Battle of the Pockets

[Karl Welteke]

Upper Pocket, Battle of the Pockets. 23rd Feb. 2013.

Conrad Buehler and I finally made it to the Battle of the Pockets and with the help of Mr. Alehandre, a resident near by, we are certain that we identified the Upper Pocket of the battle. We found bullets and other material just sticking out of the ground of the fields Mr. Alehandre pointed out to us. Then on top of it all he gave a treasure cove of WWII artifacts to Conrad. Thank you very much, Mr. Alehandre!

THIS LINK WITH MULTIPLY IMAGE SHARING ACCOUNT IS DEAD FOR EVER. I have been having bad luck in choosing the right image sharing accounts. Multiply just dropped this service even though I had 2 year paid pro account with them.
Other personal activities will prevent me to tackle this problem for the next 4 month and today is 2013-03-24.
Also had problems with the Kodak sharing account in the past and now my Photobucket account is making things difficult also. DON’T RECOMMEND NEITHER ONE TO ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

77 images have been uploaded here including 3 maps.
pisailor.multiply.com/photos/album/163/Upper-Pocket-Battle-of-the-Pockets.-23rd-Feb.-2013.


A good reference for reading up on this battle is here:
United States Army in World War II
The War in the Pacific
The Fall of the Philippines
Louis Morton
www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/USA-P-PI-18.html

Here are some sample pictures:


These are mostly artifacts that Mr.Alejandre gave to Conrad and a few items he found himself. The few items I found I have not photographed yet. We tried to show our appreciation but MR Alejandre refused and said he was glad to give it to us because we were interested in history.


The bridge over the Culvo River which seems to be the boundary between the Municipalities of Pilar and Bagac. Here is the welcome gate to Bagac located and the Battle of the Pockets Marker.


The Bagac Welcome Gate, the Battle of the Pockets Marker is hidden by my car. This location is about 2 km or so east from the start of trail #7.


This history plaque on the left post of the Bagac Welcome gate post had an interesting tidbit that President Quezon found his bride in Bagac here when he was an freedom fighter against the Americans during the Philippine American War in 1900.


On this map the Gogo River has the name Binukawan, this name was also on the bridge upriver where it went under the Pilar-Bagac Road in Barangay (village or barrio) San Antonio.


This Google Earth map gives you all the landmarks that help you identify where the pictures where shot and you can figure out in what direction. This map also shows our GPS track.


This map from the Fall of the Philippines is most important really, in identifying where we were and helps you understand where one is in reality and on the more modern map.


At right is Mr. Alejandre who took us right under his arm and took us to his field where he said he found WWII things all the time.


Obviously we are looking east and across a field where we found most of the things and they were just laying on the ground.


I’m looking S to SW across the Tuol River.


I’m just south of the cemetery and I’m looking north. In the depression below is the Gogo River, flowing from east to west. On the modern map the river is now called Binukawan but the people here were familiar with the Gogo name.


Using the Fall of the Philippine map, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the ex Trail # 7 and it is heading south towards the west flank of Mt. Mariveles. Because of this map we had no trouble finding this place at all. This image was shot from Point “Y” on the marked up Google map.


Conrad Buehler at work. But the metal detector was beeping all the time and all he found was very small rusty iron chips. On the 2nd day he gave up using the device and we found things with our naked eyes.

[Bob Hudson]

Digging up artifacts is contagious. For me it is like gold panning. You were not far from the Pantingan massacre. This map shows where some Marines who were hiking in the area in the late 70's and found over a hundred human bones in a river bed. They gathered them and buried them on the side of the river and created a crude cross. They marked the location on this topographical map but as far as I know, no one ever wen back. I plan to go there some day but do not know when.

Attachments:

[victor]

Karl, what a great exploration.I am agonized with envy right now... and even more so when you get around to posting your photos and stories of your hike at the Points. All I do here in the US is read and dream about Bataan and the hiking exploration I could do next time I visit (for just a day or two and every few years in between at that). You guys do it at will. Good job. I wish I could have been there.

It's interesting to note that no battalion of troops could hide or be lost in the present day Pockets. Everything's pasture or farm lands now, not jungle.

I feel the same as Bob about artifacts. To me, they are my "Yamashita's Gold".

[okla]

Hey Karl...I echo Vic's feelings completely, except he does get to spend those "few" days every couple of years whereas all I can do is dream about prowling Bataan and Corregidor. I, especially, appreciate this trip to the "Pockets" battle area. I have been highly interested in this, generally neglected, aspect of the Bataan campaign and have continually dreamed that one of you local guys would eventually take us "stateside" Bataan "geeks" to this sacred ground. Thanks again for coming through on this hoped for tour. As Vic so stated the topography of the present day area, in no way resembles the 1942 layout. What a nasty fight that must have been. Eyeball to eyeball and it, happily, ended with the "good guys", for a change, coming out on top. Thanks again for posting this great stuff. Postscript....Are those one piece, GI fatigues being sported by Conrad??? Also, is that a 6th Infantry Division shoulder patch on the upper left sleeve??? When I was in the USAF, way back in the early 1950s, we were issued those left over WW 2, one piece fatigues. Oh, how I hated those things, especially when you had to undo them, just to visit the latrine and "do a number two" (if you get my drift). It was a common occurrence for a sleeve to get dipped into the adjoining commode and, of course, having them down around your ankles, always allowed them to "mop" up the latrine floor. In Korea, I purchased, a set of two piece fatigues from a Army guy assigned to an anti-aircraft battery, situated adjacent to our Wing HQ Quonset Hut. Of course, by that time and in that locale, we didn't have the use of commodes, but, rather, a contraption I won't attempt to describe at this time.

