The area where Changi Air Base now sits was once a large encampment of British Army artillery and combat engineer units based in Singapore between the mid-1930s up until 1942, when the island fell under Japanese occupation after the British surrender that year. This large encampment, comprising several barracks and military administrative buildings such as Roberts Barrack and Selarang Camp, were used together with the nearby Changi Prison for housing many of the Alliedprisoners-of-war after Japan took over control of Singapore. The construction of the current airfield in Changi Air Base was initiated by the occupying Imperial Japanese military forces using those same Allied POWs imprisoned in the Changi area as forced labourers, building two roughly-paved landing strips between 1943 and 1944, intersecting in a cross-shaped layout and in approximately north-south and east-west directions to allow planes to land and takeoff in any possible direction all around. This Japanese-built airfield facility became a Royal Air Force station after the Japanese occupation in Singapore abruptly ended following the Japanese surrender in 1945 and was then renamed as RAF Changi in 1946 by the returning British military authorities. Now, it was the newly-imprisoned Japanese troops under British captivity which were then made to improve both runways, reinforcing the north-south runway for military aircraft and adding perforated steel plates on the east-west runway. ;Units
Completed post-war, non-flying RAF Chia Keng — a GCHQ radio-receiving station, was a satellite station of RAF Changi until the withdrawal of British troops from Singapore at the end of the 1960s. Also, the nearby RAF Hospital Changi functioned as the primary British military hospital which provided medical care for all British, Australian and New Zealandservicemen stationed in the eastern and northern parts of Singapore while Alexandra Hospital was directed for those stationed in the southern and western areas of Singapore.
Changi Air Base
Upon the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore, RAF Changi was renamed as Changi Air Base and was handed over to the SADC on 9 December 1971. Thereafter, the airfield received its first flying squadron of SADC – the Alouette Squadron and their Alouette IIIs helicopters shortly after New Year's Day 1972. With the arrival of the first Shorts Skyvans in 1973, SADC began to form the 121 Squadron at Changi Air Base and it is currently the oldest resident squadron of the airfield. The novel 'The Sound of Pirates' by former RAF airman Terence Brand is based in the 1960s both on the airfield and in the surrounding areas.
Singapore Changi Airport
In June 1975, the Singapore government acquired about two-thirds of the airbase for the construction of the new Singapore Changi Airport, with the new runways in close alignment with the original north-south runway. The east-west runway was almost erased from the map, currently surviving as a taxiway to the apron area which has remained operational as part of Changi Air Base.
Changi Air Base (West)
Following the opening of the new Changi Air Base on 29 November 2004, the existing facilities at Changi Air Base has been renamed as Changi Air Base and Headquarters Changi Air Base. The flying squadrons now are:
The base was opened on 29 November 2004. The base is closed for runway reconstruction as of July 2018. The flying squadrons previously based there were:
