Dates: 1928 - 1971
RAF Seletar was a Royal Air Force station in Singapore between 1928 and 1971.
Plans for establishing an airfield, flying boat and naval base in Singapore were first agreed by the RAF in 1921. In 1923 two sites in the northern region of the island were approved. The first planes to arrive at the base were four Supermarine Southampton seaplanes on the 28th of February 1928.
RAF Seletar served as a civil airport from 1930 before the opening of Singapore’s first civil airport at Kallang on 12 June 1937 (to the late 1940s).
The air base was briefly host to Amy Johnson during May 1930 on her UK - Australia flight in her Gipsy Moth named ’Jason’.
As war clouds gathered over Singapore the RAF started building up their forces in the Far East in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Seletar airfield was the target of Carpet bombing when Japanese navy bombers conducted the First air raid on Singapore.
After World War 2 the base went back to the RAF.
During the 1960s RAF Seletar was home base to No’s 103 and 110 Squadrons both of which were equipped with Westland Whirlwind Mk 10 helicopters and to 34 Squadron which was equipped with Blackburn Beverleys.
The RAF station closed at the end of March 1971 and Seletar was handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command (later the Republic of Singapore Air Force) by 1973, after the British pullout.
