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Post by okla on Apr 28, 2011 21:03:55 GMT 8
Hey Chad....That's a great photo. If I'm not mistaken, it's a 1940 or 41 Cadillac. Certainly not a humble Ford or Chevy. A vehicle that only a "honcho" would be authorized. It definitely is in need of a bit of "body shop" attention. Cheers. Postscript...3 Stars for a Lt General and that surely limits it to MacArthur and "Skinny". I remember newsreel (Japanese) of Yamashita accepting the formal surrender of Singapore and he reviewed his troops and thousands of captured Brits, Scots, Aussies, Indians lined up in parade formation. How humiliating that must have been? Anyhow he cruised up and down the formation in a humble, 1940 or 41 Dodge/Plymouth. It was probably captured, but all that pomp,etc and the "Tiger of Malaya" was reviewing the formations in a vehicle that ordinarily would be used by a Battalion Commander. One would think that a more glamorous vehicle, fitting the occasion, could have been commandeered from one of the rubber plantation owners. Sometimes, I wonder how I get off on these tangents. Cheers.
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Post by fots2 on Apr 29, 2011 18:49:56 GMT 8
This photo is the same or a similar block of concrete to the one batteryboy has posted. Anyone know where it was located?
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Post by chadhill on Apr 29, 2011 19:45:08 GMT 8
Fots, where do you you come up with such photos? Amazing. That chain link fence with its interesting posts vaguely rings a bell in my noggin', but I can't remember where. I know nothing about antique cars, and am not trying to hijack this thread, but last night I was browsing thru Gregory Michno's "Death on the Hellships" and came across a passage (p. 258) that said when the Oryoku Maru was being loaded on 13 DEC 1944 at Pier 7, it contained "items looted from the Philippines, including General MacArthur's Packard", the remnants of which would now be at the bottom of Subic Bay. I got to digging around, and came upon this photo said to be of MacArthur's "1941 Packard 160 Clipper, serial number 1512-5747" which cannot be the car in question because of the five star flag. This picture is from the Corregidor museum. According to the sign it is a "1937 Cabriolet". The photo in reply # 8 was said to be of "MacArthur's staff car on Corregidor". Another little mystery?
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Post by okla on Apr 29, 2011 21:47:37 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Could that "5 Star" bedecked 1941 Packard possibly be the staff car that Gen'l Mac tooled around devastated Manila in during early 1945??? Regarding the photo of the Nurse/ WAC posing beside the Corregidor "stone"....Wasn't there a "chain and shell" layout near the Topside Parade Ground, possibly in front of the HQ Building? That modest elevation or hill behind the woman has me puzzled. Otherwise I would be inclined to think this photo was taken at Bottomside. Another Corregidor puzzle to solve. Keep 'em coming. Cheers.
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Post by okla on Apr 30, 2011 6:34:50 GMT 8
Hey Fots.....Since that huge stone/block,etc seems to be made of concrete, with molded lettering, don't you think it reasonable that several of these objects might have been easily turned out and placed at various points about the rock, i.e, the dock areas, in front of the HQ complex and other locations? Unless the two photos were taken from different angles (and with the lettering being on the two opposite sides) I just can't get the background, terrain, etc in perspective or a good idea where this thing is or was. I operate at a definite disadvantage, having never been to "the Rock", but I do make an effort. The only trouble with this is my too vivid imagination, often times, betrays me. I wonder if one or more of these "trophys" might have been shipped back to Nippon for display. There goes my imagination once again. Cheers.
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Post by fots2 on Apr 30, 2011 18:59:36 GMT 8
I agree okla.
I would be surprised if only one of these concrete blocks were on Corregidor. They are not often seen in photos for some reason. I can make a guess as to where one of them was but it is only a guess. Hopefully more photos of them will surface with a recognizable background.
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Post by okla on Apr 30, 2011 20:46:52 GMT 8
Hey Fots....One more thing pertaining to the "Corregidor" monuments/stones, or whatever we should call them. Do you suppose these objects were hollow which would make them much easier to move away/destroy,etc? Each shot shows what appears to be a "crease",etc running from top to bottom on the side.. Maybe from where the cement "oozed" when placed in a "mold" or some such gadget. If they were hollow they certainly could have been "carted" away, demolished, used for fill, or just dumped in the Bay with ease. Riddles abound and as you said, may they always. Cheers.
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Post by batteryboy on May 14, 2011 20:57:30 GMT 8
Hey Okla, I remembered you when I just found a nice photo of the "Day Room" at Clark in 1945. Your explanation fits the bill (sans the billiard and pingpong table)
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Post by okla on May 14, 2011 23:33:15 GMT 8
Hey Battery....That 1945 layout ain't half bad for an installation that had only been back in American hands for a few months. You can bet your "Bippy" that the billiard and ping pong tables were "on the way". In fact, the way I understand it, by the time we left Clark, that installation had every "goodie" for both Officers and Enlisted that one could possibly want. They didn't call it the "Country Club of the USAF" for no reason. It supposedly had the highest Alcoholism rate, in the whole Air Force, at one time. Financial problems abounded, chiefly due to gambling at the Officer/NCO Clubs. Civilian wives were supposedly pouring grocery money into the slot machines. The House Armed Services Committee looked into the matter, I am told, and more stringent guidelines were put into place. All this was happening not too long before we quit the PI, militarily. I still wish, to my dying day, that I had been allowed to extend my FEAF hitch for one more year at Clark, in 1953, instead of returning to a Texas installation. Cheers and thanks for posting the pic of that 1945 Day Room.
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