penang: War Museum

Penang War Museum in Bukit Batu Maung, southern part of Pulau Pinang, was a fort built by the British in the 1930s. The Penang War Museum sits on 20 acres of hilltop land that was once the site of a British military fortress to protect the island from a possible Japanese invasion by sea. The fortress was constructed with underground military tunnels and ventilation shafts, ammunition bunkers, logistic centre, canon firing bays, sleeping quarters, cook houses and medical infirmary.

The amphibious invasion never happened, The Japanese instead launched a series of aerial bombardments forcing the British to decide to withdraw to Singapore. Penang eventually fell to Japanese on 17 December 1941. During the Japanese occupation of Penang Island, the Japanese used this fortress as an army base and prison, where the torture and interrogation of prisoners was conducted.

Today, most of the buildings was abandoned and underground tunnels built by British Royal Engineers and a local labour force are still there for you to wander around with a lot of old photographs and information signs about the artefacts and the way of life of the soldiers and prisoners that once lived here.