This photo album belonged to an Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who served in Singapore, Ceylon and the Pacific between 1938 and 1939. Unlike most albums made by British servicemen during their tours of duty, the photographs in this album were taken with an original and quirky eye. Besides the usual shots of tourist destinations in Singapore, it also contains photographs of advertising billboards, art deco cinemas, and people at their various occupations.Most of the RAF pilots who served in Singapore during the 1930s were stationed at Seletar Airbase in the northeastern part of the island. Built on a 600-acre site formerly belonging to Singapore United Rubber Plantations, the airbase was operational by 1928 and officially became an RAF station in 1930. The airbase also served as a civilian airport until 1937, when the Kallang Airport was opened to handle commercial flights. Seletar Airbase was designed to handle both conventional aircraft as well as seaplanes such as the Short Singapore III and Short Sunderland flying boats. The first batch of Singapore IIIs departed from Pembroke Dock in the United Kingdom for Seletar in January 1935 to re-equip Number 205 Squadron. The first of the new Sunderlands arrived in Seletar from Pembroke Dock in June 1938 for use by Number 230 Squadron.
