Post by fots2 on May 15, 2009 16:11:48 GMT 8
I always had the feeling that Morrison Hill is kind of in the middle of nowhere on Corregidor. If anyone ventures nearby then they are probably walking past it to go visit the 6 inch disappearing guns of Battery Morrison.
What they do not realize is that there is a wealth of history up there. It ranges from the remnants of Battery Chicago’s 3” Anti-aircraft gun positions of Battery C, 60th Coast Artillery, to an underground magazine plus intact and destroyed control stations.
The soil on this hill consists of hard red clay so you will also see the most preserved hand-dug defensive positions I have seen anywhere on the island. Many are lined on the inside with rusting rock filled barrels and metal pipes. Some are in a line spaced across the hill and some are in semi-circular shapes near the top facing lower ground.
The whole area is littered with rusting and crumpled metal barrels among the many bomb and shell craters. The old roads are fully covered by trees etc but quite easy to identify.
My goal for this trip was to find and photograph all five AA gun mounts and the underground magazine. Walking in the area is not too hard but there is a lot of old vegetation on the ground which made finding the low profile gun mounts difficult. I only found three out of five. The magazine was easy to find. Although the final two gun mounts will have to wait for another trip, I did come across one surprise.
It was an intact concrete position on top of a small hill facing north. At the doorway these letters are in concrete: RANGE SEC and C-60th 1941. A hole is in the centre of the floor which most likely was for the mount of range finding equipment utilized by the anti-aircraft battery.
of the three AA gun mounts I found, this one was the easiest to see. This view is before I cleared away some vegetation. Four mounts are arranged in roughly a straight line and a fifth one is just to the east. This is the eastern mount so I’ll call it #5.
this is the same AA mount #5 after some cleaning. It is the ‘keyhole’ type mount.
this is AA gun mount #2 (they count from south-east to north-west). Note that it is of different construction being a round 2 metre pedestal only. There is a smaller open circle in the middle. If there is a lower concrete outer ring then I could not see it by kicking away dirt.
this is AA gun mount #4 after some cleaning. It is the ‘keyhole’ type mount.
smooth walled defensive position in the red clay at the top of a hill
notice the rusted metal pipe and barrel
here is the Battery Chicago southern entrance to the underground magazine.
looking back up the steps towards the southern entrance
at the bottom of the southern and northern staircases, another staircase (perpendicular to the first two) goes down to the magazine
looking down the final staircase to the magazine
in the magazine looking towards the exit. Lizards dropping onto the floor all around me so time to get out
looking out the northern entrance. Note the barrels filled with rocks and soil to protect defenders of the magazine
looking down into the northern entrance
on top of the magazine looking down into the ventilation shaft
concrete position at the top of a little hill
entrance to the position
looking out the entrance. This is a low walled structure with no roof.
the structure is almost oval shaped
the outside wall. Note bolts and nuts, not sure what was bolted there.
the purpose of the structure: RANGE SEC
the owners of the structure: C-60th 1941
What they do not realize is that there is a wealth of history up there. It ranges from the remnants of Battery Chicago’s 3” Anti-aircraft gun positions of Battery C, 60th Coast Artillery, to an underground magazine plus intact and destroyed control stations.
The soil on this hill consists of hard red clay so you will also see the most preserved hand-dug defensive positions I have seen anywhere on the island. Many are lined on the inside with rusting rock filled barrels and metal pipes. Some are in a line spaced across the hill and some are in semi-circular shapes near the top facing lower ground.
The whole area is littered with rusting and crumpled metal barrels among the many bomb and shell craters. The old roads are fully covered by trees etc but quite easy to identify.
My goal for this trip was to find and photograph all five AA gun mounts and the underground magazine. Walking in the area is not too hard but there is a lot of old vegetation on the ground which made finding the low profile gun mounts difficult. I only found three out of five. The magazine was easy to find. Although the final two gun mounts will have to wait for another trip, I did come across one surprise.
It was an intact concrete position on top of a small hill facing north. At the doorway these letters are in concrete: RANGE SEC and C-60th 1941. A hole is in the centre of the floor which most likely was for the mount of range finding equipment utilized by the anti-aircraft battery.
of the three AA gun mounts I found, this one was the easiest to see. This view is before I cleared away some vegetation. Four mounts are arranged in roughly a straight line and a fifth one is just to the east. This is the eastern mount so I’ll call it #5.
this is the same AA mount #5 after some cleaning. It is the ‘keyhole’ type mount.
this is AA gun mount #2 (they count from south-east to north-west). Note that it is of different construction being a round 2 metre pedestal only. There is a smaller open circle in the middle. If there is a lower concrete outer ring then I could not see it by kicking away dirt.
this is AA gun mount #4 after some cleaning. It is the ‘keyhole’ type mount.
smooth walled defensive position in the red clay at the top of a hill
notice the rusted metal pipe and barrel
here is the Battery Chicago southern entrance to the underground magazine.
looking back up the steps towards the southern entrance
at the bottom of the southern and northern staircases, another staircase (perpendicular to the first two) goes down to the magazine
looking down the final staircase to the magazine
in the magazine looking towards the exit. Lizards dropping onto the floor all around me so time to get out
looking out the northern entrance. Note the barrels filled with rocks and soil to protect defenders of the magazine
looking down into the northern entrance
on top of the magazine looking down into the ventilation shaft
concrete position at the top of a little hill
entrance to the position
looking out the entrance. This is a low walled structure with no roof.
the structure is almost oval shaped
the outside wall. Note bolts and nuts, not sure what was bolted there.
the purpose of the structure: RANGE SEC
the owners of the structure: C-60th 1941