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Post by dmether on Jan 26, 2011 13:44:46 GMT 8
s1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd480/dmether/USS%20Quail/[/url]In my Photobucket, under USS Quail, I posted a June 16, 1942 report by the Commanding Officer of the USS Quail where he tells how himself and 17 others made it from Corregidor to Darwin in a small boat. Has a good first-hand account of the fall of Corregidor and the other islands.
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Post by dmether on Jan 26, 2011 10:11:43 GMT 8
This was taken when the US first came to the Philippines, so around 1898 or 1899. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Jan 25, 2011 14:26:52 GMT 8
Rod Sterling of "The Twilight Zone" fought with the 11th ABRN in Leyte.
Rock Hudson, US Navy mechanic in the Philippines during WWII.
Colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons fought in the Philippines as well.
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Post by dmether on Jan 25, 2011 9:22:46 GMT 8
There isn't a whole lot left of Camp O'Donnell, called the "Capas National Shrine" but at least its a Philippine military camp, which means its guarded, but it's open to the public. The hut and guard tower are gone now, they were put up a few years ago (I think 2002 to commemorate the 60th anniversary). Off in a far corner is an area with all the memorials, and there is a visitors center. Once a year the VFW and other American and Filipino veteran organizations conduct a commemoration, which I try to attend. The part that is left of the camp is the Filipino side. The area where the Americans were kept, and the cemetery, is now a housing area. It's hard to find any landmarks from the original camp as so much has changed. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Jan 24, 2011 19:28:30 GMT 8
Going back to the "Hotel Tacloban" what I've found on it is a couple of dispositions concerning the execution of a USN-R Lt. James Bullock.
In the "Summery of Fact" section it states that 10 American officers were brought to the Leyte Prov. Jail on 23 June 1943. Subsequently they were moved to the Tacloban High School which was being used as a POW camp. Some of the POWs were: 1. Col. Cornell, Inf 2. Lt. Comdr. W. Green, USN-R 3 Lt. Slane, USN-R 4. Lt. Herr, Cav 5. Lt. Garwick, USN 6. Lt. Bullock 7. Lt. Spott, Inf 8. Two additional unnamed officers who arrived from Cebu. For 9 and 10 I'd assume they were enlisted, and also remain unnamed.
There is no mention of any Australian POWs but it does mention there are Filipino.
Lt. Bullock was executed, along with three Filipino's, on 6 July 1942 at the Tacloban jail. The three Filipino's were: 1. Belicario, Cirilo-Civilian thief 2. Cinco-A soldier 3. Mendiola, Norberto-Sergeant
Why was Lt. Bullock executed? The story from the 6 November 1944 report is, Lt. Bullock was in love with a local girl, he was smuggling letters to her through Sgt. Mendiola (who was allowed in and out of the camp). Unfortunately, this girl had a Japanese Army boyfriend and turned Bullock in.
There is more to the story, but bottom line, there were only a small number of POWs in the camp, and there is nothing about Australians being there.
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Post by dmether on Jan 24, 2011 12:14:09 GMT 8
A page from the IDPF of Martin Arlin, still MIA from the work detail. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Jan 24, 2011 12:09:25 GMT 8
If anyone has read Dr. Paul Ashton's book "Bataan Diary" or "Tears in the Darkness" by Michael Norman, they both talk about one of the deadly work details the American POWs out of Camp O'Donnell were put on. Their job was to build a road. The detail arrived at the work site on 29 May 1942 with 300 men. Around 1 July 1942 Dr. Ashton and two medics arrived. On 28 July 1942 the Japanese ended the work detail, only 187 men were still alive. During the work detail, the POWs had no place set up to sleep, so had to sleep on the rocks next to the river. All their food was cooked out of a rusty wheelbarrow. In 2007 I went to Basaid to find this site. Not much is left, the original bridge can be seen in the pictue, the concrete slabs in the river. Just above those slabs, on the right side of the river are the rocks the POWs slept on. It's quite a drive to reach the site. From Manila it took us around 6 hours, however the roads are pretty good most of the way. Not much to see at the site because a rice field has been built over it, extending almost to the river. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Jan 24, 2011 9:02:55 GMT 8
Yes, sounds good. I'll be in the States from 31 Jan to 21 March, but when I get back we'll check out some trails. Was also at Edna Binkowski's house, she does battlefield tours of Bataan. On her wall is a 1942 US Army trail map which I made copies of. I've been using the "Fall of the Philippines" book maps, think the same one you have posted. I just started "photobucket" s1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd480/dmether/Added some aerial photo's of Corregidor being bombed in 1945, and some other pictures.
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Post by dmether on Jan 23, 2011 12:12:18 GMT 8
Haven't heard that before but doesn't suprise me. I have one dispostion where an American killed a Japanese guard, it's from Tec 5 Lewis A. Moore who says "On the morning of the second day of the march a Japanese guard grabbed me to search me in the brush. He had a bayonet and ordered me to my knees. I took his bayonet from him, stabbed him in the stomach, and then cut off his head."
The date of the dispostion is 16 Nov 1944. He's listed as having survived the 7 Sept 44 sinking of the Shinyo Maru, however I'm not sure of that.
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Post by dmether on Jan 22, 2011 23:48:53 GMT 8
The caption on the back says "Men of the crack 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment of Noemfoor and Markham Valley fame, make their way over a difficult trail on Corregidor Island..." Notice 2nd guy from right looks like he has a different type of uniform on, camouflaged. When you look at what the US Military wears today in combat and compare it with WWII, got to feel for those WWII guys with only a piece of thin cotton between them and a bullet. Attachments:
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