September
14, 2013
When the bus made its way to Changi
Air Base, my thoughts went back to the ‘70s when I was posted to Changi Air
Base for a short period of time during National Service (NS). The ride along Loyang Avenue reminded me of
the time when Loyang Avenue was called Kuala Loyang Road before it was widened
and re-named. This was the usual route
coming from Tampines and Loyang Camps into Changi Air Base, entering the base
through Cranwell Road into Tangmere Road. Those roads were very much a part of the
public road network but not so these days having been rendered as a part of the
high security area of RSAF Changi West Camp.
Photo #1: MINDEF provided this comfy
ride.
Many people make the mistake of identifying Changi Air Base strictly as an air base establishment for the Singapore Air Defense Command (SADC), the pioneering name for the RSAF. This was far from the truth because there was another big military establishment, the School of Basic Military Training, SBMT.
Photo #2: Temple Hill Officers Mess.
SBMT in Changi comprised 1st
Battalion and 2nd Battalion SBMT; each battalion had 6 companies of
recruits in any one intake. SBMT’s
history mirrors the history of NS. In those days, infantry personnel were trained at
the unit level; where there was always one company of recruits to three
operational riflemen companies in a battalion set-up. Service personnel were trained at SBMT which provided
manpower for vocations such as air force pilots, technicians, drivers, clerks,
mechanics, and cooks.
SBMT moved from Pulau Blakang Mati (now Sentosa) to
Changi Air Base shortly after British Pull-out in 1971 before it moved to Nee
Soon Camp around 1976.
SBMT
operated camps not only within the Changi Air Base but elsewhere in Tampines and
Loyang. Pulau Tekong was never used by SBMT as a camp in my time except for field training and rifle range, though a live
grenade range was available for operational infantry unit training. Within Changi Air Base, SBMT occupied the
blocks around Martlesham Road, a block I recall was Block 117 which was HQ
SBMT. The familiar M.T. Line with all
the Bedford 3 tonners was a stone’s throw away in a fenced compound opposite
the former ASTRA Cinema. You know that
it can’t be any other military truck except a Bedford because these vehicles didn’t
seem to have a clean engine start; bellowing dark exhaust smoke or giving out
that pathetic “asthmatic sound” when the
engine cranked each morning.
Plate #1: Changi Air Base. Legends: Yellow indicated places the toured
sites.
The
SADC (AETI) occupied the blocks nearer to Farnborough Road, i.e. Blk 79
vicinity. 1st Battalion
Commando was over at Hendon Road. 2 SIB
HQ occupied the empty barracks after SBMT moved over to Nee Soon Camp.
Temple
Hill was the convenient meeting place for the army and air force personnel where
there was the Officers Mess. Here future
friendships would be forged between the different Service Arms, as well as
those between SAF regulars and NSmen over beer, darts and billiards. Officer accommodation was at Temple Hill where SBMT Officers occupied the
chalets going up Temple hill on the right side of Temple Hill Mess, and the
Commando unit officers occupied the chalets on the left side of the Mess. The SADC officer cadets (pilot trainees)
occupied the blocks behind the SBMT officers chalets in the ravine.
Life was
very spartan, so it left very much to the individual to get himself
acclimatized to the environment. For
married personnel and those without a car, it was a big problem. Those who were posted to Pulau Tekong received
a double whammy because Tekong did not have adequate fresh water supply. Each day, the Changi bumboats would transport
50 jerry-cans of fresh water from mainland Singapore to Tekong. Changi medic veterans from the Changi Medical
Center at Block 137B (there was no Changi Hospital then) can tell you the extra
daily duties medics had to undertake; dropping water purification tablets into
the water tanks to prevent a potential outbreak of an epidemic attack. On the bright side, Pulau Tekong jetty provided
a good supply of big fresh prawns for the dinner table if you cared to buy them
from the Malay fishermen.
Photo #3: SBMT recruits Take 5
after a run. The building in the
background is one of three bungalows on Eastchurch Road. The bungalows were once the SAF Boys School
Combat Wing, Logistics and HQ but is now the Changi Officers Mess.
Doing
DO duties was never a breeze but it did bring a sense of relief as one could
take a tour of Changi in the “GP car” or in the Land Rover. Interestingly some of the sights included an
actual WWII Spitfire aircraft body (left behind by the departing British RAF)
at the corner of Nethervaron Road and Cranwell Road. Then there was Sher Khan Garage in Eastchurch
Road; as the name indicates, the one-storey building comprised two annexed
garages. This Pakistani-owned business
was famous for its private taxi service within the base. Sher Khan’s other business was the SHELL
petrol kiosk over at Changi Village.
The
Passing-out-Parade (POP) was a great day for the recruits because two months
had already been “consumed” from the two-year NS liability. POP was held at a sports field which bordered
the Changi Golf course. Parade Officers
were issued with the Smith & Wesson pistols, which was a first for me
because I never handled this weapon before.
In the run-up to POP, you could feel the exhilarating mood of the
recruits as they were taken for that one last traditional run around Changi Air
Base. Even the PES C recruits displayed
great physical stamina to finish the distance.
Photo #4:
POP at the present Changi Golf Course.
The buildings in the background are Blocks 59 and 60 Upavon Road. Separating Upavon Road from the golf course
was Kuala Loyang Road (now renamed as Loyang Avenue).
When
nightfall came, the base was a very quiet place, only making it more convenient
for couples in cars using the many unused car-parks and grass verges around
Upper Changi Road. You knew this had to
be lovers haunt when it came to Area Cleaning the next day. Changi Airport was still under construction
and it would be after 1981 when the still of the night was broken by aircrafts
coming and going.
I
am glad MINDEF was quick to put out this tour of Changi Air Base. For someone who once served at this place it
was a feeling of not only home-coming. I
achieved what I had hoped to do but had been unable to do so until now since the
base had become another Out-of-Bounds site.
Sadly I did not get to see many of the landmarks because many of the
buildings were demolished and were now a part of the jungle. Gone were the former Changi Post Office, the
Main Guard Room and the ASTRA Cinema.
Photo #5:
The Main Guard Room at Tangmere Road: Then & Now
