Identifying the men lost on Corregidor, April 12, 1945.
Mar 19, 2024 8:58:52 GMT 8
EXO, Karl Welteke, and 2 more like this
Post by Hounddog on Mar 19, 2024 8:58:52 GMT 8
I'll call this thread Part 1 for now, or hopefully edit it later with future updates. -Kevin Strahm (Hounddog)
In my seemingly endless search for all things Battery Point Corregidor, specifically information regarding the fate of the bombproof infantry barracks, I came across this jaw dropping entry in the 38th Infantry Division M-7 Report.
Source: corregidor.org/refdoc/Reference_Reading/Avengers/38th-Infantry-Division---Avengers-of-Bataan/90/index.html
"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."
Until stumbling onto this report, I naively assumed that all fighting around the Battery Point area had ended in February of 1945. Yet even as late as April, "mopping up" operations were ongoing on the island and the battle was far from over. The Japanese may not have been able to fight out in the open, but in their infinite dammed stubbornness continued to resist to the bitter end, and in this case, took out as many American lives as they could in a massive suicidal explosion.
Rather than simply make note of this impressive report and move on, I was challenged to find the names of the men who lost their lives in this horrific event. I began focusing on the date of April 10th. The report seems to read that one soldier lost their life on April 10, when a patrol investigating (the activity observed around a cave on Battery Point) lost a man to enemy fire from the cave.
The online records of the American Cemetery Manila allows one to conduct a burial search, and knowing the 2nd Battalion 151st Infantry and (possibly?) the 113th Engineering Battalion were on Corregidor at this time, I conducted a search for all men KIA or MIA on April 10.
There were forty entries, and unfortunately three of them did not include unit information or serial numbers, and will need further research, but one name stood out:
Robert S. Ballentyne, Jr. was with the 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, and curiously, is listed as MIA on April 10, 1945. Could he have died on Corregidor that day? If he was the man shot outside the tunnel I don't think he would have been MIA... more research is needed.
A search for all men KIA or MIA on April 11 yielded 52 names, and none of them were with my targeted units above, but again, interestingly enough three of them are only generically listed as with "US Infantry" and will need further researching. The 38th Infantry Division report doesn't say anyone was killed specifically on April 11, so... possible casualties on Corregidor?
A search for all men KIA or MIA on April 12 gave me 49 names. Nine of these men were with the 38th Infantry Division, but only five of the nine were with the 113th Engineering Battalion (which I'm unsure if still on Corregidor April 10-12, 1945?) and one was with the 151st. They are:
Augustine, Michael 33472162 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, MIA
Douglas, William J. 33781134 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Gill, Michael E. 33318359 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Murphy, William C. 35314600 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Peowie, Albert E. 32342477 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, MIA (I've seen his name before somewhere...)
Haines, Walter J. 12211883 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, MIA. This man being listed as MIA fits the report of "4 missing" after the tunnel explosion. Perhaps he was one of the men lost in the avalanche of dirt and rock, or tragically vaporized in the explosion?
So it seems from just the American Cemetery Manila records alone, I am still very far from identifying all of the "9 men killed and 4 missing" from the events of April10-12, 1945. That is 13 men in total. But I may have identified a few. The search will go on. I also need to determine if the 113th Enginner Combat Battalion was still on Corregidor during April 10-12, 1945. I know they were there before these dates, just not sure if they were transferred out after the 2nd Battalion 151st Infantry was given full control of the island on February 24th. Anyone with additional knowledge who can help me out would be appreciated.
All for now. -Kevin (Hounddog)
In my seemingly endless search for all things Battery Point Corregidor, specifically information regarding the fate of the bombproof infantry barracks, I came across this jaw dropping entry in the 38th Infantry Division M-7 Report.
Source: corregidor.org/refdoc/Reference_Reading/Avengers/38th-Infantry-Division---Avengers-of-Bataan/90/index.html
"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."
Until stumbling onto this report, I naively assumed that all fighting around the Battery Point area had ended in February of 1945. Yet even as late as April, "mopping up" operations were ongoing on the island and the battle was far from over. The Japanese may not have been able to fight out in the open, but in their infinite dammed stubbornness continued to resist to the bitter end, and in this case, took out as many American lives as they could in a massive suicidal explosion.
Rather than simply make note of this impressive report and move on, I was challenged to find the names of the men who lost their lives in this horrific event. I began focusing on the date of April 10th. The report seems to read that one soldier lost their life on April 10, when a patrol investigating (the activity observed around a cave on Battery Point) lost a man to enemy fire from the cave.
The online records of the American Cemetery Manila allows one to conduct a burial search, and knowing the 2nd Battalion 151st Infantry and (possibly?) the 113th Engineering Battalion were on Corregidor at this time, I conducted a search for all men KIA or MIA on April 10.
There were forty entries, and unfortunately three of them did not include unit information or serial numbers, and will need further research, but one name stood out:
Robert S. Ballentyne, Jr. was with the 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, and curiously, is listed as MIA on April 10, 1945. Could he have died on Corregidor that day? If he was the man shot outside the tunnel I don't think he would have been MIA... more research is needed.
A search for all men KIA or MIA on April 11 yielded 52 names, and none of them were with my targeted units above, but again, interestingly enough three of them are only generically listed as with "US Infantry" and will need further researching. The 38th Infantry Division report doesn't say anyone was killed specifically on April 11, so... possible casualties on Corregidor?
A search for all men KIA or MIA on April 12 gave me 49 names. Nine of these men were with the 38th Infantry Division, but only five of the nine were with the 113th Engineering Battalion (which I'm unsure if still on Corregidor April 10-12, 1945?) and one was with the 151st. They are:
Augustine, Michael 33472162 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, MIA
Douglas, William J. 33781134 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Gill, Michael E. 33318359 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Murphy, William C. 35314600 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, KIA
Peowie, Albert E. 32342477 113th Engineer Combat Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, MIA (I've seen his name before somewhere...)
Haines, Walter J. 12211883 151st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, MIA. This man being listed as MIA fits the report of "4 missing" after the tunnel explosion. Perhaps he was one of the men lost in the avalanche of dirt and rock, or tragically vaporized in the explosion?
So it seems from just the American Cemetery Manila records alone, I am still very far from identifying all of the "9 men killed and 4 missing" from the events of April10-12, 1945. That is 13 men in total. But I may have identified a few. The search will go on. I also need to determine if the 113th Enginner Combat Battalion was still on Corregidor during April 10-12, 1945. I know they were there before these dates, just not sure if they were transferred out after the 2nd Battalion 151st Infantry was given full control of the island on February 24th. Anyone with additional knowledge who can help me out would be appreciated.
All for now. -Kevin (Hounddog)