Army Lt. Chester K. Britt, Hell Ship Oryoku Maru.

[Karl Welteke]

Army Lt. Chester K. Britt, Hell Ship Oryoku Maru, Ft. Wint, Olongapo.

Army Lt Chester K Britt, was one of 1,619 POWs that were on the Oryoku Maru. Lt Britt was first assigned to Fort Wint on Grande Island in 1940, then when it was abandoned on about December 24, 1941, he fought on Bataan, was on the Bataan Death March, then spent the next 2-1/2 years at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan, Davao Penal Colony, and Bilibid Prison which he left at the end to board the Oryoku Maru. He survived the Oryoku Maru, then the Enoura Maru, then the Brazil Maru, then 3 months at Fukuoka POW Camp #3, then almost 4 months at the POW camp in Mukden Manchuria. He was freed on August 16, 1945. He died in 1953 due to health problems from his time as a POW. When he died my friend was only four years old. This is Lt Britt's memorial page from West Point. He graduated on June 11, 1940 or click here:


www.westpointaog.org/memorial-article?id=73a5cf7f-479b-48de-baa0-c2214732cc7a

The people of the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team are:

First is Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman magazine.

They are planning to write a book about Army Lt. Chester K. Britt soon!


Karl-Wilhelm Welteke is a retired USN Sailor and resident of Olongapo. During his research, John Duresky asked me for information and we shared them. He found some interesting pictures and gave me permission to use them. I posted them in my Flickr account also because you can download them in high resolution there and will be able to read or view them properly; links are provided!

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Zo691.-01. 1941 Olongapo, Chet Britt Sr.at the Olongapo Fleet Boat Landing and Waiting Shed. It looks like the Army Coastal Defense Force of Fort Wint on Grande Island in Subic Bay used the same boat landing area as the US Fleet in the Olongapo US Naval Station. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo692.-02. A cropped image of a US. WWII reconnaissance image of the Olongapo Naval Station under Imperial Japanese occupation. The red markings are from John Duresky and the yellow markings are from Karl Welteke. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo693.-03. A Google Earth image of the former Olongapo Naval Station, then the Subic Bay Naval Base and now the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ). The Tappan Park, then and now, (also was the Olongapo Square) is the clearest landmark (prewar & postwar) to identify areas today and in the past!



Zo694-04. 1941 3 Sgt. Laurente on his reservation on Fort Wint view 1. This is one of two pictures from the Britt family collection. It seems that the spouse of Lt. Britt visited in 1941. The fort was manned by US Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army Coastal Defense Forces with US Officer in the leading position. In 1941 it was mainly used as a training facility. I like the picture because it shows a berthing facility. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo695.-05. 1941 3 Sgt. Laurente on his reservation on Fort Wint view 1. This is one of two pictures from the Britt family collection. It seems that the spouse of Lt. Britt visited in 1941. The fort was manned by US Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army Coastal Defense Forces with US Officer in the leading position. In 1941 it was mainly used as a training facility. I like the picture because it shows a berthing facility of the time before the War. This image was provided by John Duresky.
Dave Britt, he wrote this to John Duresky, about how his father Lt Britt and Sgt. Laurente may have interacted first at Fort Wint on Grande Island and then on Bataan:

"My guess is that the Filipino Sgt was a part of the force evacuated to Bataan to fight with the Scouts. Since Mom knew him; he must have been associated with Dad in the training business, which is what they were doing on the Ft Wint post until the war began.
He may have been the First Sgt. for the 92nd CAC Battalion, at least the Filipino element of the unit.

Remember, Dad fought with Filipino Scouts, except for a few American officers as battery commanders, the guys that manned the guns were all Scouts. Probably the 500 trainees from the classes at Ft Wint.

One of the hats Dad wore was HQ company commander, so he had responsibilities for post maintenance. Maybe the Sgt was his 1st Shirt for this unit, comprised of Filipino soldiers most likely.

I wonder if he (Sgt Laurente) survived the war?" - Dave Britt



Zo696.-06. This is one of two newspaper clippings about the capture of the Olongapo Naval Station by the Japanese Imperial Forces with pictures of the Naval Station in 1942. This is the main reason I upload them here into my Flickr account because you will be able to download them in high resolution. These pictures were found by John Duresky for his project to write a book about Army Lt Chester K Britt, a victim of the Imperial Japanese Hell Ship Oryoku Maru. This image was provided by John Duresky. To download it in high resolution, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/50002695137/in/album-72157714691279876/



Zo697.-07. This is one of two newspaper clippings about the capture of the Olongapo Naval Station by the Japanese Imperial Forces with pictures of the Naval Station in 1942. This is the main reason I uploaded them here into the Flickr account because you will be able to download them in high resolution. These pictures were found by John Duresky for his project to write a book about Army Lt Chester K Britt, a victim of the Imperial Japanese Hell Ship Oryoku Maru. This image was provided by John Duresky. To download it in high resolution, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/50002695137/in/album-72157714691279876/



Zo698.-08. This is an excellent picture of the Olongapo Naval Station and the Naval Yard at right. When was it shot? Where is the floating Drydock Dewey? Was it shot after the Dewey was towed to Mariveles? The 2nd picture is the zoomed in area where the Oryoku Maru survivors had to shim to. Also, it shows a boat landing slip, which is zoomed-in in a later image. Somewhere under the trees is also the Spanish Gate, the other important landmark, then and today, but it is hidden under the trees. The USS Rochester is still there before it was scuttled. It was used as the base power plant! This image was provided by John Duresky. This is a paragraph from this Wikipedia URL:



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_York_(ACR-2)

Rochester departed Balboa on 25 February 1932 for service in the Pacific Fleet. She arrived Shanghai on 27 April, to join the fleet in the Yangtze River in June and remained there until steaming to Cavite, to decommission on 29 April 1933. She would remain moored at the Olongapo Shipyard at Subic Bay for the next eight years. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 October 1938, and she was scuttled on 24 December 1941 to prevent her capture by the Japanese.
I know of 3 recreation divers that died in this wreck in the last 30 years.



Zo699-09. This double picture shows: first, the zoomed in boat slip, and then a view of the Navy Yard Olongapo, in the north Direction. In the previous picture, John Duresky marked in, the directions of the sighting of these two pictures. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo700.-10. The same picture as the last one, under the down pointing arrow, John believes, that could be an Oryoku Maru life boat. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo701. -11. The Oryoku Mary burning and the picture shows the boat slip which is a good landmark. John sent this image for comparison. This image was provided by John Duresky.



Zo702. -12. The grave of WWII Army Lt Chester K Britt. This is the story of one man of millions and millions, who paid a heavy price in the struggle for freedom in WWII. This image was provided by John Duresky.

Note from Karl: All pictures can be downloaded in high resolution if you go to this Flickr album, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/albums/72157714691279876

[georgemunson]

Lt. Britt was second in command of FT. Wint. Battery A/92CA (PS) had a detachment on Ft. Wint. The main body of the battery remained on Ft. MIlls. Lt. Britt commanded this detachment Sergeant Laurente was the senior sergeant in the detachment. As such he was the first sergeant. The above roster shows Sergeant Laurente as an MP. After we liberated Luzon and the Scouts returned to military control, many of them were assigned as MPs to function as a police force. Since the sergeant was coast artillery before the surrender not MP, the roster was made after Luzon was liberated. Therefore Sergeant Laurente survived the war.



________

G'day George. Long time no hear. I saw that your post count was only low, and had automatically relegated you to "Trainee", so I have accorded to you "Coast Artillery & Philippine Scouts Expert" status, befitting your years of expertise. Regards, Paul.

[Karl Welteke]

Is this Lt. Britt in this famous WWII picture?



U654. The famous WWII picture of the Bataan Defenders, found by the Army Lt Britt research Team. This picture is from the 1942 4 10 MINNEAPOLIS MN STAR TRIBUNE. The team is wondering whether the lanky individual could be Lt. Britt.

The team research member, John Duresky, wrote this to John Moffitt and me on the 25th Dec 2020:

Good morning guys,

I'd like your unbiased opinions. Early last year I saw the photo in the YANK magazine which immediately I thought looked like Chester Britt. Same photo turns up in articles around the time Bataan fell. Compared the photo in the article to a photo of Chester standing beside his wife. I managed to buy an original clearer wirephoto on Ebay, complete with all the grease pen marks the editors back then used to make photos work better when printed. I thought it looked like him, Dave Britt questioned whether it was him or not.

