The Battery Point Bombproof Infantry Quarters Tunnel Mystery
Mar 9, 2024 11:12:17 GMT 8
EXO, Karl Welteke, and 2 more like this
Post by Hounddog on Mar 9, 2024 11:12:17 GMT 8
Others have already posted about this topic here, but I'd like to share my most recent compiled findings along with a freshly acquired blueprint from the National Archives. Special thanks to Paul, John, Karl, Tony, and others who have helped me with information and photos. Please feel free to comment on this thread below. -Kevin Strahm (Hounddog)
According to records obtained through the National Archives, the “Bombproof for Infantry Sector Garrison, Battery Point, Fort Mills” was constructed as a 12' x 198' concrete lined tunnel, nestled into the side of a hill not far from Searchlight #1 at Battery Point. The tunnel featured sleeping bunks for 120 men, officer's quarters, a dressing room, and a latrine. It was a large tunnel, visible on more than one top secret map, yet when one attempts to locate this tunnel on Corregidor today, it doesn't seem to exist. What happened to the Battery Point Bombproof Infantry Quarters Tunnel?
The tunnel was one of many fortification projects built on the island, and based on this blueprint, originally completed in 1921.
An amateur but wise historian knows, a blueprint alone doesn't automatically mean something was built, or built to this exact specification. Thankfully, we have additional evidence. This completed works record from 1937 gives us more details of the tunnel's construction, right down to the serial numbers on its three ventilation fans.
We also have a high resolution copy of this blueprint, recently obtained with from the National Archives. There's a difference between this blueprint and the original one from the 1920s. In this later design we see an air ventilation system was added as part of a gas-proofing effort. The system featured a large exterior intake pipe, blower, and significant air ducting. Additionally, we now find two front door entrances to the tunnel.
Finally, this photo, taken in 1941, depicts what appears to be a bombproof infantry quarters tunnel on Fort Mills, and could be from the one at Battery Point, but I'm not certain. As we'll learn later on, an identical tunnel was constructed in nearby James Ravine, so this photo may have been taken inside that tunnel. Either way, it's interesting to see some of the bunk system, chains, and even what appears to be a ladder and ventilation shaft at the far end of the tunnel. (Tony, hopefully you can help me obtain a higher quality copy of this photo, without the watermark? Thanks!)
So what happened to the tunnel at Battery Point? Why is there no trace of the front entrance, air shaft cupolas, or any other sign of its existence today? This is an enigma that has fascinated me since I first learned about the tunnel in 2002. Let's take a look at a few historical records, beginning with the retaking of Corregidor Island by US forces in February of 1945. A deep dive into the 503rd's S-3 Journal turned up this this intriguing report, from February 19th:
Report #75 10:40am “Ammo dump in vicinity of Battery Point blew up. Upon check find that patrol covered outside of underground barracks. Platoon leader went to entrance and fired carbine thru doorway and the explosion followed – 4 men completely covered with debris.”
We know through other sources that the Platoon leader in this report was Lt. Joe Whitson of E Co. who sustained injuries to his eyes after this encounter and had to be evacuated. The explosion was also significant enough to cover four men in debris. But was it large enough to completely erase all traces of the tunnel? Enter the story of Lt. Bill Blake, taken from a book titled “The Return to Corregidor” by Harold Templeman. In his book, Templeman shares the colorful story of Blake, a demolitions expert, and his encounter with the tunnel:
Excerpts from page 18: “They came back with the report that they were trying to operate on one of the fixed American positions. The mouth was a former gun position and was protected by a double steel door. About 200 yards back was a ventilator. G-2 was wary of this position for they feared that it was a powder magazine. Our boys blasted open the first steel door with bazookas. Behind that was a little chamber and then the other door. When they went inside to open the other door they were greeted with Japanese grenades chucked through a couple of small openings in the wall for air. Naturally a strategic withdrawal was made and another huddle before taking that ball again. Finally it was decided to blast a lot of rock and dirt down against the first door and seal it up that way. Jake sent word for me to come down the next day and blow that whole thing up with some sort of delayed fuse so that we could evacuate our positions before the explosion went off. It was at this time that I concocted my now famous "Infernal machine." This was the most humorous incident of the whole show for me and is a part of the official record of the operation under the heading "An interesting insight into the Japanese's character." It didn't say anything about my character! Hill and I took a 5-gallon gas can full of napalm and taped 8 WP grenades around the outside of it. Around that we put about 6 turns of prima cord and a couple of blocks of TNT on each side. I cut a 15-minute fuse and put a cap into the prima cord. This I figured on dropping down the ventilator shaft.”
Blake goes on to describe a humorous (albeit darkly humorous) conversation that ensued between himself and a Japanese soldier, who's voice called out to him from the bottom of the air shaft. The Japanese soldier implores Blake not to blow up the tunnel, as there was eighty thousand pounds of dynamite down there with him! I won't recount the whole story here in detail, you can read it yourself, but the outcome of Blake's operation continues below.
Picking up on page 19: “I could fairly hear the pop of the prima cord and shortly after a deep roar and a huge cloud of black and white smoke belched up from the general area. We waited and waited for the Nip's 80,000 pounds of dynamite. It didn't go off. There was the crackling of some small arms ammo burning and a few explosions that may have been grenades but no sign of the big dynamite. We checked the entrance that we had closed the day before. It was still closed and smoke was seeping around the door jams and out of the holes from which the Japs had tossed their grenades. As a coup de grace, we blasted the little cupolo (sic) down into the shaft and sealed it up..."
We learn a lot of fascinating and detailed information from this story, including the fate of the air shaft cupola, and importantly, the entrance to the tunnel itself. Note the results of Blake's demolition work, namely that "it was decided to blast a lot of rock and dirt down against the first door and seal it up that way" and, when he "checked the entrance that we had closed the day before, it was still closed and smoke was seeping around the door jams and out of the holes ...” This seems to indicate that when they left the tunnel after their work, the cupola had been destroyed, and the front doors and walls of the tunnel were now covered with a rock slide, although still partially visible at that time. Yet we don't see this entrance today. Could the passing decades have covered up the tunnel entrance for good?
To better answer this question we need to travel forward in time, to April of 1945. Why April? Wasn't the 503rd long gone by then? Indeed they were withdrawn on March 8th, but mopping up operations continued for weeks afterwards, and thanks to the 38th Infantry Division M--7 Historical Report, we have this incredible story:
"On 10 April activity was observed around a cave on Battery Point. A patrol investigating this lost a man to enemy fire from the cave. It was decided to pour oil down one of the ventilators, and on 12 April this was started. Just as the first drum was emptied the Japanese blew up the entire cave. The explosion was terrific, smoke, dirt and rocks being thrown hundreds of feet in the air, leaving a crater over 100 feet in diameter and thirty feet deep. Nine men were killed, thirteen wounded, and four missing as a result of this."
This stunning report relates that somehow, the Japanese regained control of this tunnel after the work of Lt. Bill Blake back in February. And, incredibly enough it seems like the 80,000 pounds of dynamite survived his "infernal machine" up to this point as well. Either that or some other, large cache of explosives was moved here, but regardless, the whole tunnel, or front half of the tunnel, seems to have been vaporized by this massive explosion. It is this, final terrifying act of violence that seems to have destroyed it once and for all. Rest in peace, all the men who perished there...
In the summer of 2002, I had returned to the Philippines to attend a friend's wedding in Baguio. I had missed Corregidor a lot, my last visit having been 6 years prior. So I booked a 7 night stay on the island. It was during this visit I learned that Daniel Howell had recently been digging in the Battery Point area, in search of a “lost” tunnel. Intrigued, I hiked down to the location, and witnessed the results of his efforts. First, Dan had dug down and exposed a rain culvert entrance that ran underneath the road. It obviously had taken a great effort to do so, and I thought it was odd then but now I understand that this structure may have provided him with a fixed point on a map to measure out from. Here's a recent photo of the rain culvert entrance.
Next, following the rocky dry creek bed up, I found additional evidence of digging into the right side of a hill, not far from (or across from) the washed out concrete footbridge that was lying in the creek bed. Was this where Dan thought the tunnel entrance was located? Dan was a smart man who uncovered many things during his time on the island. At any rate, his efforts at that time were unsuccessful, and the tunnel entrance remained hidden.
Finally, around this same time I heard another interesting tale pertaining to the Battery Point area. An older Japanese man had recently been discovered digging here, and was kicked off the island for doing so. Apparently he was searching for the remains of a comrade, lost during the war. I found the location of his digging efforts too, an area NW of the rear tunnel cupola location, on a ridge. At the time, I thought this man was searching for the rear air shaft entrance, but then again, maybe he was looking for something else? There were many caves sealed up in this area during the retaking. Anyhow, his efforts uncovered only earth and rocks.
