Layac Junction

[fots2]

Okla,

I would say that your suggestion regarding the holes of “being both” is as good as any I have heard. There are dozens of holes for as far as you can see in this area. One compelling point I noticed, there are also carabao elsewhere but not many of these “wallows”. What does that mean?

I have been having some PC troubles but I should be able to post some photos in the next couple days.

Karl, thanks for the hospitality. I hope you and Victor have a good time exploring here next week.

[victor]

I met up with Karl in Layac and did some hiking in the area. To him who's a seasoned hiker, it was just a "mickey mouse walk." Not me. We walked some of the area in oppressive heat -- probably no different from what the death march survivors endured. After the walk, we had snacks at a sari-sari store in Little Baguio, the little barrio where we parked.

Thanks Karl for being such a great guide and taking the time to walk with me!

Just pictures for now. Will edit a video later after I get back and on a real computer instead of a netbook.

CLICK THUMBNAILS FOR BIGGER

The rotunda with the monument honoring the soldiers who fought in Layac. This is what everyone sees.


The Layac/Culo bridge and Culo river.


On the main road at the curve turning south into Bataan. Beyond the trees are the ridges that the 23rd and 88th FA PS may have been positioned.


Making our way to the ridge... negotiating rice paddies.


My walking buddy and "scout", Karl.


At the top of the hill/ridge, looking back at Layac. The town and the bridge are not visible because of a tree line. It's possible that the trees were not as thick or were not there at all in 1942. My guesstimate is that the 88th was positioned around this ridge and the one behind it.


A few symbols of the Philippine Division at the top of the ridge eyeing us curiously.


Walking along the top of the ridge


Facing north toward the Zambales mountains and Mt. Malasimbo


Layac battlefield terrain




On the road to Morong via Subic.




Will post pictures and commentaries of our visit to Morong in another thread later.

[okla]

Hey Vic....Good stuff you have posted concerning the Layac area. I have a reply on here somewhere about my hoping that one or some of you on site folks can make a trip into the bushes,etc at the "Pockets" battle area. It's about the last major battle site that hasn't been scoped out unless I am overlooking others. I realize that you are cramped for time on your jaunts back to the PI, but maybe the "Pockets" can be included in some future foray. Hope so. Cheers.

[victor]

We'll see... but that area may be indistinguishable in satellite images. Research materials in terms of finding exact locations may be harder to come by for lack of landmarks other than the Pilar-Bagac road.

[victor]

I'm currently reading this new book and it has more info about the 88th Field Artillery PS position at Layac.

(click for bigger)



According to the author, their position was roughly 2000 yards west of Culis, and 3000 yards southwest of the bridge (roughly 3 km). The batteries were on top of a plateau where the bridge could be clearly seen if the foliage, bushes were parted. He referred to the north side of the plateau/hill as a "cliff" and not a gentle slope.

At some point during the intense counter battery bombardment, they were ordered to fall back to a creek bed to their south to take shelter because it had 5 ft banks. They carved deeper cavities along the northern bank's walls. Looking at the satellite image, there is a creek with an east-west orientation right by where their position was described.


Map (click for bigger)




Photo I took facing south.




Karl, we may have been off by about a klik to the north when we hiked it. Interesting stuff...

[okla]

Hey Vic...As I have mentioned to you in the past, a portion of my USAF duties, way back during the Korean conflict, was Photo Interpretation. For this reason, I really appreciate your Google overhead views of these various battle sites with the info from your "on site" searches marked in. Kinda like an "overlay", making it all come to life. Really good stuff, as per usual. Right up there with the Abucay Line material. I am sure I speak for others of us, who will never make it to the PI,that your efforts, along with Fots, Phantom, EXO, Karl, Battery Boy, etc, are much appreciated. Cheers.

[fots2]

Hi Victor,

From your new information that area is well worth hiking around. I wonder if some unnatural looking deeper cavities along the stream bed might still be there.

[victor]

Thanks Okla, Fots.

The author remembers being ordered from their individual slit trenches and foxholes to move a short distance south into the river bed whose north bank provided cover from the artillery barrage. They dug cavities into the side of the north bank and piled the dirt in front of them like a parapet.

He described their movement into position two nights before. 10 minutes after crossing the Layac bridge, they reached Culis. Somewhere in Culis they turned right (west) on a road or trail to get to their position. Their CP/HQ stopped somewhere along the trail but the firing batteries continued on, going up to the plateau. Wherever his immediate unit was (he was assistant S2), they must have been near the part of the creek bed that has the east-west orientation.

He remembers a lot of detail for having only written the book in the mid 2000's. I imagine his recollections about their position would be relatively spot on because part of his duties was overseeing the "laying of traverse" or plotting their positions and matching them with their grids and maps.

[victor]

Preparing for July... I hope we don't get rained out.

New material that describes the 88th FA positions on Jan 6th, 1942.

[Karl Welteke]

88th FA PS Position at Layac, First Line of Defense.

