One of a Kind (2nd Edition)

CREATING THE SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES

THREE

In 1965, the PDF was envisaged as a 10,000 strong Volunteer reserve force. Training was

two evenings a week with weekend and annual training camps. Six training depots were set

up: 1 PDF at Beach Road Camp; 2 PDF at Kallang Airport; 3 PDF at Pearl’s Hill; 4 PDF at

Shenton Way; 5 PDF at Haig Road; 6 PDF at Queenstown.

Basic training of recruits

started in the third week of January 1966.

By March 1966, over 3,000 had signed up for

training. Officer Cadets and NCOs were trained later in the year. (In 1968, the Singapore

Naval Volunteer Force became the PDF (Sea) under the short-lived Sea Defence Command

which was renamed the Singapore Maritime Command later that year.)

In his book,

From

Third World To First

, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew says: “We had organised the People’s Defence Force

(PDF) under the leadership of a motley collection of civil servants, MPs and ministers who

had been put through a crash officer training course. The soldiers were civilians, mostly

Chinese-educated, recruited through the community centres.”

In May 1966, a PDF Band

was formed, largely with support from the Singapore Musician’s Association and it led the

PDF march-past column on 9

August that year for the National Day Parade.

To Dr. Goh, the PDF was not quite a stopgap measure or rallying point for nationalism. He

initially envisaged the PDF as the mainstay of the SAF Order of Battle (ORBAT):

Minister for Interior and Defence, Dr. Goh Keng Swee at passing out parade of PDF OCTs, 28

August, 1966.