Walk to the Battle of the Points

[Karl Welteke]

In another thread someone asked this below, about the precise location of a point.

“Interesting find! Much of the coast to the North of the Points battle sites was defended by the 71st Inf (PA), then part of the 91st Div (PA). My Dad's unit, 1st Bn, 71st (PA), covered Caibobo point from the end of Jan 42 until the surrender. Can you give us a more precise location for Quinawan?”

Here are 5 maps that cover the whole west coast of Bataan. They are a little big and I can only present the IMG Thumb. They were already posted in that other thread-Found a M-1918-A2 BAR on the west side of Bataan-:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/1374/page/2/1918-a2-bar-westside-bataan#scrollTo=11931

But I think, it is appropriate to post them in this thread also!


This 1st one is from Subic Bay down to the Bayandali River thru Morong Town. Morong Town can be easily reached from the former Subic Bay Naval Base by car. Morong, of course is famous, as the site of the last US Army Cavalry Charge by Philippine Scouts in 1942.


This 2nd map is from Bayandali River down to Kabayo Village, just north of Bagac. It covers the Mauben Line and in this area is the defunct Philippine Nuclear Power plant. The first 4 maps are sections scanned from1:50000 contour maps.


The 3rd map is from Kabayo Village down to Binuangan. It goes thru Bagac Town, thru Saysain Point where the US Army Coastal Artillery placed one of the Navy 8 inch guns. It could fire to Subic Bay or almost. On this map just above Binuangan is the village Romay indicated. That name does not exist today, that is Caibobo. And just left of it one can see the word point, that is Caibobo Point. I have driven with my car to Paysawan many times in recent years. I also know vehicles can drive safely all the way to Binuangan. But from Paysawan to Binuangan is a gravel road. At the bottom of the map is the Silalin Bay, it figured in the Battle of the points.


The 4th map is the biggest and starts at Silalin Bay and goes down all the way to Cochinos Point. On the upper portion of the map are all the locations of the upper Battle of the Points: Silalin Bay, Anyasan Point/Bay, Quinauan Point/Bay and Agloloma Bay. All these names figure in the Battle of the Points.
The lower Battle of the Points is Longos Kawayan Point it is also on this map. The above 4 bays all have communities now and Quinauan Village may be the biggest.


The 5th map is a section of an old Army 1:250000 map, I like it because it shows the old Bataan West Road and it shows the Bataan west Coast in question. Here is the URL of the whole map:
www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/philippines/txu-oclc-6539351-nd51-5-450.jpg

[Karl Welteke]

I have walked in the areas of the Battle of the Points, the Bataan West Road numerous times. Only a few images have been posted so far and now I will post a few more because I walked and drove there on the 14th Jan. 2013, however only briefly.

The occasion was that the US and Phil. Government have come to an agreement to allow JPAC, Joint POW Accounting Command, to search for remains. This Jan. 2013 an JPAC Investigating Team arrived and they searched many leads and met many people including myself.

I understand JPAC will be returning in April 2013 with recovery teams.

To reach the points, the easiest way is by boat from the north or south. The Bataan West Road was the important artery in the defense of Bataan on the west side so I checked it partially and the Longos-Kawayan Point because I knew JPAC were interested in that area.

All the pictures of that day’s activity are already uploaded into my Multiply Image Sharing account and included are some pictures from the Rouvia Port Complex, site of the Sun Cruises Corregidor ferry landing. The main objective for today, after all, was to hop on this ferry and go to Corregidor.

One more important fact we should be aware of, that in the Wain Bay and on the ridges inland from there, maybe 5 km up the slopes to the Bataan West Road a very large development is in progress. It is called Camaya Coast and you can find it on the www. Because of this development more recent work was done on this south section of the Bataan West Rd., so that now, maybe 5 or 6 Km out of 11 Km are concreted. But Philippine Authorities have worked on improving this road before this development, both at the north and the south end. When I first started walking here about 14 years ago, the south bottom end was only gravel or some prewar hard surfaces (like cobble stone).

Inland, about 5 km, on the south ridge of the Agloloma Bay where the Bataan West Rd, crosses over this ridge the Philippine Army has established a camp when the Camaya Coast Development started. Previously, here was only a forest ranger outpost. This spot is important because here is also the entrance gate to Camaya Coast, the Army camp, the forest ranger outpost and it is my walking jumping-off point or pick-up point from or to the Battle Points and marching the Bataan West Rd. coming or going to or from the north.

Here is the album of that day’s activity, the 14th Jan. 2013 with about 90 images:
pisailor.multiply.com/photos/album/156/Bataan-West-Rd.-south-Mt.-Pucot-Points-Mariveles-Ferry-Port-2013-01-14



I begin here also to post a few pictures in this reply:


2013-01-14. The Biaan Rv. Bridge, these solid concrete bridges on the Bataan West Road were in place when I started walking here in about 1998. When were they build this solid? This bridge was under minor repair.


2013-01-14. Just a few hundred yards north of the Biaan Bridge the concrete work continues.


A scanned section of a 1:50000 map covering the Battle of the Points area and the south end of the Bataan West Road. It is marked up with some landmarks.


The same map in a higher resolution!


2013-01-14. My GPS track to the Army camp on the Bataan West Road.


2013-01-14. The Google Earth Terrain map.


2013-01-14. The Bataan West Road from Mariveles to the Army Camp is about 5 km out of 11 km concreted and the rest is graded like this to lay down more concrete. The work is going slow, probably money shortage!


This place is at an intersection and it got my attention.


This road down to Lusong Bay may be the only fair road all the way down to the South China Sea which the Philippines now calls the West Philippine Sea.


The dirt road up to the slopes goes to -Signal-. That must be a WWII geographic point, I even think, I seen this on a WWII map. I will check it out.


On the way to the Army camp, a few times I got a glimpse across the next valley, like in this image.


About two km before the Army camp the road is concreted already, that is very new!


I arrived at the Army camp, I only took a picture of the sign.


The Army sign and my car at the end of the concreted section of the Bataan West Road. I’m sure one can drive further to the Quinauan Point Ridge. It will be rough but possible.
At this spot I have started or ended many of my walks to the points.


Across from the Army camp is the gate and road entrance to Camaya Coast development. But most of the customers and residents come via a boat from Biaan at Mariveles.


A look down onto the East Philippine Sea from near the army camp.


Let’s not forget the ever present Mariveles volcano, after all it made the land possible.


I walked down the dirt track to Agloloma a little and shot back, this picture of the camp, gate and Bataan West Road.


A look down and across the Agloloma valley. On the other side is the Quinauan Point Ridge.

Notes:
This is not the only thread we have about the Battle of the Points area. Chadhill took an adventure tour in 1986 to Quinauan Point and has some good descriptions of the point and enriched it with battle graphs from different books about these battles. This is the URL:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/793/quinauan-point-1986

Bob Hudson recently visited Quinauan Village and was able to attain BAR from village chief who had gotten it from the battle field. Here is the URL:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/793/quinauan-point-1986

[Karl Welteke]

Longos Kawayan Point visit on the 14th Jan. 2013, posted here on 3rd Feb. 2013.

After I visited the Army camp inland of Agloloma Point,-Bay and checked out the Bataan West Road I proceeded to Mt. Mauakis above Longos Kawayan Point of the Battle of the Points fame. A road goes up there because the place is used as a landfill by the Mariveles Town

All the pictures of that day’s activity are already uploaded into my Multiply Image Sharing account and included are some pictures from the Rouvia Port Complex, site of the Sun Cruises Corregidor ferry landing. The main objective for today, after all, was to hop on this ferry and go to Corregidor.

One more important fact we should be aware of, that in the Wain Bay and on the ridges inland from there, maybe 5 km up the slopes to the Bataan West Road a very large development is in progress. It is called Camaya Coast and you can find it on the www. They run boats from Mariveles to that Camaya Coast development at Wain Bay.

Here is the album of that day’s activity, the 14th Jan. 2013 with about 90 images, the pictures of the Longos Kawayan Point are in the 2nd half of this album:
pisailor.multiply.com/photos/album/156/Bataan-West-Rd.-south-Mt.-Pucot-Points-Mariveles-Ferry-Port-2013-01-14



I post a few pictures in this reply:


2013-01-14. The map of the Longos Kawayan Point battle area from Google Earth.


2013-01-14. Left is the Longos Kawayan Point, if you look close one can see what appears to be a trail on that Longos Kawayan Point Ridge.


2014-01-14 The whole battle area of the Longos Kawayan Point Battle area. No trail seems to down to the beach, people must use boats. But with that grass burned, it is possible to walk down there.


2013-01-14 Mount Pucot.


2013-01-14. The ridge line that connects Mt. Mauakis with Mt. Pucot. Although the dirt road leading there is grown over with grass one can walk there.


A scanned section of a 1:50000 map of the Longos Kawayan area.


Google Earth image of the same Longos Kawayan Point battle area, marked up for your orientation.


2013-01-14 On the east side of the Mt. Mauakis Peak above the Longos Kawayan Point is a gate. That means it is private property with a resident or care taker. Enter and explain your purpose and ask permission. I was there before and only met an elderly care taker.