Others have searched for the tunnel over the years and have come up empty handed, but perhaps they were not aware of the events that occurred on 12 April 1945. Yet I still wonder what remains of the tunnel and if any of it survived? When was the last time anyone ever stepped foot in it? What sort of artifacts might be found inside it, should it be uncovered and opened up? If it has been left largely undisturbed since the explosion on 12 April 1945, the tunnel could still hold artifacts as well as human remains.
I would not be surprised to find at the tunnel:
The “infernal machine” that Blake dropped down the air shaft of the tunnel couldn't have fallen all the way down to the main tunnel. Checking the blueprint, we see it would have landed in the catch basin of the rear air shaft, which was designed for just such an occasion.
We might not be able to enter the Battery Point tunnel today, but we can get a sense of what it might look like inside. Earlier I mentioned our mystery tunnel has an identical twin, which is quite useful for study purposes. Located in nearby James Ravine, this tunnel, practically identical in its construction to the Battery Point one, is still accessible today. Many people have visited it, including myself, and many photos have been taken of it, inside and out. Here are some photos of the James Ravine bombproof infantry quarters tunnel, courtesy of corregidor.org.
The entrance, nearly completely covered up by earth.
Inside, near some of the laterals of the tunnel.
Note the hooks in the wall and chains still hanging down for the bunk system.
And finally, the remains of the rear air shaft cupola.
Seeing these photos of the air shaft cupola, I can just imagine the conversation that occurred between Lt. Blake and that Japanese soldier at the Battery Point tunnel. What a story! And then later, the oil being poured down the air shaft and the massive explosion... such a tragedy.
Thanks to historical reports and accounts, we now know what happened to the Battery Point bombproof infantry quarters tunnel. I don't know if any of it survived the incredible violent acts of the war, or if we'll ever get to see its remains or walk inside it, but I hope to some day. Perhaps the tunnel wishes to be remembered as only a quiet footnote in history, and the spirits of the dead inside wish to remain undisturbed.
The Battery Point Bombproof Infantry Quarters Tunnel Mystery
According to records obtained through the National Archives, the “Bombproof for Infantry Sector Garrison, Battery Point, Fort Mills” was constructed as a 12' x 198' concrete lined tunnel, nestled into the side of a hill not far from Searchlight #1 at Battery Point. The tunnel featured sleeping bunks for 120 men, officer's quarters, a dressing room, and a latrine. It was a large tunnel, visible on more than one top secret map, yet when one attempts to locate this tunnel on Corregidor today, it doesn't seem to exist. What happened to the Battery Point Bombproof Infantry Quarters Tunnel?
The tunnel was one of many fortification projects built on the island, and based on this blueprint, originally completed in 1921.
An amateur but wise historian knows, a blueprint alone doesn't automatically mean something was built, or built to this exact specification. Thankfully, we have additional evidence. This completed works record from 1937 gives us more details of the tunnel's construction, right down to the serial numbers on its three ventilation fans.
We also have a high resolution copy of this blueprint, recently obtained with from the National Archives. There's a difference between this blueprint and the original one from the 1920s. In this later design we see an air ventilation system was added as part of a gas-proofing effort. The system featured a large exterior intake pipe, blower, and significant air ducting. Additionally, we now find two front door entrances to the tunnel.
Finally, this photo, taken in 1941, depicts what appears to be a bombproof infantry quarters tunnel on Fort Mills, and could be from the one at Battery Point, but I'm not certain. As we'll learn later on, an identical tunnel was constructed in nearby James Ravine, so this photo may have been taken inside that tunnel. Either way, it's interesting to see some of the bunk system, chains, and even what appears to be a ladder and ventilation shaft at the far end of the tunnel. (Tony, hopefully you can help me obtain a higher quality copy of this photo, without the watermark? Thanks!)
The Mystery
So what happened to the tunnel at Battery Point? Why is there no trace of the front entrance, air shaft cupolas, or any other sign of its existence today? This is an enigma that has fascinated me since I first learned about the tunnel in 2002. Let's take a look at a few historical records, beginning with the retaking of Corregidor Island by US forces in February of 1945. A deep dive into the 503rd's S-3 Journal turned up this this intriguing report, from February 19th:
Report #75 10:40am “Ammo dump in vicinity of Battery Point blew up. Upon check find that patrol covered outside of underground barracks. Platoon leader went to entrance and fired carbine thru doorway and the explosion followed – 4 men completely covered with debris.”
