pillbox was built sometime before 1941 as part of the overall British defence strategy of Singapore. It was most probably part of a network of pillboxes that provided overlapping and interlocking fields of fire to defend the Combined Operation Headquarters of the British Army and Air Force at Sime Road during the invasion of Malaya in 1942. During the war, frequent meetings of the Far East War Council, which was formed in December 1941, were held at the headquarters.