POW Chapel at Bukit Timah

Stanley Warren’s Model of the Chapel

Stanley Warren had been part of a forced labour team on road construction work at Bukit Batok, making access roads leading to the memorial the Japanese were constructing at the top of the hill. The memorial was destroyed after the war, but the access road, now called Lorong Sesuai, and the stairs leading to it sill exist.

Whilst at Bukit Batok, Stanley was asked to create some murals to decorate a humble chapel which had been constructed by the prisoners. Using charcoal, he created two murals on asbestos panels, ‘The Nativity’ and ‘The Descent from the Cross’. These were placed on each side of the altar.

The Nativity

The Descent from the Cross

Stanley used his comrades as models for his work and portrayed them in uniform. The Madonna, he portrayed as a Malay woman.

The murals were later moved to Saint David’s Church at Sime Road Camp. The appeared in situ there in a painting of the church by a civilian internee, William Haxworth

On a visit to Singapore in 1982, Stanley made a small model of the Bukit Timah Chapel. The murals were copied from his original drawings. This model is now on display at Fort Siloso on Sentosa.