Vic Verano, the most energetic and dedicated Filipino in pursuit of the history of the Philippine Scouts has returned to the Philippines and to Layac in particular. In this thread he posted information about a book titled -Waiting for the Enemy- by Jaime L. Guerrero. This book describes the position of 88th FA PS in greater detail. He, his school friend and I teamed up to find the place.
All the pictures, from the whole visit, too many, I posted in this album with this link at my Photobucket account:
s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/X%20for%20HR%20Albums/Bataan%20HR%20images/Bataan%20w%20Victor%202013-07-08?sort=9&page=1

Here are some sample pictures but also material Vic provided and some older shots:



Z146- This thread is about the -First Line of Defense- and so I like to start with Death March Marker #68 which is located right in the middle of the Layac Intersection as part of the -First Line of Defense- Memorial. It was shot 2009-April-17th.



Z147- The Layac Intersection -First Line of Defense- Memorial. This picture was shot 2009-April-17th. Just before this date the memorial was refurbished, those bricks are new and I believe it was repainted. It was looking good.



Z148- At the -First Line of Defense Memorial- is this plaque dedicated to Sgt. Jose Calugas, Philippine Scout of the 88th FA PS who was awarded the Medal of Honor for action at the battle area. Two other Filipinos were also honored on this plaque. This picture was shot 2009-April-17th.



Z149- This picture was shot 20004-Jan.-7th and it is the bottom part of the plaque in the previous picture. It is hard to read but I’ll try to figure it out. I think it says: “In this battle three Filipino Soldiers became recipients of distinguished awards from the United States Government for their extra ordinary Bravery & Heroism. Sgt. Jose Calugas was awarded the US Congressional Medal of Honor while Lieutenant Julian Q. Chau and Cecilo A, Garcia were awarded the US Distinguished Service Cross.



Z150- This is the 1st of 4 pages that Vic scanned out of the book titled -Waiting for the Enemy- by Jaime L. Guerrero. It describes how and where the 88th FA PS took up position. We studied it careful and are confident that we found the right place.



Z151- This is the 2nd of 4 pages that Vic scanned out of the book titled -Waiting for the Enemy- by Jaime L. Guerrero. It describes how and where the 88th FA PS took up position. They are digging in!



Z152- This is the 3rd of 4 pages that Vic scanned out of the book titled -Waiting for the Enemy- by Jaime L. Guerrero. It describes how and where the 88th FA PS took up position. Here he says they were 2000 yards west of Barrio Culis and 3000 yards SW of the Layac bridge. I had a GPS device and it confirmed those distances.



Z153- This is the 4th of 4 pages that Vic scanned out of the book titled -Waiting for the Enemy- by Jaime L. Guerrero. It describes how and where the 88th FA PS took up position. They had to take cover in dry river bed.



Z154- This was the calculation Vic made and sent to me. And that is the area we scouted out and are convinced this is the place!



Z155- Vic and friend came from Quezon City and I came from Olongapo and we met in Layac and then proceeded and made a right turn here.



Z156- Close-up of the last image, I posted this to show how many communities are along this way. That surprised me!



Z157- After we entered the side road from the Bataan Expressway and then made another right turn we had this view just before one descends to the Tama River valley and bridge. One uses the left road the right one just keeps turning to the right and returns to Barangay Culis. That mountain range is often called the -Zambales Mountains- but the real name is -Cabusilan Mountains-.



Z158- Standing now on the Tama River bridge and we are looking north or down river. Just now did I notice Mt. Malasimbo in line with the direction of the river flow.



Z159- After we crossed the Tama River bridge the road keeps going west to the top of the ridge and then turns left, south and ascends that ridge coming from the Mt. Natib volcano complex. The center of the 88th FA PS Position probably was at the end of this stretch of road where it makes it’s left turn south.



Z160- As we followed up that stretch of road in the previous picture we had this view to the left and I marked up this picture as to what we believe was part of the 88th FA PS Position on the 6th of Jan. 1942. This view is before we reached the top of the ridge and make the turn to the left and south.
Notice the Mt. Natib volcano complex.



Z161- I actually had time before I met up with Vic and pre-scouted the area. This is my GPS track, it was 7 km and a 2 hour walk. This GE map gives you the big picture of the Layac geography.



Z162- This is a close-up of the last picture, again it shows the my GPS track of my pre-scouting walk and estimate where the 88th FA PS Position was.



Z163- We are standing west of the quarry in the earlier picture and are looking towards where the Layac Bridge and gateway to Bataan is.



Z164- Standing where we believe the 88th FA PS Position was and we are looking north.



Z165- This is the direction towards Dinalupihan Town, I suppose the trees that blocking the view now towards the Layac bridge didn’t exist in 1942?



Z166- Now a view to the west which would have been the left flank of the 88th FA PS position when they were facing the enemy at the Layac bridge.



Z167- One more view to the south in the direction of the Mt. Natib volcano complex, on our Google map one can identify this cluster of agriculture buildings.



Z168- This is the GPS track of the 2nd walk we three teammates made after Vic and friend arrived from Manila.

As I said Vic is a most energetic man, his first priority is his family and his job of course. When ever he has time he is contributing to this bulletin board but he also participates on the Facebook Battle of Bataan page, is the secretary of the Philippine Scout association and has his own web page:
www.facebook.com/groups/bataanbattle/

www.philippine-scouts.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

pinoyhistory.proboards.com/