Old Ford Motor Factory

The Old Ford Motor Factory (Chinese: 旧福特汽车工厂) is a historic building in Singapore, located along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

History

The factory is the site of the historic surrender of the British to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, at the end of the Battle of Singapore in World War II. It was here that the meeting between Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival and General Tomoyuki Yamashita was held and the surrender document signed. Then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill referred to that event as the "worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history"; it was also widely seen as a turning point for anti-colonialism in Southeast Asia.

The factory was built by Ford Motor Works in October, 1941 and became Ford's first motor car assembly plant in Southeast Asia.Tyers, Ray. Singapore: Then and Now. Singapore: Landmark Books, 1993. 525. However, Japanese forces invaded Singapore shortly thereafter. During the Malayan Campaign, the Factory’s modern assembly equipment was used by the Royal Air Force to assemble fighter planes. The planes came in parts that were shipped to Singapore in crates. However, most of these aircraft never fulfilled their destiny of defending Malaya. They were flown out of Singapore towards the end of January 1942, when prospects for Singapore looked bleak. Many battles were fought around the areas of the Ford Factory in Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Bukit Timah. The factory...
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