The Mount Imbiah Battery began life as an infantry redoubt in the 1880s, staffed by 82 infantry soldiers and 19 gunners responsible for manning its coastal gun. A redoubt is a type of fort built outside a larger fort to provide additional defence and protection.
By the time World War I broke out in 1914, the battery was emplaced with a 9.2 inch coastal gun. Together with the Siloso Battery, the two batteries were organised to protect the western entrance to the Singapore harbour. The battery remained in active use until the mid-1930s, when it was replaced by the Fort Connaught Battery at the south-eastern end of Singapore island and its gun was removed.
However, the battery remained manned as a reserve magazine storing ammunitions up till the fall of Singapore during World War II in 1942.
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