Malinta Hill

[fots2]

Armyjunk,

I have not seen this blueprint before, very interesting. Like La Monja Island, it seems there were big plans for Malinta Hill at that time. That would have been fun exploring for sure.

On the Corregidor 1936 (5’ Contour Interval map), the top of Malinta Hill is within a circle labeled 400’. The sketch shows 401.3 ‘ (or .9) so it is certainly believable. The East and West entrance elevation figures disagree a bit but we do not know what is actually correct.

I played around with contrast etc on the blueprint and added some clearer labels for you.

Thanks for posting this.

[okla]

Hey Guys....That gizmo isn't a taller (than usual) arched culvert is it? Probably not, so this is really an extreme SWAG on my part? If memory serves, this Black and White shot was taken in 1932 (somewhere I have viewed a large, complete copy of this photo on this site that has 1932,etc denoted in the lower, left corner). The South road seems to always have been a problem and ongoing shoring up, filling in, etc may have demolished this "thing" whatever it might have been. Again, I admit, that this is getting pretty far out as far as SWAGs go. Cheers. The "yellow" tinted map indicates three machine gun positions in this area, but I see nothing that would indicate that this object is an emplacement of this nature. We certainly have some good stuff going on at present, right?

[fots2]

Hi Chad,

To my knowledge there never was any tall object on the beach. In fact there is very little beach at all as the south side Malinta Hill cliffs go directly into the water. Moving eastward there is a narrow beach but I see nothing in old photos there either.

From the shadows on Malinta Hill I can tell that this old B&W photo (looking in a westerly direction) was taken in the afternoon. That would put the sun shining down from the upper left corner of the photo. I have a feeling that what appears to be a tall object is actually a shadow behind a piece of jagged rock.

Of the four air vents inside the Malinta tunnel complex, three are still concrete lined. However, the fourth is bare rock from inside the tunnel all the way up to the surface. The story is that this is the air shaft that in 1945, US soldiers dumped gasoline and hand grenades down the shaft in an attempt to get the Japs out. The resulting explosion and fires destroyed the concrete lining. The whole area near this shaft is still rough and charred.

Have a look at the photo below and see if it brings back any memories. You cannot see sunlight when standing on the floor inside the tunnel. I have never been up the shaft but there appears to be a bit of a ledge approximately 20 feet up. From there the shaft turns right somewhat and I bet you can see the surface from there. (I say this because when looking down, it looks straight until a turn near the bottom). There is also some twisted rebar inside the shaft near the surface that you may have been able to see.




Standing on the tunnel floor and looking up the air shaft.

I always thought that with a rope it would be no big problem to pull myself hand over hand up this air shaft. The distance from the ledge to the surface would be much longer than the first 20 feet though.

This air shaft is probably the one you are thinking of. It is the SW air shaft so not in the eastern part of the tunnels. I wouldn’t be concerned about that though, your memories from a onetime visit 30+ years ago are very good.

In Reply #147, on the map you show a red arrow that is supposed to be at the East entrance. The arrow is on the South Shore Road and should be a further East where the single line (the main tunnel shaft) touches the road and trolley line. i.e the South Shore Road passes over the top of Malinta Tunnel at this location.

Your tunnel length figure (close but not exact) should be coming tomorrow.

[chadhill]

Oozlefinch, that's interesting. There were two threads here which discussed the Navy tunnels, and I'm reposting a photo below from the first. Fots took the subject by the horns, but I'm not sure if all of the various tunnels were positively ID'd. I wonder if the one shown on the 1936 map might have later become Queen. I'll post a link to that first thread after the photo, in case you haven't surfed it yet. Which tunnel do you think you found?

(courtesy fots2)


corregidor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=852



Okla, great memory there, dude! Dang if that photo ain't dated 1932:

(courtesy corregidor.org)


Fots, the photo above looks to be dated 11-8-32-9A, which would be 11 August 1932 at 9 a.m. (but it could be November 8 instead). As you know, Corregidor slants slightly NE-SW, and here we are looking almost directly from Kindley Field out to Cape Corregidor on the far west side of the island. Using the 1936 map, if we followed a straight line drawn from Kindley to the Cape we would drift roughly 2000 feet southwards as we hiked across the island. In other words, we're looking slightly SW in this photo. In the morning the sun would be rising from the bottom of the picture, somewhat left of center.





When I look at this enlarged crop of the object, it seems it could be casting a shadow from its base that points right and slightly up, as it would in the morning. Looking back up at the large photo, the tailside northern beaches are darkened with shadows. There are tree shadows around Kindley Field. All these things are casting shadows to the right. I admit that it seems all these shadows should be wider at 9 a.m.; the photo strikes me as being later in the morning instead, with a higher sun. But my point is if our object is casting shadows, it is real. It almost looks like it has a two tone color, darker on the top and lighter on the bottom. I guess it just doesn't look like a shadow to me. But hey, this is all another SWAG, which makes it kinda fun, eh? ;D Your points are well taken, and why the heck would something be sitting out there anyway? Maybe I'm starting to see pink elephants-


Thanks for posting that photo of the SW air shaft, fots. You are unbelievable. I mention a small thing and presto, you once again produce an image. That is the sort of rock-ish passage that I remember, and your description of it rings home. I do remember some rebar near the light. My memory of this being on the east side of the complex must be in error. It wouldn't be the first time I've had things bassackwards.

