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Post by cbuehler on Nov 29, 2012 3:49:18 GMT 8
This is view west towards Manila. The road is shown, however in 1945 there were no roads. Post war mining of the hillsides is evident. Trails were laboriously made, often under fire. Food and supplies sometimes had to be towed up by bulldozers. The heat here during March is terrible. These photos were taken in late last February and do show how the terrain appeared during the battles until burned away by napalm and phosphorous. Attachments:
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 29, 2012 3:33:00 GMT 8
A view to the east over Woodpecker ridge. As in Bataan, there is no visible evidence of the intensity of the fighting which took place here. Attachments:
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 29, 2012 3:28:44 GMT 8
I am having difficulty posting the pics due to the size restrictions. I have had to crop them substantially, so please bear with me! Anyway, this is a shot of the view to the northwest towards the Bulacan and Ipo areas taken from near to the top of Mataba. Attachments:
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 29, 2012 3:17:34 GMT 8
While Karl and Fots have been doing their own contributions on areas outside of the normal Corregidor/Bataan subject, I thought I might start off with a little "left field" material myself. Without getting into too much detail, in late February 1945 the US Army launched its offensive against General Yokoyama's Shimbu Group which retreated to the Sierra Madre mountain range east of Manila. Approximately in the center of this defensive range lay Mts. Mataba and Pacawagan. The initial task of taking the Mataba area fell to General Patrick's 6th Infantry Division. The task proved more difficult than anticipated as the assault on the mountain went well into March. Indeed, so difficult and hazardous was the fighting that General Patrick himself was killed (mortally wounded) by a dug in Japanese machine gun emplacement on the slopes. The terrain in the entire general area consists of open grassy slopes and ridges with precipitous draws and ravines that are densly foliated. Ideal for in depth defences which the Japanese took full advantage of. The first picture is looking east up to the top of the Mt. Mataba ridge. Access to this point is via Shotgun road which winds up the mountain from the foothills below. To the best of my investigation, just over it and down somewhat lies Woodpecker ridge, the site of the most difficult portion of the battle in this area. The new San Mateo landfill is being constructed here and I spoke with the security guard who said that much unexploded ordnance had been discovered in the area over the years, but he seemed to feel that little remains now. Other than the landfill, the whole area is little changed from 1945. Attachments:
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 23, 2012 0:38:56 GMT 8
I second your assessment of Col. Miller's book! There actually are a few good accounts from Filipino scources. I am not familiar with Co. Pena's account and will have to find it. I also recommend "A time for War; 105 days in Bataan" by Gen. Rigoberto Atienza. It may prove difficult to find however as it appears to have been a private publication from 1985. Atienza was the Engineer officer for the 41st Div. (PA) and subsequently became the 13th Chief of Staff Armed Forces of the Phils. in the 1960's. As an aside, it seems to me that most of the best accounts come from officers.
CB
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 22, 2012 9:39:54 GMT 8
Hi Karl, As usual, outstanding material here. I have never been to the Hamilo area before. The major SM development you alluded to is of course the Hamilo Cove condominium project. How to I know this? I am guilty ( ignorant I perhaps ) of being part and parcel of this project as my wife and family purchased a condo in it. I have only recently become aware of the area in the historical sense and am sad that the Japanese memorial has been lost as well as general access. The Hamilo cove area was also a base of Marking's Guerillas in 45 and apparently has greater historical significance than has been generally recognized. It is efforts such as yours that bring the history of a land and people that I love so much to the present day for all to have a chance to be at least be aware of what had taken place before us. It is all disappearing so quickly! CB
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 22, 2012 3:07:28 GMT 8
I had been reading another thread on the forum regarding the plethora of books and accounts of the Bataan battles and surrender. Mention had been made by Munson regarding the care with which any serious student of the history should exercise in accepting the validity of much that has been written on the subject. I very much agree with this. I have read accounts which seemed to border on fiction to the degree that I threw them out! In all cases when studying history, much of what makes up the truth is that which did NOT happen relative to what did. But it is what DID happen that normally is written about and remembered. Bataan is remains a very emotional and at times controversial subject to this very day. It is said that history is written by the victors and this does hold some validity. Unfortunately for historians and posterity, there is very little information we have from the Japanese experience and highly unlikely there will ever be anything more forthcoming. We primarily have to rely on the what can be gleamed from the America and Filipino accounts for insight into the Japanese actions and this is of course fraught with potential inaccuracies. The very first book about Bataan that I read was Col. Richard C. Mallonee's Battle for Bataan (Originally published as The Naked Flagpole) and it remains one of my favorites. I always felt it was written with honesty, balance and an unbiased assessment of the battle and surrender. His account of the Death March recognizes some of its causes more honestly than many.
CB
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 19, 2012 2:04:42 GMT 8
I for one will re-state this with no hesitation whatsoever; The sign is not from ww2. It is however a very nice piece of Corregidor's post war history and I would dearly love to have it myself! Even a modest familiarity with the history of the island during and after the war would show that their would be virtually no chance of this sign having survived the war up to the time it was claimed as found. Fots has done a lot of work to respond to the issue, but I would not have gone to the trouble. And yes, bugs and moisture would have damaged it had it been there for more than a few years. The weather on Corregidor is incredibly corrosive. The Japanese did destroy signs (probably smashed the hell out of something like this) and other remaining signs and replaced them where needed (which were in turn either destroyed in 1945 or subsequent cleanups of the island). Remember that Malinta tunnel was blown up by the Japanese during the battle in 45 and totally cleared requiring substantial restoration over the years.
CB
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 15, 2012 0:59:19 GMT 8
I second the Thanks to all those who own, moderate and contribute to the site. There is no other like it and hopefully due to the efforts of those intrepid explorers who do so much out in the field, the battles of the Philippines will never be forgotten. As can be seen, we getting ever closer to identifying and recording the actual locations of where the many battles took place. I hope that soon we all will know as much of the Philippines and its history during the war as that of Europe and that these locations may be protected in the future.
CB
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Post by cbuehler on Nov 14, 2012 6:28:29 GMT 8
Hi Okla! With regard to the "Pockets" area up near the Cotar river area, I did take a very short hike going a little south of where the marker for this battle is now located (along the Pilar/Bagac road just past a small bridge). According to period maps, the pockets were less than a mile south of this point. The river, actually a shallow stream, split off into two streams and were bordered by bamboo thickets. Just beyond this area the land opened up more with rolling hills and appeared quite cultivated with areas of fruit trees and others. No sign of the dense jungle as usually described. The area which I took to be the general locations of the pockets is jungle no more and I did not proceed further. One would need GPS to try and pin down the locations better, but they would appear to be cultivated now.
CB
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