Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 6:50:37 GMT 8
Great place here, found it recently and having such a great time reading thought a few questions might get answered, maybe connect a few more dots.
Sorry for the length.
Visited PI and Corregidor in Oct 1977 with my parents, my father was a radio operator with the 60th cac from Mar 41-May 42.
The tour group included only 2 Corregidor defenders and about 50 liberators in attendence,, most of the liberators had landed in Leyte and moved towards Manila.
Looking back as a 53 yo trying to remember one or two days when I was 21 is an uphill battle so bear with me.
Our tour group did the regular visit one day, with bus stops all around the island, different batteries, topside middleside mile long barracks, topside monument, bottomside 92nd garage, malinta tunnel,, all the regular places I guess.
My fathers peace time station was at Battery Way in the small cement fire control bunker. He said there was a parrot in the tree that would make sounds just like dad's morse code dots/dash,, but the tree and parrot disappeared with war time.
The tour was interesting but my father wanted to see his wartime station. The next day was a free day so we talked our guide from PI tourism to go with us. His name is Albert Q. SanAntonio, but he told us to call him by his nickname, 'Boy'.
We were the only three passengers on the hoover boat. Boy talked to the PI army guards stationed on Corregidor. He told them where we wanted to go,,, (later, on the ride home Boy said the soldiers didn't think my father would be able to hike up the hill). Two of the soldiers finally agreed to go with us, no one was allowed to wander around for fear of unexploded ordinance.
Here is where my first question will apply. Would any of the residents know the location of this bunker on the south side of Malinta Hill?.
We wanted to go up the south side of Malinta hill to a cement bunker location. I think, but not positive, that we walked thru Malinta tunnel and turned right and started up the south side from the east entrance of the tunnel. We went up the steep hillside with the help of lots of vines, we were kinda angling back west the whole climb. We found the bunker.
It had a cement top with low cement walls around the top, (have a slide somewhere with dad sitting in the southeast corner of the top area), used as a gun pit. But have not foundthe pic slide.
The lower area was dad's wartime station, a radio bunker, the army guards would not let us go in the bottom area.
He told me of the 5 men killed in the gun pit on April 29-30 timeframe and he rec'd a Silver Star.
Hoping all these items below will be enough to solidify his location during wartime.
I have found these quotes at this link.
corregidor.org/btty_histories/control/open.htm
"Battery M ("Mobile") Initially assigned 8 December 1941 to provide AA MG defenses in Manila Port Area, until 26 December when ordered back to Ft. Mills. CP south of Kindley Field.
Armament: 12 - .50 cal. MG, plus
1 - Navy Quad 1.1" (25mm) automatic cannon atop Malinta Hill, under 1Lt. Stanley L. Friedline
C.O.: Capt. James R. Holmes"
April 29-30 time frame. (same link) Col E.L.Barr corregidor.org/ca/btty_mobile/mobile_2.htm
"A Navy 1.1 inch pompom gun originally intended for the U.S.S. Houston was installed on Malinta Hill about the latter part of January was assigned to Battery M. The heavy gun was brought up the hill under the direction of Maj. Crawford, the Bn C.O. who also solved the problem of installing the water cooling unit. Four men attached from other batteries in the third battalion helped make up the twelve man detail required to man it. Gunner Otto of the navy instructed the detail in the service of the piece. The work of sandbagging and camouflage was capably handled by Lt. Friedline who was placed in charge of the gun."
"A few men from the switchboard dugout had gone out when the firing slackened and had put out fires in the gun pits thus saving some of the equipment. These were recommended for and received Silver Stars."
"The Battery commander Capt. Holmes and Lt. King set out for Malinta Hill as soon as the shelling ceased. We learned from some of our men in Malinta Tunnel that the pompom had been blasted out and that Lt. Friedline and some of our men had been burned to death in the fire that had swept through the searchlight tunnel. A 40 mm shell came down a ventilation shaft and exploded the gas tank of the 25 KV generator and the fire swept all through the tunnel. Lt. Friedline and four men died of burns that afternoon and four other men were seriously burned.
We went up to inspect the damage immediately. The pompon and the other machine gun pit were totally destroyed. A crew of engineers was working to extricate some of the bodies caught in the wreckage of the SL tunnel. The lower section had not been hit but its morale was badly shaken."
Next question. Think I need to send something back.
When we left the gun pit we went east, maybe without a lot of elevation change, hiked past searhlight tunnels with carbon rods on the ground, cave entrances, some going straight down. We stopped a few minutes at a cave entrance that was looking east sort of towards monkey point. We decided to rest in the mouth of the cave. The entrance was low, maybe 3 ft. Again, we could not go in very far due to unexploded ordinance. While sitting a few feet inside, scratched around and found a m1 round, and another item. Would any one be interested in returning another item found in the mouth of the cave?
We kept going around the hill working our way down as we moved north. Found some shrapnel and glass. It seems like we wound up on the north side near officers beach.,,not positive.
After all that fun we went to the Inn and had vienna sausages and powdered eggs, never had a better meal. Wandered around 92nd garage south beach area and found some blood rocks, also looked at a bunch of captured Japanese armaments stacked bottomside.
