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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:36:33 PM EDT
[Caveat: Pictures are subject to the bandwidh limitations of Photobucket. Multiple users may cause some viewers not to see the pictures]
On this island, an embattled force of American and Filipino soldiers made their last stand against the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The island was fortified by the Americans in 1902 as a military reservation as part of the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bays because of it's strategic location. The big guns of Corregidor in 1941 were used in support of Filipino and American defenders of Bataan until the island itself was invaded by the Japanese. The pounding by Japanese guns and intermittent bombings reduced its defenses and compelled its surrender. This was where Gen. D. McArthur made his last stand before leaving for Australia. On Jan. 1945, Corregidor was Once again caught in the fury of war as the Americans retook the island after a bloody battle. The Island   War Memorial  The Dome   Flame Monument   GHQ  Battery Way Completed in 1913, this battery was armed with four 12in mortars. With a range of 14,610 yards at a rate of fire of one round per minute.    Battery Grubbs One of six 12in sea coast guns mounted in "disappearing" carriages behind concrete parapets. The six batteries formed an interlocking field of fire.    To be continued ... PART II Drop Zone 1 Memorial Mile Long Barracks Middleside Barracks Battery Smith Malinta Tunnel |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:37:42 PM EDT
[#1]
Wow, very nice pics.
Those are some sweet cannons. |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:47:51 PM EDT
[#2]
Thank's LArifleMAN. Just thought some of you guys up there (particularly the vets) may want to see how it looks like today.  |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:52:00 PM EDT
[#3]
I spent a couple of months at Subic Bay back in 84. I never found the time to go to Corregidor. Thanks for the tour.
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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:52:41 PM EDT
[#4]
Very nice. |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 8:52:49 PM EDT
[#5]
Very cool pics...thanks for the reminder!
My grandmother's cousin was Edgar Whitcomb, and he wrote the book "Escape From Corregidor." If anyone hasn't read this book, you won't put it down. Author Name: Whitcomb, Edgar D. Title: ESCAPE FROM CORREGIDOR. Publisher: Allan Wingate, London, (1959), first impression. 274 pp, 8vo (8 1/2" H), hard cover in dust jacket. B&w maps. "....the story of a B.17 navigator who narrowly escaped capture more times than one would be inclined to believe. When the Japanese took Bataan, he fled in a rowboat to Corregidor. When the Japanese captured Corregidor, he swam under cover of darkness for eight hours back to the mainland. There, after weeks of wandering in the snake-infested jungle and sailing at night down the heavily patrolled coast, they got him. His name was Edgar Whitcomb, U.S.A.F. His captors interrogated him. 'Johnson', he said. 'My name is Johnson, mining employee'. From that moment, the imaginary personality of Johnson grew, proliferated, and was actually inhabited by Whitcomb for nearly two years. Not once, during hunger, beatings nor the long grey hopelessness of prison life, was the character of 'Robert Johnson' shaken. Finally, as 'Robert Johnson' he escaped, and as 'Robert Johnson' he arrived back in the United States, only to be greeted by the F.B.I., passed on to the Pentagon for grilling, and finally interned as a 'civilian' for the rest of the war - until he worked his way out of that one too." Keywords: WORLD WAR II CORREGIDOR PACIFIC THEATER OPERATION JAPANESE JAPAN HH |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 9:07:55 PM EDT
[#6]
You're welcome. Be sure to stay tuned for the second part then. 
Thanks!
Thanks. Looks like a good read. I will look for it. I figured that this place means a lot to the Vets. A lot of our fathers and grandfathers were there during the fall of Bataan and Corregidor ... the death march and all. Also the 2,500 paratroopers who jumped in to retake the island. It was a costly war .... like all wars. [sighs] |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 9:16:59 PM EDT
[#7]
Awsome pics. Thanks for posting them.
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Posted: 8/25/2005 9:36:41 PM EDT
[#8]
tag
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Posted: 8/25/2005 9:41:02 PM EDT
[#9]
Awesome pics. I will be going to Tokyo and then to Manila next month.
I plan to see the "Concrete Battleship" too if possible. |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 9:43:32 PM EDT
[#10]
Great pictures!!!!
Thank you!!! |
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Posted: 8/25/2005 10:42:22 PM EDT
[#11]
You're welcome. Glad you liked them.
Thank's too for acknowledgement.
Hey that's great. Tell me if you need any assistance / tips while you are here in Manila. Will give you my office number if you need it. The tour was given by: Sun Cruises Inc. Terminal A CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd. , Manila Philippines Tel no. :(063) 2 - 526-8888 loc. 9511 & 9523 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.corregidorphilippines.com If i recall, the day tour was P1,400.00 (approx. $25). Includes ferry ride (1hr. 15min.), tour, lunch and light and sound show inside the malinta tunnel. Don't expect too much of the show. But you get to see the inside of the tunnel and imagine how it must have been for the soldiers who were besieged inside it. The concrete battleship was not part of the tour. I don't know if there is one where you can really go there. If you want, i can ask for you. On the whole, I would recommend the tour. Its a great place.
