Malinta Hill

[The Phantom]

I agree with fots about Malinta's height being the same today as 1942.
The top is mostly pulverized rock, (as the shallow foxholes show that still exist on top of the hill).
The edges and the sides were blown off as he states, it's obvious in the post war pictures.

The western, and northern side of Malinta have accumulated more soil and vegetation than the east side and southern sides due to the less severe downhill grades.

The eastern and southern sides( southern side is a high cliff) are much steeper and composed mostly of fractured rock, thus are unable to hold soil or vegetative litter, as the monsoon rains wash it off in the rainy season, or it simply slides down of it's own accord when it's own weight pulls it down the hill due to gravity.

Nice pictures of the weapons on Malinta Hill.

[chadhill]

Fots and Phantom, thanks for clearing that up for me. It makes perfect sense. Some of the ridges in the Umurbrogol Pocket on Peleliu were transformed in the same way.

Can anyone say if this is the 1.1 inch pom-pom gun on top of Malinta Hill that was taken out, together with Searchlight # 8, on the 4/29/42 bombardment? This photo is also from "Philippine Expeditionary Force".

[fots2]

Hi Chad,

That gun might very well be on Malinta Hill but honestly I cannot say. The buildings on the top of the hill could be what the rubble we see today used to look like. If the gun was mounted on the north end of Malinta Hill then you would see the southern ridge behind it to the left. It is very steep on the left (eastern) side. Since the trees are gone, that might be part of the western section of Corregidor in view on the right.

[chadhill]

Fots, that's very interesting. If the rubble in the left background is indeed on top of the southern ridge of Malinta Hill, I wonder if the structure in the middle is another 75mm position. It bears a resemblance to the rectangular concrete structure discussed before in this thread.



The 1941 Emergency Defense Map shows a 75mm gun in the next to last gun position on the southern ridge.


I found some info on the pom-pom gun. According to the Belote brothers, the four-barreled 1.1 inch gun was originally intended for the USS Houston, but was salvaged from Cavite and installed on top of Malinta Hill for anti-aircraft defense. When its water cooling system began to fail, Navy Chief Otto rigged a pump operated by a Crosely car motor. The gun had no fire director, but was ready for action on February 11, 1942. During the massive bombardment on April 29th, battery commander Lieutenant Stanley Friedline and his crew took refuge in the tunnel for Searchlight # 8. In a freakish quirk of fate, a Japanese 240 mm shell plunged down the tunnel's vertical ventillation shaft. The explosion ignited the fuel tank for the searchlight's 25 kw generator, killing Friedline and five of his men.


Searchlight # 8 tunnel, 1987. Friend Keith stands in front of the ventilation shaft, where sunlight can be seen emitting from above.

[fots2]

Hi Chad,

That structure you mention is on the top of the ridge slightly to the left (east) of center. Although it is destroyed now, I have always thought that it looks exactly like the other 75mm gun shelter.

There is a lot of concrete rubble along the top of Malinta Hill. Basically it is a ridge running north-south. Here are a few photos. First is a sample of rubble on the top of Malinta Hill. Second are a few photos of what I assume was the other gun shelter. Note the similar design.

[okla]

Hey Fots/Chad....How I, sitting here on my behind in the Oklahoma Badlands, envy you guys being able to converse/conjecture about a place/objects that you both have personally "eyeballed" closely, abeit, twenty odd years apart. Talk about putting different perspectives on the same subject/object, this has got to be the ultimate. Cheers.

[chadhill]

Okla, I'm amazed at all the photos Fots pulls out. I become curious about a structure on top of Malinta, and abracadabra- here are recent pics of it!

Fots, I'm with you. That destroyed structure strongly resembles the intact 75mm position in your other photos. The reinforcing gussets and traces of camouflage look identical. The 1941 Emergency Defense Map shows a 75mm position that seems to be slightly east of center on the southern part of the ridge.

Here is a photo of a Navy 1.1 inch (28mm) quad pom-pom gun. The original USS Lexington (CV-2) had twelve of them. The Belote brothers in "Corregidor, Saga of a Fortress" (page 48) mentioned that the Malinta Hill gun, salvaged from the Cavite naval base, had been previously destined for the USS Houston.



I've not read that another such gun existed on Corregidor (does anybody know differently?). I feel sure now that the photo from "Philippine Expeditionary Force" is of the Navy gun that was manned by Lieutenant Friedline's crew and destroyed by the bombardment on Hirohito's birthday, 4/29/42, on top of Malinta Hill.


Here are a couple more photos I took in 1987 on top of Malinta Hill. I think the first is of a structure that you photographed and posted earlier in this thread.




This pic shows some of the bullet-holed corrugated metal that was strewn all over the top of the hill in 1987. I wonder if much of it still remains.

[armyjunk]

[fots2]

Great photo of the Navy pom-pom gun there Chad. Yes, some corrugated metal is still lying around up there.

Looking at armyjunk’s photo, I think this pretty well confirms that this hill is where your original pom-pom photo was taken from. See the three structures and the ridge shape. What do you think?

[fots2]

Hey armyjunk. That is one of the best photos I have seen in a long time. Great detailed view the east side of the hill here.

Also in the photo above your red “East Defense” lettering is the old Spanish Fort in the stockade area. Note another of these gun shelters near the left side of it. A fourth one (half buried) is at the bend in the road between the Stockade area and Bottomside. It can just barely be seen.

Armyjunk or Chad, was the pom-pom gun mounted on a concrete pedestal with a ring of metal bolts? I can see the bolt holes at the bottom of the gun. If so, I have not seen this pedestal. I never looked for it since I did not know exactly where the gun was mounted.

North of the remaining gun shelter is a very confined area on top of the ridge. Exactly where was the gun mounted? Near the SL#8 airshaft or closer to the bathtub command post?