particularly in the years leading up to the First and Second World Wars. The Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps (SVRC) was first created in 1854 as a private organisation, with the governor serving as its first Colonel. It was later gazetted in 1857. However, participation in the SVRC was weak and it was disbanded on 16 December 1887 in favour of forming an artillery corps instead. This was to be the Singapore Volunteer Artillery (SVA), which was formed in 1888 to operate the gun emplacements around Singapore, and is also considered to be the predecessor of the artillery formation of the Singapore Armed Forces. In 1901, additional non-artillery units were set up in, including a Chinese infantry company, Eurasian infantry company, and the Singapore Volunteer Engineers, leading to the force being renamed as the Singapore Volunteer Corps (SVC). It assisted in suppressing the 1915 Singapore Mutiny. In 1921, the SVC was combined with other volunteer forces from Malacca and Penang as the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force (SSVF). During World War II, the SSVF took part in the Battle of Singapore but most of its members were captured on 15 February 1942 when their positions were overrun by Japanese forces. After the end of the war, the SSVF was re-constituted in 1948, but the SVF was absorbed into the Singapore Military Forces (SMF, predecessor of the SAF) following the disbandment of the SSVF in 1954. Subsequently, in 1961, SMF was renamed to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Post-independence When Singapore achieved independence in 1965, its military consisted of only two infantry regiments, commanded by British officers and made up of mostly non-Singaporean residents. Britain pulled its military out of Singapore in October 1971, leaving behind only a small amount of British, Australian and New Zealand forces as a token military presence. The last of the British soldiers left Singapore in March 1976. The New Zealand troops were the last to leave Singapore, in 1989. Singapore believed that it needed a larger, capable yet economic-efficient defence force to protect and defend itself as it is surrounded by several larger neighbouring countries in the Southeast Asia region that are often hostile to them. At that time, Singapore enlisted the covert assistance of Israel, which sent its military advisers who helped Singapore set up a defence force modelled in part after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Jungle warfare techniques were taught so that the Singapore