Storyboard at junction of Adam Road/Sime Road (along original site along Sime Road)
Sime Road Camp occupied an area encompassing the former site of the Royal Air Force Headquarters and the former site of the combined Army and Air Force Operational Headquarters. The combined Headquarters was opened in early December 1941 and Commanding Officer General Percival ran the Malayan Campaign and the Battle for Singapore from here. On 11 February 1942, when the Japanese Army was only one mile away, Percival ordered the combined Headquarters to move back to Fort Canning. Sime Road was thus abandoned.
The camp was spread out in a former rubber estate covering about 70 acres which overlooked the Royal Singapore Golf Club. On 1 May 1944, more than 3,000 civilians interned in Changi Camp were transferred to Sime Road Camp to make room for military Prisoners-of-War from Selarang whom the Japanese intended to move to Changi instead. Towards the end of the war, local residents such as Eurasians were also interned at the camp. Civilians who held positions of responsibilities in essential services i.e. engineers of electricity departments were not interned. They wore armbands identifying them as “civilian enemy” while at work.
The camp comprised a large number of long wooden huts with atap, or palm leaf, roofs linked by a system of concrete paths. There was also a separate women’s camp. There was a small church built by internees which was named St. David’s Church.
During their period of internment, time was spent attending religious services and discussions, tending a vegetable garden to supplement their meagre diet and carrying out repair works to camp structures. Language classes and gramophone concerts were also held. Occasionally, they received Red Cross parcels with food items. They were also tasked to carry out building projects by the Japanese, including the Syonan Jinja. Located in the dense jungle of the MacRitchie Catchment Area, this Shinto shrine was built with the labour of the internees from Sime Road Camp.
When the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945, Euphoria broke out and it was the first opportunity for people to enter the camp in search of their interned friends or relatives. These included Boy Scouts who cycled up to the camp looking for their Boy Scout Commissioners. On 3 September 1945, internees celebrated their newfound freedom with a simple Church service including a flag-raising ceremony, where the Union Jack was raised. Lady Daisy Thomas, the wife of the Governor, Sir Shenton Thomas presided over the ceremony.
Another Community Project Sponsored by Singapore Pools.