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Post by Mark FeyHead on Feb 2, 2008 5:36:09 GMT 8
Where is Government Ravine located? I have looked on every map that I can find and I don't remember where it was from my visits to the Rock in the 70's.
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Post by okla on Feb 2, 2008 10:09:55 GMT 8
mark....i too have never found the location of government ravine on any map of corregidor that i have checked out, but in the book by the belote brothers, "corregidor, saga of a fortress", they mention a ravine on the southside of middleside, facing cavite, reserved for the philippine treasury,phillippine governemt documents/records/etc, thus the name "government ravine". obviously, looking at the topography of the island, this ravine doesnt compare with more imposing gulches such as ramsay and cheney. anyhow, the topo of corregidor has many such protected areas such as government ravine it seems so a name was needed for this area and so "government" it became. sorry i wasnt more help, but i am going back to my maps and try to deduce just which ravine fills the bill. i would think that it would be adjacent to san jose barrio and its docks since the gold bullion was loaded on to submarine(s) and the silver was towed out to the area between fort hughes and the rock for disposal in the drink before the surrender. if you were there back in the 1970s you probably were close by and didnt even know it. i certainly envy those of you who have actually been to bataan and corregidor. what i wouldnt give to have at least a week to spend in the area. when i was serving in the USAF in korea in 1952-53 i volunteered to extend my overseas tour for an additional year at clark field with this in mind, but there was no need for my job specialty at that location so i rotated back to, of course, texas. that was o.k. since i hail from oklahoma, but what i could have accomplished with a year at clark.
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Post by Mark FeyHead on Feb 3, 2008 0:54:11 GMT 8
Thanks for replying and if you find a ravine that looks like it might fit the description please let me know. I agree it must have been close to Bottom Side for the PI treasury to be stored there. Maybe is was off Power Plant Ravine? My father was stationed at Clark, he flew F4's, and I was lucky enough to go to the Rock three times and I walked the route of the Bataan Death March twice as a Boy Scout. We reenacted the march during Spring break so we has similar weather as those unfortunate souls that where forced to make the march in 1942. We had water, food and where healthy and it was still a hard time completing the journey, I can not even imagine how any of the Bataan Defenders made it. I also camped at Camp O'Donald, it was a communication base when I was in the PI, and it whas a hell hole even then (hot dusty, no shade, cobras all over the place and only two small ponds one of which was choked with a prickly water plant).
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Post by okla on Feb 3, 2008 4:16:24 GMT 8
mark....have done a little digging (i feel kinda like i am back in college doing a term paper) and it seems that what was or is called government ravine is in close proximity(below or down hill) from "stockade". now whether they are referring to battery stockade or the actual stockade (lockup) woudlnt make too much difference as far as our question is concerned since, i am sure in my own mind, that battery stockade was named due to its location jam up to the actual location of the penal facility. every thing fits...south side of middleside, facing cavite. the power plant ravine faces northeast toward bataan. looking at the topographics of corregidor, there isnt much of what i would call a ravine, but i suppose thats all relative. if the folks on the ground at the time wanted to call it a ravine, then so be it. i know i havent come up with much, but its all i have in my limited library. the philippine govt treasury was split up between the "vault" at govt ravine and the navy and malinta tunnels the way my info presents itself. all are in pretty close proximity to the san jose docks for shipment on the submarine and for dumping in the waters between hughes and the rock. if you come up with anything please feel free to post it. i cant get enough of the dark period of early 1942. been hooked on it since i was a kid and here i am at 75 still digging. i have a post in another thread on this site telling of my niece's (by marriage) grandfather, who was captured on corregidor and a few yarns i picked up during my 4 years in the USAF talking to 4 or 5 guys who were ex-POWs from bataan and corregidor. you might find them interesting. they are posted under the name either okla or joe patterson. nice talking to you. you were at clark prior to the volcano blowing, right?
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Post by armyjun1 on Feb 8, 2008 8:07:02 GMT 8
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Post by okla on Feb 9, 2008 3:00:57 GMT 8
hey armyj...good job on locating the "vault". easterly from battery crockett and geary. as my post stated, i had it figured closer to stockade, but you have it down pat. it is also farther from the san jose docks than i had supposed, but you have zeroed the exact location. small details such as this run me nuts when it concerns a subject dear to my heart and the corregidor-bataan campaign is one of those. since my last post i found a small tid-bit that quoted something like the vaults "were beneath the area that was the location of a battery of 12 inch mortars". that would have to be battery geary as battery way was across topside, but the mystery is now solved thanks to you. again, i say, "good job".
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Post by Mark FeyHead on Feb 12, 2008 23:40:52 GMT 8
Thanks for the map! I would have never guessed in a million years that Government Ravine was near battery Crockett. Man it must have been a drag to move all that gold and silver up to Top Side from the docks then back down again. The more I learn about the defender's of the Rock the more respect I have for them.
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