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Posted: 8/25/2005 10:56:37 PM EDT
[#12]
For those wondering what the "Concrete Battlesip" is:
FORT DRUM  www.travelsmart.net/ph/inquirer/issues/dec98/dec06/features/fea_main.htm |
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Posted: 8/26/2005 6:05:28 AM EDT
[#13]
Very good stuff. Thanks.
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Posted: 8/26/2005 6:16:17 AM EDT
[#14]
Awesome stuff.
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Posted: 8/26/2005 6:50:18 AM EDT
[#15]
Spectacular photos...Endicott-Taft period Coast Artillery is one of my things.
For a while, the natives were chopping up those guns and selling it for scrap. No doubt that is what happened to that disappearing carriage. Although you will find these batteries all over the coastline, guns still mounted are a rarity and a pleasure for guys like me to see. If I am not mistaken, the only surviving "in the pits" 12" seacoast mortars in the US are found at Fort DeSoto in FL. Thanks for sharing your trip...I'll get there someday. Check out Coast Defense Study Group |
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Posted: 8/26/2005 6:59:26 AM EDT
[#16]
I was wondering if someone would mention Ft. Drum...and not the Upstate NY Ft. Drum!
I have an interesting (mainly) picture book on Ft. Drum, a really cool throwback to a different era of war...as Bklyn_Irish talks about. I go to Bermuda almost every year, and I spend a lot of time going from Fort to Fort studying its coastal artillery batteries. There are plenty of guns still in place there...including some big ass Rifled Muzzle Loaders, and early Krupp batteries.... Ft. DeRussy on Waikiki is also a neat CA fort, and has a great museum.... |
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Posted: 8/26/2005 7:07:59 AM EDT
[#17]
I wrote one helluva paper on Fort Drum in high school...so good that I used it when I was getting my BA and then again during MA program.
Ironically enough, Fort Drum's namesake, LTG Hugh Drum, graduated from my high school. |
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Posted: 8/27/2005 5:10:59 AM EDT
[#18]
Thank's 2A373! I'm glad you found both threads to your liking.
Thank's Wobblin!
Thank's Bklyn. You are correct about the coastline guns being unmounted. I was surprised myself to see them unmounted and on the ground. I don't know though about the locals having anything to do with that (taking the parts for scrap ... that's true for Clark AFB and parts of Subic NB). From what i know, Corregidor island was never "inhabited" by locals. There are no civilians living on the island. It was under the Philippine Navy until it was developed into a tourist attraction in the 80's. I hope that someday you can go and see the island yourself. Thanks for the link! Very interesting read!!!
I'm actually quite new to this subject matter. But I am finding it very interesting! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! |
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Posted: 8/27/2005 6:15:08 AM EDT
[#19]
I visited Corrigador in about 1980, about 15 years old. I have a few pics of those mortars too. Cool place, looks like they cleaned it up a bit. Yeah, I heard about the scrap metal guys too.
I remember a Japanese army truck wrecked beside the road. The tour guide pointed out it was a Toyota. I found a stack of 75 mm projectiles in the jungle and brought one over to the beach for Todd's Dad, a LTC, to inspect. He was not too pleased at my discovery...  I bought a couple 50 BMG projectiles for 1 peso each. Should have bought cases of them. Bought a "Japan sniper rifle" dugup from the tour guide for 25 pesos, about $1.50. Kinda funny the safety said "ON," but I did not mention that. Every kid should know a Springfeild by sight. |
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Posted: 8/28/2005 8:24:14 PM EDT
[#20]
Hey Pogo! Yes they did "clean up". I was pleasantly surprised too that they had maintained the place the way they did (not a very common prctice here since the government is cash-starpped). I guess credit should also go to the tour operator who manages the place. Nowadays you can't find any "curious relics" strewn around (Drat! I should have gone there back then in the 80's!  ) I guess they excavated and kept it all when they developed the area.Here are some of those "relics" :   
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Posted: 8/28/2005 8:53:37 PM EDT
[#21]
Why is that Thompson missing a stock? High-speed low drag 1940's style?
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Posted: 8/29/2005 5:49:57 AM EDT
[#22]
Nice pics, thanks for sharing.
I've met a few vets of the 503rd who jumped there (my avatar is the 503rd's Regimental Crest). They were real MEN of the old school. One of the old gents jumped with the 503rd 3 times in WWII, once with the 187th in Korea, and again with the 503rd in Vietnam! CIB with two stars and FIVE mustard stains! Retired Sgt Major. |
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Posted: 8/29/2005 5:53:59 AM EDT
[#23]
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Posted: 8/29/2005 6:27:55 AM EDT
[#24]
I had a great uncle who jumped into Corrigedor. He was part of the group who took it back. Never did talk about it much and he died several years ago.
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Posted: 8/29/2005 6:53:28 AM EDT
[#25]
Brad, A 2/503rd Camp Hovey Korea 1989-1990. Imjin Scout, ROK Ranger School |
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