We know through other sources that the Platoon leader in this report was Lt. Joe Whitson of E Co. who sustained injuries to his eyes after this encounter and had to be evacuated. The explosion was also significant enough to cover four men in debris. But was it large enough to completely erase all traces of the tunnel? Enter the story of Lt. Bill Blake, taken from a book titled “The Return to Corregidor” by Harold Templeman. In his book, Templeman shares the colorful story of Blake, a demolitions expert, and his encounter with the tunnel:
Excerpts from page 18: “They came back with the report that they were trying to operate on one of the fixed American positions. The mouth was a former gun position and was protected by a double steel door. About 200 yards back was a ventilator. G-2 was wary of this position for they feared that it was a powder magazine. Our boys blasted open the first steel door with bazookas. Behind that was a little chamber and then the other door. When they went inside to open the other door they were greeted with Japanese grenades chucked through a couple of small openings in the wall for air. Naturally a strategic withdrawal was made and another huddle before taking that ball again. Finally it was decided to blast a lot of rock and dirt down against the first door and seal it up that way. Jake sent word for me to come down the next day and blow that whole thing up with some sort of delayed fuse so that we could evacuate our positions before the explosion went off. It was at this time that I concocted my now famous "Infernal machine." This was the most humorous incident of the whole show for me and is a part of the official record of the operation under the heading "An interesting insight into the Japanese's character." It didn't say anything about my character! Hill and I took a 5-gallon gas can full of napalm and taped 8 WP grenades around the outside of it. Around that we put about 6 turns of prima cord and a couple of blocks of TNT on each side. I cut a 15-minute fuse and put a cap into the prima cord. This I figured on dropping down the ventilator shaft.”
Blake goes on to describe a humorous (albeit darkly humorous) conversation that ensued between himself and a Japanese soldier, who's voice called out to him from the bottom of the air shaft. The Japanese soldier implores Blake not to blow up the tunnel, as there was eighty thousand pounds of dynamite down there with him! I won't recount the whole story here in detail, you can read it yourself, but the outcome of Blake's operation continues below.
Picking up on page 19: “I could fairly hear the pop of the prima cord and shortly after a deep roar and a huge cloud of black and white smoke belched up from the general area. We waited and waited for the Nip's 80,000 pounds of dynamite. It didn't go off. There was the crackling of some small arms ammo burning and a few explosions that may have been grenades but no sign of the big dynamite. We checked the entrance that we had closed the day before. It was still closed and smoke was seeping around the door jams and out of the holes from which the Japs had tossed their grenades. As a coup de grace, we blasted the little cupolo (sic) down into the shaft and sealed it up..."
We learn a lot of fascinating and detailed information from this story, including the fate of the air shaft cupola, and importantly, the entrance to the tunnel itself. Note the results of Blake's demolition work, namely that "it was decided to blast a lot of rock and dirt down against the first door and seal it up that way" and, when he "checked the entrance that we had closed the day before, it was still closed and smoke was seeping around the door jams and out of the holes ...” This seems to indicate that when they left the tunnel after their work, the cupola had been destroyed, and the front doors and walls of the tunnel were now covered with a rock slide, although still partially visible at that time. Yet we don't see this entrance today. Could the passing decades have covered up the tunnel entrance for good?
To better answer this question we need to travel forward in time, to April of 1945. Why April? Wasn't the 503rd long gone by then? Indeed they were withdrawn on March 8th, but mopping up operations continued for weeks afterwards, and thanks to the 38th Infantry Division M--7 Historical Report, we have this incredible story:
"On 10 April activity was observed around a cave on Battery Point. A patrol investigating this lost a man to enemy fire from the cave. It was decided to pour oil down one of the ventilators, and on 12 April this was started. Just as the first drum was emptied the Japanese blew up the entire cave. The explosion was terrific, smoke, dirt and rocks being thrown hundreds of feet in the air, leaving a crater over 100 feet in diameter and thirty feet deep. Nine men were killed, thirteen wounded, and four missing as a result of this."