2013-01-14 Mt. Pucot and Mt. Mauakos are part of a peninsular (ridgeline) that ends with the Cochinos Point. As you walk on the ridge line you will often catch a glimps of Mariveles on the east side.


2013-01-14 I knew about this trail to Naiklec Point and checked whether it still exist, it does! With the grass burned now I should be able to walk all the way to the point.


2013-01-14 From the Mt. Mauakis peaks above Naiklec Point we can see Corregidor in the distance.


2013-01-14 From about the same place as the last image we can see Corregidor, Monja Island, the burned upper portion of the Hornos Point Ridge and the not so pretty landfill of Mariveles Town.


2013-01-14 Hornos Point. This point could be observed by the C1 Command Station on Corregidor Island. I believe at on place in Col. Bunker’s Diary they observed boat traffic coming around the point and tried to intercept the traffic with long range fire from Corregidor.


Notes:
This is not the only thread we have about the Battle of the Points area. Chadhill took an adventure tour in 1986 to Quinauan Point and has some good descriptions of the point and enriched it with battle graphs from different books about these battles. This is the URL:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/793/quinauan-point-1986

Bob Hudson recently visited Quinauan Village and was able to attain BAR from village chief who had gotten it from the battle field. Here is the URL:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/793/quinauan-point-1986

[victor]

Hi Karl,

I've been doing some research on Longoskawayan lately. I'm looking into the feasibility of visiting it in July when we go on vacation in the Philippines. I found out that the private property is called Mauakis Cove Farm and Retreat Center. Even though it’s private, it could be used for camping, recreation, family outings, and so on. One could stay with a group overnight, they could provide tents. An overnight “camping” tent stay is P250/person. One could also arrange for a pig roast or something like that.

I was corresponding with the owner. She was aware of some historical significance of the place but couldn’t find any information. I gave her quite a bit and she was so happy and thankful. She said her farm employees find war relics all the time. If they find grenades they turn them over to the local police.

Anyway, some pictures of the place from within.

Victor


(click for bigger)

[Karl Welteke]

Hi Vic

Nice work and pictures of that place. My pictures here from the 1st of April 2011 zero in on that place from the Mt. Pucot side and the last image apparently shows a trail coming down from the Longos Kawayan Point ridge line.

The larger area of those points and coves perhaps have different owners. On the actual Longos Kawayan Point Ridge line we met this care taker on the 5th Nov. 2009 and near his shack was that sign. The lone tree may be the same though as in the pictures you have presented.

If you like to team up with me again in July, when you come, let me know, I should be available.

Here are some images from my visits but these albums are not uploaded anywhere.


The marked-up map of the Longos Kawayan Point area.


2009-11-05. The care taker and his hut on the Longos Kawayan Point Ridge line. He was a most friendly person and even done some hacking for a trail for us.


2009-11-05. The posted No-Trespassing sign and Naiklec Point across the cove in back.


2009-11-05. The No-Trespassing sign with the name of the owner.


2009-11-05. The most friendly and likeable caretaker, but my old rusty brain forgot his name.


2009-11-05. My 2nd best hiking partner, Canadian George, we have done some good and difficult hikes. The best and most reliable hiking partner was the Flemish spouse of a factory manager here in Subic. They moved on though. Vic, that tree in the picture may the same as in the pictures you have presented.


2009-11-05. That rock is at the SW corner of Longos Kawayan Point.


2011-04-01.The next three shots are from the 1st of April 2011. Your contact in their Facebook page call this Kinalalakan Bay: -Mawakis Cove-.


2011-04-01 zoomed in on the last shot.


2011-04-01 zoomed in even closer and there seems to be a trail coming down from the Longos Kawayan Point Ridge.
They have this Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Mawakis-Cove-Farm-and-Retreat-Center/125590867563847?sk=info

[victor]

Hi Karl,
I have been corresponding with Dr. Habawel through her facebook. She did mention that there's a retired US Navy guy who visits sometimes. That's got to be you.

I'm still trying to figure out how a trip in July would work out. In the past I came out from Quezon City for a day trip of hiking around Bataan with you. Then head back to Manila at the end of the day. That works for the northern (and road accesible) parts of Bataan. I'm thinking of making it a 2-day trip for Mariveles, spending the bulk of the time exploring Longoskawayan.

I'd like to swing by Bob Hudson's as well to check out the BAR ammo

We'll see how it goes.

Vic

[sherwino]

Hello, Vic and Karl. Excellent updates in this thread. Even though I'm a local guy here, I am never that extensive in reaching the points and the West Road. Got myself on top of Pucot and below by the bays during my teens. The farthest I've been on the West road was a little farther from Biaan bridge, and Lusong and Wain beaches.

