Dieppe Barracks

Dieppe Barracks
Sembawang Road in Singapore
Site information
TypeMilitary base
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorSingapore Armed Forces
Open to the public
No
Location
Coordinates1°25′19.9″N 103°49′30.1″E / 1.422194°N 103.825028°E / 1.422194; 103.825028
Site history
Built1960s
Garrison information
GarrisonHQ Guards

Dieppe Barracks is a military base of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) located along Sembawang Road in Singapore near Khatib Camp and Sembawang Air Base. It is currently occupied by 1st Guards.

History

Dieppe Barracks was built in the 1960s by the British Armed Forces for the Royal Marines and became operational in 1962. It was occupied by the 40 Commando Royal Marines of the 3 Commando Brigade from 1962 to 1971.

After the British Armed Forces left Singapore, Dieppe Barracks was handed over to the New Zealand Force South East Asia (NZFORSEA). The 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, which was based in the nearby Nee Soon Camp, then occupied Dieppe Barracks from 1971 to 1989.

In 1979, Dieppe Barracks hosted 51 Vietnamese refugees, including 18 children, who had been granted asylum by New Zealand, during their eight-hour transit in Singapore.

NZFORSEA departed Singapore in 1989 with the New Zealand flag was lowered over Dieppe Barracks for the last time on 21 July. Dieppe Barracks was then handed over to the Singapore Armed Forces and it has been occupied by 1st Guards since then.

As of October 2019, Dieppe Barracks was occupied by HQ 7th and HQ 13th Singapore Infantry Brigades.

In 2024, Veterans' Affairs New Zealand announced that the Guards formation had informed them that all current buildings in Dieppe Barracks were to be removed with the exception of the old 1RNZIR Sergeants’ Mess and the Old Tasman Club. Both buildings would be maintained and preserved as heritage buildings. The Sergeants’ Mess would be converted into a history room for both the SAF Guards Division and Dieppe Barracks, while the Old Tasman Club will be used by the Guards Division’s leadership and command teams. A memorial would also be erected with the names of the 23 Army personnel who died there on service and an historical inscription for 1RNZIR and would be in place by April 2026.

References

  1. ↑ "Guards". mindef.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "40 Commando". British Army units from 1945 on British Army units from 1945. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "New Zealand military headquarters in Singapore". nzhistory.net.nz. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Kutty, N.G. (15 April 1979). "Treat for 51 Viet refugees on their way to Auckland". The Straits Times. p. 7. Archived from the original on 4 April 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  5. 1 2 3 Chua, Jun Yan (10 October 2019). "Dieppe Barracks: "Our Little Kingdom" in Sembawang". BiblioAsia. Archived from the original on 22 April 2026. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "New memorial for Dieppe Barracks in Singapore". www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz. 5 December 2024. Archived from the original on 11 March 2026. Retrieved 3 August 2026. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY 3.0 NZ) license.