World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Changi Prison (Malay: Chang'i; Chinese: Zhangyi) in eastern Singapore was constructed by the British Straits Settlements colonial administration in 1936; it was designed to hold 600 prisoners. Nearby, the British Army operated the Selarang Barracks. After the Japanese conquest of Singapore in 1942, the Japanese military housed 600 civilians detainees at Changi and 50,000 prisoners of war, mostly British and Australian, at Selarang. The Japanese secret police organization Kempeitei maintained a headquarters at Changi, where they routinely tortured prisoners to extract intelligence on local armed resistance and to uncover Allied spies. Starting on 30 Aug 1942, the Selarang Barracks Incident took place, during which 20,000 British and Australian prisoners of war refused to sign a pledge not to escape; they were rounded up in the central plaza of Selarang and were denied food, water, and medical treatment until the Anglo-Australian commander gave up the protest after several men died from dysentary. In 1943, Dutch civilians were transferred from camps in the Dutch East Indies to Selarang. About 850 military prisoners of war died at Selarang during the Japanese occupation, and an unkonwn number of civilians died at Changi. After the war, Changi was briefly used for Japanese military personnel (along with Singaporean, Chinese, and Korean personnel under Japanese command) who were accused of war crimes. The Changi prison was it was seen during the war was demolished in 2000; a new prison complex bearing the same name was established at a neighboring site.

ww2dbaseThe name Changi was often mistakenly used to refer to both the Changi civilian prison and the Selarang military prisoners of war camp, given their close proximity.

Changi Prison and Selarang Barracks Interactive Map

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Changi Prison and Selarang Barracks Timeline