Hurry up, Vic, and make a reservation with Bob. I got a few from him. He donated the rifle to a museum, I had the chance to have a hold of it.

[chadhill]

Interesting format, EXO. Guess I'll give my first post in a while a shot...been away learning a new position at work.

Very nice posts and photos, Karl!! Brought back memories of my "Quinine" Point trip nearly 27 years ago. I was struck that JPAC is looking the area over. This made me recall some passages Abie Abraham wrote of his search for remains in that area shortly after the war.


The following Bataan road and trail chart, dated April 1942, is from the late Captain/M.D. Paul Ashton's outstanding book, "Bataan Diary".




From Abraham's 1971 book, "Ghost of Bataan Speaks", pages 201-202:

"We dismantled camp and sailed to Quinauan Point...we set the landing craft upon the beach and established another camp.

"When I awakened the following morning I saw my guide talking to a group of very small black men {Negritos-CH} who sat in a circle around our fire. Monson spoke their language.

"Ask them if they know where the cemetery is", I said as I looked down at the tiny men.

"Yes, they know. They always pass the cemetery when out looking for roots to eat".

I decided to walk through the jungle northward and cross the Anyasan River. The Negritos led the way and before long they pointed to a group of mounds.

"We disinterred twenty-one Filipino Scouts and one American. At a place north of the river, near Quinauan Point, we found many graves. At the cross trails {Trail 23 and the West Road?-CH} we picked up two unknowns, probably the remains of Majors Jones and Erickson".

* * * * *

The following chart is also from the "Bataan Diary" road and trail map.



These passages are from "Ghost of Bataan Speaks", pages 200-201:

"I believed that at least three hundred American and Filipino troops had died near Bagac...

"My instructions read: "Information reveals graves off an end road leading off West Road of kilometer 215.5, then to Trail four and a half miles east Jct Trail 4 and West Road".

{CH comment: Abraham's fascinating book, published by Vantage Press, was in dire need of an editor, and the above paragraph, quoted exactly, is one example of many from the book that shows why. The sentence is difficult to understand. Trail 4 was in fact just east of Mount Samat. I believe the author meant Trail 41, shown on the chart. I have drawn a red line to the general area where I'm SWAGGING Abraham says the graves were, thinking he means 1/2 mile east of the junction of Trails 41 and 9, though he could mean 1/2 mile east of the West Road on Trail 9 instead. Any further thoughts appreciated.}

"It was settled that we would land at Saysain Bay...after several desperate tries, we made it only to land upon the beach.

"We waded into the jungle single file while the monkeys shouted and screamed at us from the tree tops.

"All of the old trails and roads had grown back to jungle. We had to cut our way through most of it.

"David found a cemetery, and on disinterring it, we found most of the bodies were Japanese and Filipino soldiers". {CH comment: Another SWAG is that the buried Japanese may have included those killed in the Tuol Pocket fight not too far away, near Trail 5 and south of the Gogo River, shown on the chart.} "We reburied them, then discovered the 1st Division Cemetery, which was all Philippine soldiers. I made maps and sent them to the Philippine Government, since my job was to recover only Americans and Filipino Scouts".

[fortune40]

I'm just hoping when i do come home this summer late March or April 2013 i hope you will have a trip to this site..that is if you need some companion or would like to take me in..as with Sherwino i am now a native of Bataan i have a house in Mariveles and a property in Camaya coast a small piece of lot 211sq.m..i volunteer to get the tab on beer(!)if you happen to pass by my house say after a walking discovery of the area..
I frequent those areas but in a banca with my fishing buddies..Actually i just really focused on the battle of the points in detail after joining the forum..
My wife told me that the road to Camaya is already passable but still rough on many places..Every time i'm home i also make it a point to visit Camaya beach with my family and friends..It is really striking distance to the Battle of Points..
Thanks Karl for the beautiful pictures..I recognized now the Mount Pucot which is visible when i'm on the third floor of my house..i got a picture showing the point..I compared it to the previous pictures you provided in many threads here..

[victor]

Feb 4, 2013 9:51:54 GMT 8 sherwino said:

Hello, Vic and Karl. Excellent updates in this thread. Even though I'm a local guy here, I am never that extensive in reaching the points and the West Road. Got myself on top of Pucot and below by the bays during my teens. The farthest I've been on the West road was a little farther from Biaan bridge, and Lusong and Wain beaches.

Hurry up, Vic, and make a reservation with Bob. I got a few from him. He donated the rifle to a museum, I had the chance to have a hold of it.

Thanks sherwino, maybe you could come with us in July. I hope we don't get rained out.

Please tell Bob to reserve one for me and for RickThe Librarian