This morning I used the wirephoto and the photo of Chester with Grace, and another profile photo of him taken with Bob Cooper on the way to the Philippines. I had to flip the photos and change angles a bit to match the wirephoto to get the best possible comparison of the face. The body of Chester and man in the wirephoto are both very lanky and can be seen in the full size photos. Man sitting who I think is Chester, and the man kneeling to the right have some sort of armband that I can't quite make out.

What do the two of you think? Do you think I have managed to identify Chester Britt in this Bataan photo beyond a reasonable doubt? Two questionable things are in the wirephoto. That man appears to be wearing glasses, and as far as I know Chester never wore glasses....would artillerymen back then wear glasses for eye protection? Also, the man in the wirephoto is wearing coveralls with what look like oil stains which may or may not be standard for someone handling and moving 155mm artillery in the jungle. Would an artillery officer dress this way?

Thanks,
John

He also send these two following picture he used to come that idea/question whether it could be Lt Britt.



U655. 1944 10 wirephoto of men on Bataan listening to radio view 2 COMPARISON



U656. 1940 9 Chet and Robert G Cooper on USAT Grant en route to Philippines

Both John Moffitt and I were amazed about the similarities and agree that there is an amazing similarity. But we both pointed out, John Duresky’s own doubtful questions:

Two questionable things are in the wirephoto. That man appears to be wearing glasses, and as far as I know Chester never wore glasses....would artillerymen back then wear glasses for eye protection? Also, the man in the wirephoto is wearing coveralls with what look like oil stains which may or may not be standard for someone handling and moving 155mm artillery in the jungle. Would an artillery officer dress this way?

On the 26th Dec 2020, John Duresky came right back and said this:
OK, will go on the side of caution and simply note it as an original wirephoto of the men in the paper. Both of you are welcome to post the w irephoto on your site with the article if you like. Who know, maybe another relative will see it and be able to identify one of the other men in the photo who are facing forward.

John

John Duresky also found these other two pictures and made them available:



U657. 1944 10 29 YANK BRITISH EDITION THE ARMY WEEKLY page 8.



U658. 1944 10 wirephoto of men on Bataan listening to radio view 1

The people of the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team are:

First is Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman magazine.

They are planning to write a book about Army Lt. Chester K. Britt soon!

[Karl Welteke]

The other four men zoomed in from John Duresky

From the picture: “Listening to the Voice of Freedom in Bataan” above, posted just a day or two ago.



U659. Zoomed-in, one of the other 4 men in the famous WWII picture of the Battle of Bataan:”Listening to the Voice of Freedom in Bataan”, courtesy of John Duresky.



U660. Zoomed-in, one of the other 4 men in the famous WWII picture of the Battle of Bataan:”Listening to the Voice of Freedom in Bataan”, courtesy of John Duresky.



U661. Zoomed-in, one of the other 4 men in the famous WWII picture of the Battle of Bataan:”Listening to the Voice of Freedom in Bataan”, courtesy of John Duresky.




U662. Zoomed-in, one of the other 4 men in the famous WWII picture of the Battle of Bataan:”Listening to the Voice of Freedom in Bataan”, courtesy of John Duresky.

John Duresky wrote me this when he sent the above 4 zoomed-in images:

Thanks. Even if it leads to miraculously identifying one of the other men in that clear Wirephoto it would be great. Those radios were so important to the morale of the men as they were isolated on Bataan. When I see photos like that, and knowing how few men survived that fought on Bataan, I have to wonder what happened to each of them. Hope they all made it but know the odds are against that.

I attached close-ups of the other four men in case you might want to add them to your sites. The look on the faces of each man is intense, and no doubt those looks were on the faces of tens of thousands of other men on Bataan. The second man doesn't look much older than 18. For now they are five unknown soldiers.

John

[Karl Welteke]

Army Lt. Chester Britt had two friends who were rescued in the Great Raid.

John Duresky sent me these two pictures:



U663. 1945 1 31 Max D Wait morning after the night time raid on Cabanatuan. Photo courtesy of the Army Lt Chester Britt research Team.



U664. 1941 Max Wait photo taken at Olongapo PI before Japan invaded. Photo courtesy of the Army Lt Chester Britt research Team.