[chadhill]

Great job, Karl and Conrad. Many beautiful photos on your website, P.I. Sailor!

Did you have a chance to visit the cemetery? Just curious, since Abie Abraham mentions finding a cemetery in this area after the war, mostly with Japanese and Filipino dead.

Bob, it's hard to believe but apparently General Nara was never tried for that massacre. Here is a link to a photo taken about three years ago, said to be of the site:

picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VvhhHb9bhIpL38WRaCNtIA

[Karl Welteke]

-- Chadhill, if you asking about the cemetery in the pictures, it is a post war cemetery and that area must have been part of the Upper Pocket battle field. Thanks for your comment.

-- OKLA When we were planning this, and then doing it my mind was often with you. And I even mentioned it to Conrad several times that -okla- had wondered several times when finally someone will go there. I will go there again in the future to locate the other pockets and get a real good picture of the geography there. And I always will keep you on my mind! Yes, they were what we sailors called Government coveralls which we in the Navy used for dirty work. We Chief Petty Officers preferred the khaki coveralls which we could buy at Sears and safe wearing out our khaki uniform. Yes that was the 6th Inf. Div shoulder patch, remember last year Conrad followed the Division tracks in the Sierra Madre.

-- Vic I’m not quite that intense about artifacts, I rather look at the geography like a troop commander. I’ll be here as of Jul. and the rest of the year. I’ll be waiting for you. Maybe in two days I will get the next location out onto the www.

-- Bob Hudson. One day we will look at that Pantingan River and that ghastly massacre that happened there.

-- EXO. Let me chime in with the other for you starting the new thread re: The War in the Pacific Was Worse. Thanks Buddy.

[cbuehler]

All,
I will add a report on the relics here. Finding evidence on site is truly an revelation for me. It not only makes the history come much closer, but it tells you facts that otherwise may only be assumptions. Furthermore, I always record where I find them to preserve their history for the future. What little remains will either be found and preserved, found and discarded (what usually happened according to Alejandro) or decay completely in the ground over time.
As mentioned, the site of Alejandro's fields are astride trail 7 approximately 1/2 mile south of the main road. This would indicate the area of the battle of the upper pocket.
The little pocket area would be to the east and the big pocket still further to the south along trail 7. As can be seen, nearly the entire area has been cultivated now with the exception of the shallow ravines of the rivers. Alejandro said that there were still trees and brush on his fields in the 70's and 80's. He also said there used to be the remains of a tank much further south towards the mountains, but he was not specific enough to get a better determination,
The only reason that so many relics were visible on his land is because the soil had been turned which of course revealed the relics which would otherwise have been still buried.
Found on site were:

US
.30 cal. cases and bullets, the majority of the bullets being earlier M1 173 grain boat tail, with some later M2 150 grain flat base also found.
.30 cal. rifle stripper clips
.50 cal. M2 ball bullets

Japanese
6.5 mm cases and bullets
7.7 mm semi rimmed cases and bullets for the type 92 heavy MG
Battle damage canteen (found earlier by Alejandro)
2 pieces of Japanese mess kits and equipment

The quantity of expended US ammunition found considerably exceeded that of the Japanese. This is usually the case on all Pacific battlefields, due to a combination of factors, including larger numbers of US troops and quantities of ammunition (in this case Filipino). Also, the Japanese generally displayed much tighter fire control discipline than US troops throughout the war.
No material made of steel was found at this site. By now, extremely little ordnance or equipment made of this would remain, having been either found or totally decayed. This would apply to all other battlefields as well.

CB

[cbuehler]

And by the way, the overalls I wore on these expeditions are ww2 HBT that has a 6th Div. patch on them. They proved to be the best clothing for the purpose than any other I have worn! Much more comfortable and useful than trousers and shirt.

CB

[victor]

Thanks for the photos and report. I wish I could have been there with you guys.

I am of the same mind as CB. I would also record the spot where I might find relics. There's a show in the History Channel called Battlefield Detectives and they investigated shells and relics at Custer's Last Stand. Where the shells fell, the concentration of relics, etc told them a lot about how the battle ebbed and flowed. Very fascinating stuff.

I’m really curious as to why the metal detector was useless. Was the sensitivity level adjustable? From what I gather, I think it’s supposed to emit a steady low beep but turn into a high pitched rapid beeping if it passes over metal. Was it rapidly beeping the whole time? Could it be too sensitive to the minerals in the soil? Could there have been too many little shards of shrapnel that it was useless to detect other metal objects? Just wondering because I’m planning to bring a metal detector in July.

Victor

[cbuehler]

Hey Victor,
Indeed, the location of the relics does give a little info. For instance, we found more 7.7 MG rounds than 6.5 rifle which would indicate the Japanese used this MG quite heavily at the upper pocket. Of course, no US carbine cases or bullets were found as they did not have the M1 carbine at that time. Also, no 7.7 Japanese rifle cases or bullets either which is also to be expected even though the type 99 rifle existed at that time.
My advice is to forget the metal detector. I yielded absolutely nothing. It was only usable on plowed or burned ground and it would pick up any metal items in the ground, none of it recognizable beyond tiny bits of metal, likely remains of shell fragments and or modern metal items. I believe the mineral content may have had an effect as well. I spent too much time digging for nothing in hard earth. In areas where the ground is covered by grass or brush, you cannot maneuver it nor get it close enough to the earth to get a reading at all. This applies to both the pockets and points. The best time to explore is now while the grass has been burnt off and not grown back yet.
Not to discourage you, but July is probably not the best time to visit these areas due to the rains. There might be much fresh growth of grasses obscuring the ground depending on the rainfall.

CB