10 interesting facts about the past of Dempsey Hill that you probably don’t know about.

 

Dempsy Hill is known for its restaurants and also being a shopping haven if you are looking for home furnishings and outdoor furniture. But did you know that Dempsey Hill has also a rich history – from being a plantation to a military base?

Here are some interesting facts about Dempsey Hill:

1) Today the grounds we tread on used to be part of a huge nutmeg plantation in the 1850s called Mount Harriet. Colonial Treasurer William W Willans and local businessman Whampoa Hoo Ah Kay owned parts of the estate which included the area where Singapore Botanic Gardens now stand.  A nutmeg-beetle blight caused Mount Harriet to become commercially not viable. Willans and Hoo skid the land to the British Forces in May 1860 for a modest sum of 25,000 Spanish dollars. It then Tanglin Barracks.

2) Why nutmeg and what made nutmeg such a popular choice with landowners in Singapore? The answer lies in its fruit. There is a fruit that is split open, which happens when it ripens and reveals its most valuable parts. The red seed covering gives mace, and grinding the seed, gives nutmeg. Difficult to obtain in the 1800s, and desired for their medicinal properties and use in preserving meat, the spices were highly prized. There was a point that they were said to be “worth more than their weight in gold”! Planting nutmeg seemed a sure-fire path to success.

3) Several roads around the Tanglin area were named after British commanding officers. Singapore became home to HQ Allied Land Forces South East Asia or ALFSEA, which was under the command of General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, from whom Dempsey Road and Dempsey Hill took their names from. From 1946, Tanglin Barracks was essentially the British army’s administrative centre for Southeast Asia, until 1971. This command became Far East Land Forces or FARELF, which ran a successful counterinsurgency campaign against communist rebels in Malaya and Singapore from 1948 to 1960. Other commanders that roads in Dempsey Hill are named after, Harding Road after General John Harding, and Loewen Road after General Christopher Loewen.

4)  On February 15, 1915 amidst World War I, a group of 800 sepoys (Indian soldiers) from the 5th Light Infantry mutinied against the British forces in Singapore. Mutineers broke into Tanglin Barracks unannounced killing the officers they came across and freed Germans interned there. Some prisoners escaped, but most stayed put and refused to join the rebellion.

5) Loewen by Dempsey was part of the barracks that inspired the young Rudyard Kipling (poet and storyteller) to write Barrack Room Ballads.

6) During World War II, Japanese forces took over the garrison church (St George’s Church) and its premise to store ammunition. The chaplains feared that the war would destroy the beautiful but fragile pieces of stained glass. The colonial chaplain dismantled and hastily buried the original windows of the church just two days before British forces surrendered. Extensive searches conducted since but the whereabouts of the stained glass windows remained a mystery to this day.

7) The buildings at Loewen by Dempsey Hill were once used as a hospital. The Tanglin Military Hospital consisted of two ward buildings. These were at Block 73 where Kerry lived (her story to follow) – a general ward, and Block 71. Block 71 became a ward for the treatment of skin and venereal diseases. Curiously enough, more than 62 percent of the soldiers at Tanglin were infected with sexually transmitted diseases at the end of the 1800s. The hospital was the military’s main hospital in Singapore until 1940, when a new hospital opened at Alexandra Road. Block 72 was also one of the places that soldiers and their families resided.

8) After the surrender, British forces regained control of Tanglin Barracks and used it to house expatriate officers and their families, who could be seen walking around the grounds. It became a place where British officers (foreign soldiers) and their families stayed or spent time walking around. With them came locals who lived and played in the area. From civilian staffers to shop owners who contributed to the life of then-Dempsey Hill. Gina Ho, whose parents used to run a small shop in the area shared her memories that there were two churches, kindergarten, a tailor, football fields, a dancing hall, offices, tennis courts and a POSB bank.

9) Post-independence, the buildings at Loewen by Dempsey Hill became home to the SAF Music and Drama Company (SAF MDC). Formed in 1973 to boost morale of soldiers, its famous alumni include Jack Neo, Dick Lee, Najib Ali and Gurmit Singh. Over the years, SAF MDC built a solid reputation as an established arts company. It has  performed at many national events and even aboard to popular acclaim.

10) Loewen by Dempsey Hill is the choice location where for the very first time in Asia, the French luxury label launched Chanel 2013/14 Cruise collection.

 

 

Memories from Kerry Taylor, a driver with the British Army in Tanglin from 1963 to 1965:

“Singapore for me was a magical, exotic, tropical paradise. The years I spent here were the highlight of my army service. I loved the heat, smells, and buzz of it all, from eating Abdul’s stew at his roadside stall on Orchard Road while the rats ran up and down the gutters to wandering through the Botanic Gardens watching monkeys play in the trees.

In the barracks, our beds were arranged in pairs next to each other with dressing tables on either side. We decided to rearrange the space around one day and reconfigure it so that the beds were apart and the dressing tables back to back in the middle. That same night, one of the huge fans came crashing down. Good luck was on our side because had we not moved the beds, I would not be here!

Block 73 was where all the girls lived. On days off and in the evenings, we would sometimes go to the Tanglin Military Services Club. It was there that I met an Australian soldier. We started ‘going out’, fell in love and decided to marry. Our wedding was lovely in the beautiful St George Church with all our army ‘family’ around us. So, being posted to Singapore changed my life forever.

I love the restoration work done on the Barracks, the buildings retained their original exteriors but have very modern interiors. I especially like that the history of the area is being honoured.”

* Kerry’s dormitory, Block 73, is across the square, right next to Block 72.

 

** You can now listen to the Dempsey Hill audio tour through the app Cinewav for S$12.50. It stretches 40 minutes to one hour and you can do it at Dempsey Hill 24/7.

(** PHOTO CREDITS: Kerry in the card – Kerry Taylor, remaining photos – Gary Bennet)