Penang War Museum was built by the British in the 1930s. It gained fame in 1941 when it became the site where the battle for Penang against the invading Japanese army was lost.
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In 1936, Penang Island was declared a fortress, and just before the Japanese invasion of Penang in December 1941, most of the Allied garrison in Penang, commanded by Brigadier C.A. Lyon, were stationed within Batu Maung Fort.
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However, the overriding Singapore strategy demanded the heavier deployment of the British military around Singapore to the South. This, coupled with the general complacency amongst British military officials who believed that the Japanese would attack from the sea, caused the Penang "fortress" to be under-equipped. By December 1941, only two 6-inch batteries were installed and crucially, the anti-aircraft defenses were never completed.
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When the Japanese took over, the fort was turned into a prison base when countless people were tortured. The hill it was on was later named Ghost Hill because of the hundreds of people who were beheaded there.