This stunning report relates that somehow, the Japanese regained control of this tunnel after the work of Lt. Bill Blake back in February. And, incredibly enough it seems like the 80,000 pounds of dynamite survived his "infernal machine" up to this point as well. Either that or some other, large cache of explosives was moved here, but regardless, the whole tunnel, or front half of the tunnel, seems to have been vaporized by this massive explosion. It is this, final terrifying act of violence that seems to have destroyed it once and for all. Rest in peace, all the men who perished there...
The Search
In the summer of 2002, I had returned to the Philippines to attend a friend's wedding in Baguio. I had missed Corregidor a lot, my last visit having been 6 years prior. So I booked a 7 night stay on the island. It was during this visit I learned that Daniel Howell had recently been digging in the Battery Point area, in search of a “lost” tunnel. Intrigued, I hiked down to the location, and witnessed the results of his efforts. First, Dan had dug down and exposed a rain culvert entrance that ran underneath the road. It obviously had taken a great effort to do so, and I thought it was odd then but now I understand that this structure may have provided him with a fixed point on a map to measure out from. Here's a recent photo of the rain culvert entrance.
Next, following the rocky dry creek bed up, I found additional evidence of digging into the right side of a hill, not far from (or across from) the washed out concrete footbridge that was lying in the creek bed. Was this where Dan thought the tunnel entrance was located? Dan was a smart man who uncovered many things during his time on the island. At any rate, his efforts at that time were unsuccessful, and the tunnel entrance remained hidden.
Finally, around this same time I heard another interesting tale pertaining to the Battery Point area. An older Japanese man had recently been discovered digging here, and was kicked off the island for doing so. Apparently he was searching for the remains of a comrade, lost during the war. I found the location of his digging efforts too, an area NW of the rear tunnel cupola location, on a ridge. At the time, I thought this man was searching for the rear air shaft entrance, but then again, maybe he was looking for something else? There were many caves sealed up in this area during the retaking. Anyhow, his efforts uncovered only earth and rocks.
Others have searched for the tunnel over the years and have come up empty handed, but perhaps they were not aware of the events that occurred on 12 April 1945. Yet I still wonder what remains of the tunnel and if any of it survived? When was the last time anyone ever stepped foot in it? What sort of artifacts might be found inside it, should it be uncovered and opened up? If it has been left largely undisturbed since the explosion on 12 April 1945, the tunnel could still hold artifacts as well as human remains.
I would not be surprised to find at the tunnel:
- Human remains of Japanese and American soldiers
- Burned light arms and ammunition
- Japanese grenades
- Remains of Japanese equipment and supplies
- Remains of American equipment and supplies
The “infernal machine” that Blake dropped down the air shaft of the tunnel couldn't have fallen all the way down to the main tunnel. Checking the blueprint, we see it would have landed in the catch basin of the rear air shaft, which was designed for just such an occasion.
It's the explosion from the detonation of possibly "80,000 pounds" of dynamite in April that would have likely destroyed almost all artifacts and human remains. Still, something may remain. Only time will tell.
Inspiration from the James Ravine tunnel
We might not be able to enter the Battery Point tunnel today, but we can get a sense of what it might look like inside. Earlier I mentioned our mystery tunnel has an identical twin, which is quite useful for study purposes. Located in nearby James Ravine, this tunnel, practically identical in its construction to the Battery Point one, is still accessible today. Many people have visited it, including myself, and many photos have been taken of it, inside and out. Here are some photos of the James Ravine bombproof infantry quarters tunnel, courtesy of corregidor.org.
The entrance, nearly completely covered up by earth.
Inside, near some of the laterals of the tunnel.
Note the hooks in the wall and chains still hanging down for the bunk system.
And finally, the remains of the rear air shaft cupola.
Seeing these photos of the air shaft cupola, I can just imagine the conversation that occurred between Lt. Blake and that Japanese soldier at the Battery Point tunnel. What a story! And then later, the oil being poured down the air shaft and the massive explosion... such a tragedy.
Conclusion
Thanks to historical reports and accounts, we now know what happened to the Battery Point bombproof infantry quarters tunnel. I don't know if any of it survived the incredible violent acts of the war, or if we'll ever get to see its remains or walk inside it, but I hope to some day. Perhaps the tunnel wishes to be remembered as only a quiet footnote in history, and the spirits of the dead inside wish to remain undisturbed.