Thanks for setting me straight on the road passing above the east entrance to Malinta Tunnel (three cheers for okla). You can't imagine how much time I spent scratching my noggin' over that without realizing the obvious...look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip, including the measurements. I'll bet you're ready for a San Magoo ;D

[okla]

Hey Guys....When viewing the 1936 Map it is obvious that Corregidor was an impressive piece of real estate, facilities, fortifications,etc abound. When viewing the 1932 aerial photo it is all the more impressive, methinks. The Government had surely poured a great amount of resources, especially on the skimpy, between Wars, budget that was available. Needless to say, this place has made an indelible impression on me. The trouble is, it keeps growing like some malignancy. Hope this is the least of my worries, for I do enjoy this particular ailment. Cheers.

[oozlefinch]

Chad, I can't tell from that photo. If you can imagine that area swept clean w/o trees, and you were looking east from the South Shore Road, the Navy Tunnels would be in the right-rear corner on the south wall and the tunnel entrance I'm describing would have been in the back-left corner facing west. I tried to get back to that position in '06, but was unable to do so. As several individuals have previously stated, there have been rock slides in the area that may have covered it up. When I have an opportunity to run through my slides, I'll try and see if I have anything that I can scan and post.

[fots2]

Hi Chad,

I agree, that is a late morning photo. I should have known better as shadows appear on the east side of Malinta Hill in the afternoon. I’ll stick with the rock story though until evidence of something else shows up. I can see what you see but I think it is just the poor quality photo. What we need is a high resolution 1932 or shortly after photo of this area. There are no remnants of concrete pedestals of any sort at this location but 80 years and a world war since the photo was taken, that is not conclusive.

These details are interesting to ponder though, thanks for the ideas.

[fots2]

Hi oozlefinch,

If there ever was a topic that needs chadhill and okla’s detailed attention, it is the Malinta Navy Tunnels. After doing surveys and some research three years ago we learned a lot but not enough to 100% positively identify them. We all have ‘opinions’ but not enough evidence to upgrade them to ‘fact’.

I will try to explain a bit about the tunnels and hopefully it makes sense.

Since Navy tunnel “Queen” was not even thought of until 1939, then the single tunnel entrance seen on the 1936 map cannot be it. Actually I can confirm that the entrance shown at the SW corner of Malinta Hill (1936 map) is the original Malinta Storage System ‘South’ entrance as labeled on the 1934 tunnel plan. Due to cave-ins this planned network of tunnels was abandoned after preliminary work was done on the entrance and a few laterals. (The plan for these tunnels were shifted from Lateral #3 further east to Lateral #8 and became the QM tunnels and south entrance that we know of today).

When the Navy realized that they would most likely lose Cavite when a war started, they provided funds to the Army in 1939 to construct bombproof tunnels in the SW side of Malinta Hill. This was to be the new HQ of the Sixteenth Naval District. Contracts are mentioned for four new tunnels however a few books/documents mention five tunnels. This is logical if the abandoned old South entrance was incorporated into plans for the Navy Tunnels. There is photographic evidence for a total of five tunnels.

If you go to Corregidor today and start walking the South Shore Road that goes around Malinta Hill, you will soon come to an area used as a dump by maintenance people for grass, leaves and branches. It is located between the road and the steep hillside. Hidden in the trees behind the dump are the two remaining Navy tunnels. The one on the left was the original South entrance and this is what is shown on the 1936 map. The one on the right is believed by some to be Queen.

[oozlefinch]

Fots - If that area was cleared out and you stood back so that you were looking south and could see both of the Navy Tunnels (at least as I saw them in '06), the tunnel I'm talking about would be back over your left shoulder near the NE corner of that area. If you were standing in front of the tunnel entrance, you would be facing east and the steep hillside would be coming around on your left. It could well be covered up now, but it was open back in the late '80's

[fots2]

Hi Chad,

Malinta Tunnel main shaft length:

As I stood in front of the tunnel entrances, one simple question came to mind. Where do people start their measurements from? i.e doorway to doorway, edge of tunnel roof to edge of tunnel roof (the actual tunnel) or do they include the outer concrete walls at each entrance. I chose the edge of tunnel roof to edge of tunnel roof as the doors are recessed about six feet on both ends and do not reflect the total length.

My measurements, close but not exact, can certainly let you know whether the tunnel is nearer to 836 or 1,500 feet.

Answer: 814 feet.

The difference between 814 feet and 836 feet may be due to (1) my measurements not being precise, (2) not measuring between the same two points as whoever did it before or (3) that the tunnel is actually a bit shorter now due to all the west entrance war damage. Perhaps a combination of “all of the above”.