John Wrote this:

Karl
In your first Facebook page below, on Dec 28 Andy Lally wrote this with the photo of the men being liberated at Cabanatuan "....A good friend sent me this picture. I haven't seen it before. Cabanatuan Survivors after being rescued...."

I think you'll like the attached you can post. Chester Britt had two friends who were rescued in that raid. 1LT Jules David Yates, a West Point classmate from 1940. Also, Max D Wait, a civilian from the Rock Island Arsenal who volunteered to work on the guns at Fort Wint. Max Wait was identified to us by his daughter, Mary Beth Wait.

Both Yates and Wait came to the Philippines with Chester on the USAT Grant.

Also, in the replies, Suzan Speropoulos says her dad went to Japan in December before the raid. Only ship I know that went in December was the Oryoku Maru. Wonder who her dad was?

John

Note from Karl:
John Duresky is member of the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team
The people of the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team are:

First are Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman magazine.

They are planning to write a book about Army Lt. Chester K. Britt soon!

[Karl Welteke]

The man at the extreme left is Major Fullerton.

Duane Speyer says: The man at the extreme left is Major Fullerton. I was with him and other Bataan Vets on a trip to Manila in 2003.

Note from John Duresky and Karl: One down, who are the others? The man sitting with his left hand on the radio dial is still candidate to be Chester Britt!



U665. The man at the extreme left is Major Fullerton. Duke signed the photo for me in the book: Fall of the Philippines.

The above pictures and information came from this Facebook URL in the Battle of Bataan Group:

www.facebook.com/groups/bataanbattle/permalink/10158910641852232/?comment_id=10158911670847232



U666a. Battle of Bataan Facebook capture of comments by Duane Speyer.

[Exo Mxyzptlk]

The best information gathered on the attacks on the Oryoku Maru so far is now available here courtesy of John Duresky.  (164 pages)

[chadhill]

What a great reference to study. Many thanks to John Duresky. Super job with the "flipping pages" book, EXO.

[Karl Welteke]

The book is finished now!

Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt



Zf192. Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt, this is the front cover.

A new book about Army Lt. Britt serving in Fort Wint, (Grande Island in Subic Bay) and in the Battle of Bataan during WWII. He also survived three Hell Ships and being a POW in the merciless hands of the Japanese Imperial Army.



Zf194. 1941 Olongapo, Chet Britt Sr. at the Olongapo Fleet Boat Landing and Waiting Shed. It looks like the Army Coastal Defense Force of Fort Wint on Grande Island in Subic Bay used the same boat landing area as the US Fleet in the Olongapo US Naval Station. This image was provided by John Duresky.

The printed book is now available Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival by David L Britt, with John Duresky and Vickie Graham ISBN 978-1-09838-539-2 It's online for pre-sale print-on-demand, and you need to pre-order to get a copy printed and shipped to you. It won’t be until the box vendors see a good sales volume that they will order paper copies for display and sale in stores.

Bookbaby has the best write-up, click here: store.bookbaby.com/book/relentless-hope


Barnes and Noble, click here.

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/relentless-hope-david-l-britt/1139807207


It is also available at Amazon.com, click here: www.amazon.com/dp/B098RDP3DZ

For the Amazon picture page, you can directly click here: www.amazon.com/dp/B098RDP3DZ?asin=B098RDP3DZ&revisionId=e55ba917&format=1&depth=1



Zf193. Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt, this is the back cover.

The Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team had contacted Corregidor Forum members for information about Fort Wint, Grande Island, Olongapo, Bataan and Corregidor. We helped them and they shared some of their research finds with us which some of it is already posted in the Corregidor Forum.

The people of the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team are:

First are Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman Magazine.

They have finished the book about Army Lt. Chester K. Britt now! We posted that news into this new forum page:

[Karl Welteke]

2 images for the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt forum page.

The Naval Station Olongapo Fleet Waiting Room, pre war.

This is where the Fleet Waiting Room must have been.

The Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Book authors are sure about the location and I agree whole heartily.



Zf238, The Naval Station Olongapo Fleet Waiting Room, pre war. The picture was provided by the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Book authors.



Zf239. The Naval Station Olongapo Fleet Waiting Room, pre war, zoomed in. The picture was provided by the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Book authors. This was a file photo because the Dry Dock George Dewey was not in Olongapo/Subic Bay anymore in 1942.