Rode the hoover craft back to Manila.
Sorry for the length.
Visited PI and Corregidor in Oct 1977 with my parents, my father was a radio operator with the 60th cac from Mar 41-May 42.
The tour group included only 2 Corregidor defenders and about 50 liberators in attendence,, most of the liberators had landed in Leyte and moved towards Manila.
Looking back as a 53 yo trying to remember one or two days when I was 21 is an uphill battle so bear with me.
Our tour group did the regular visit one day, with bus stops all around the island, different batteries, topside middleside mile long barracks, topside monument, bottomside 92nd garage, malinta tunnel,, all the regular places I guess.
My fathers peace time station was at Battery Way in the small cement fire control bunker. He said there was a parrot in the tree that would make sounds just like dad's morse code dots/dash,, but the tree and parrot disappeared with war time.
The tour was interesting but my father wanted to see his wartime station. The next day was a free day so we talked our guide from PI tourism to go with us. His name is Albert Q. SanAntonio, but he told us to call him by his nickname, 'Boy'.
We were the only three passengers on the hoover boat. Boy talked to the PI army guards stationed on Corregidor. He told them where we wanted to go,,, (later, on the ride home Boy said the soldiers didn't think my father would be able to hike up the hill). Two of the soldiers finally agreed to go with us, no one was allowed to wander around for fear of unexploded ordinance.
Here is where my first question will apply. Would any of the residents know the location of this bunker on the south side of Malinta Hill?.
We wanted to go up the south side of Malinta hill to a cement bunker location. I think, but not positive, that we walked thru Malinta tunnel and turned right and started up the south side from the east entrance of the tunnel. We went up the steep hillside with the help of lots of vines, we were kinda angling back west the whole climb. We found the bunker.
It had a cement top with low cement walls around the top, (have a slide somewhere with dad sitting in the southeast corner of the top area), used as a gun pit. But have not foundthe pic slide.
The lower area was dad's wartime station, a radio bunker, the army guards would not let us go in the bottom area.
He told me of the 5 men killed in the gun pit on April 29-30 timeframe and he rec'd a Silver Star.
Hoping all these items below will be enough to solidify his location during wartime.
I have found these quotes at this link.
corregidor.org/btty_histories/control/open.htm
"Battery M ("Mobile") Initially assigned 8 December 1941 to provide AA MG defenses in Manila Port Area, until 26 December when ordered back to Ft. Mills. CP south of Kindley Field.
Armament: 12 - .50 cal. MG, plus
1 - Navy Quad 1.1" (25mm) automatic cannon atop Malinta Hill, under 1Lt. Stanley L. Friedline
C.O.: Capt. James R. Holmes"
April 29-30 time frame. (same link) Col E.L.Barr corregidor.org/ca/btty_mobile/mobile_2.htm
"A Navy 1.1 inch pompom gun originally intended for the U.S.S. Houston was installed on Malinta Hill about the latter part of January was assigned to Battery M. The heavy gun was brought up the hill under the direction of Maj. Crawford, the Bn C.O. who also solved the problem of installing the water cooling unit. Four men attached from other batteries in the third battalion helped make up the twelve man detail required to man it. Gunner Otto of the navy instructed the detail in the service of the piece. The work of sandbagging and camouflage was capably handled by Lt. Friedline who was placed in charge of the gun."
"A few men from the switchboard dugout had gone out when the firing slackened and had put out fires in the gun pits thus saving some of the equipment. These were recommended for and received Silver Stars."
"The Battery commander Capt. Holmes and Lt. King set out for Malinta Hill as soon as the shelling ceased. We learned from some of our men in Malinta Tunnel that the pompom had been blasted out and that Lt. Friedline and some of our men had been burned to death in the fire that had swept through the searchlight tunnel. A 40 mm shell came down a ventilation shaft and exploded the gas tank of the 25 KV generator and the fire swept all through the tunnel. Lt. Friedline and four men died of burns that afternoon and four other men were seriously burned.
We went up to inspect the damage immediately. The pompon and the other machine gun pit were totally destroyed. A crew of engineers was working to extricate some of the bodies caught in the wreckage of the SL tunnel. The lower section had not been hit but its morale was badly shaken."
Next question. Think I need to send something back.
When we left the gun pit we went east, maybe without a lot of elevation change, hiked past searhlight tunnels with carbon rods on the ground, cave entrances, some going straight down. We stopped a few minutes at a cave entrance that was looking east sort of towards monkey point. We decided to rest in the mouth of the cave. The entrance was low, maybe 3 ft. Again, we could not go in very far due to unexploded ordinance. While sitting a few feet inside, scratched around and found a m1 round, and another item. Would any one be interested in returning another item found in the mouth of the cave?
We kept going around the hill working our way down as we moved north. Found some shrapnel and glass. It seems like we wound up on the north side near officers beach.,,not positive.
After all that fun we went to the Inn and had vienna sausages and powdered eggs, never had a better meal. Wandered around 92nd garage south beach area and found some blood rocks, also looked at a bunch of captured Japanese armaments stacked bottomside.
Rode the hoover craft back to Manila.