Hello Sue;
Thank-you very much for the photo. It is very interesting as I love seeing those old photos. Often they help me to understand what I am seeing there today. I will attach a few photos for you also.
I believe your photo shows the larger Malinta tunnel ‘west’ entrance (on the right) and the smaller gasoline storage tunnel entrance (on the left). I’ll attach an almost identical photo taken from the same location.
Are you sure this is a pre-war photo? Two things make me ask. (1) a 1921 map shows buildings and rail tracks at the western base of Malinta Hill and I would expect intact trees and more vegetation etc if pre-war. The Malinta tunnel’s construction was started one year later in 1922. (2) There looks to be lots of rubble and the right side of the photo looks like post-war photos. I see only tents instead of pristine army pre-war buildings.
If you zoom in and sharpen the photo then more detail can be seen. About a dozen workers with wheel barrels are walking back and forth from the right-hand tunnel to a dumping area. One guy appears to be dumping his wheel barrel over the edge as the photo was taken. My guess is that this is a post-war photo and a clean-up of the tunnels was being done.
Attached Photos:
(1) a map of the Malinta tunnel showing the west entrance at the left. Although it is not shown on that map, the gasoline storage tunnel entrance is just below the words ‘Gasoline Storage’. That entrance is also still there today.
(2) here is the photo similar to yours. The Malinta tunnel west entrance is in the center. The gasoline tunnel entrance is a dark area to the left. Below is the roof of the old chapel which is near the location of the present day church. Note the slope of the hill and the cliff face with the main road going towards the right.
(3) a better photo of the chapel that still shows the Malinta west entrance above it.
Answers:
“Looking at the Malinta entrance, I was told the hospital entrance is to the right. Where?? “
Your photo shows the west side of Malinta Hill. The hospital entrance was on the north side (to the left around the hill). Note the map for the north entrance. (Photo#4)
“Am I seeing multiple tunnels in the photo? What are their names? There are two tunnels visible”
There are two tunnels in your photo. The larger Malinta tunnel ‘west’ entrance (on the right) and the smaller gasoline storage tunnel entrance (on the left).
“Do any of the land features inthe photo have names?”
Other than Malinta Hill, no names I am aware of.
“Where was this photo taken from?”
Your photo and my photo #2 would both have been taken from the hill in the center of Bottomside. This is the present day location of the Corregidor Inn. (photo #2 was taken by a day visitor in 1967, note the tree in the foreground)
“Where was the Navy tunnel in relation to this photo (besides down at the water)?”
In your photo, north is to the left, south is to the right. The four Navy tunnels were to the right. They were named Queen, Roger, Sugar and Tare. Two of the four Navy tunnel entrances are still accessible today. Our best guess is that they are Roger and Sugar. Note photo #5.
“(Does anyone have a good map, graphic,photo, or lore of the Navy tunnel location to share?)”
Paul’s website does have some interesting stories for you. Boring things such as torpedos, gold and silver etc. Unfortunately information and detail of the Navy tunnels is limited. Note photos #6, #7 and #8. There are differences in the attached two maps. Nobody seems to know what is correct.
“What did the landscape and vegetation on Corregidor look like when the bombing ceased?”
After the1942 surrender it looked like photo #8. After the 1945 surrender it looked like photo #9.
“Are there caves along the cliffs where people could have hidden out and avoided being found?”
I expect there are lots of small man-made tunnels all over the island. In my walks around I have seen small openings, some just a few inches high that seem to go in out of sight or are collapsed. The entrances are small and don’t seem to be recorded anywhere. Since I hate snakes I am not going to stick my nose in too far.There are many stories of American soldiers in 1945 just blowing up tunnel entrances rather than losing men clearing the tunnels of enemy soldiers.Japanese soldiers hid out for months at Battery Monja before they surrendered so anything is possible.
“How would they have obtained food and water and taken care of the body's eliminations?”
Many of the more remote structures still have lots of junk around them (bottles, cans) so who knows how much they had stored away. There are brooks and streams on the island for water. If they chose to eat snakes that would be fine with me :-)
“When the Japanese came into the Malinta tunnel they went to a wall that looked just like any other part of the cemented-over interior tunnel walls, and proceeded to break the wall to create an opening into a complete field hospital with food and supplies the defenders could have used, had they known it was there.”
I never heard that before.
“That made me think, could/would anyone, or group, of the defenders have sealed anything into the tunnel? Could something still be hidden?”
I would guess that is possible. Some areas are collapsed so we may never know.
Finally, I added two photos of the hospital in Malinta tunnel. You probably already have them.
Many more photos of Malinta Hill and the tunnels are at
www.pbase.com/fots2 One final note. The information I have collected is from books, websites and people.There is always conflicting information not to mention different opinions. Somethings will never be known 100% but for me the search is fun.
Have a good day and thanks again for the photo.
John
i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/1DSCF1759a_Malinta.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/2Malintawestentrance1967.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/3ChapelbelowMalintawestentrance.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/4DSCF5764a_MalintaNorthEntrance.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/5MalintaHillwestview2.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/6MalintaTunnel2-Navy.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/7MalintaTunnelMap3.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/8MalintaNavytunnels1942b.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/9MalintaNavytunnels1945.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/10MalintaTunnelHospital11942.jpgi307.photobucket.com/albums/nn299/fots2pix/11MalintaTunnelHospital21942.jpg