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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 18, 2010 19:17:55 GMT 8
I came upon these lately, in a spot where you wouldn't expect to see a bunch of sharp and informative WWII photographs - the U.S. Embassy. Well, thanks to those glorious little tax dollars at work, and to Congressman Henry J. Hyde who donated them in honor of the people of Pangasinan, Dagupan, and Lingayen, we have this series. (Hyde served in the USN during WWII and was in combat in the Philippines. He retired at the rank of Commander, after serving as officer in charge of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Reserve Unit.)
 January 9, 1945. LCVP's stream toward the beach as H*hour nears in Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines. Photo taken by 7th Fleet.
 January 9, 1945. Aerial photo of burning beaches on Lingayen Gulf, after terrific bombardment by US warships. Taken by plane from USS PENNSYLVANIA (BB-38). The airstrip shown in the lower right section of the picture had been captured within a few minutes after the American troop landings. Some of the craft are nearing the beach. Photo taken by: USS Pennsylvania
 January 9, 1945. Aerial of landing on beach of Lingayen Island. Taken by plane from the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38). Lingayen town, Luzon. All land areas surrounding beachheads had been swept by a hail of steel from bombarding warships. Photo taken by USS Pennsylvania.
 January 6, 1945. Cruising disposition taken by allied warships when they came into Lingayen Gulf. Taken by plane from the USS Pennsylvania. (BB-38).
 January 9, 1945. Unloading operations at White Beach Two, Luzon during Lingayen Gulf invasion operations by US Task Force LST 469 off shore. As seen from USS FELAND (APA 11). Lt.(jg) Harold Matt. beach-master from USS Feland in right foreground. Photo taken by USS Feland.
 January 9, 1945. Lingayen Gulf during World War II. On the day of the landing. Note the heavy surf, which posed an extra challenge for the Allies.
 January 9, 1945. Lingayen Gulf during World War II. A view of the landing beaches and supply dumps, looking West.
 January 9, 1945. Lingayen Gulf during World War II. Landing beaches, looking West.
THESE IMAGES WERE DELETED BY THE EMBASSY AND ARE NOW HOSTED BY THE CORREGIDOR HISTORIC SOCIETY. [/size][/i] HERE'S A BONUS WE'VE PICKED UP ALONG THE WAY
POST MODIFIED BY EXO AUGUST 2012 - |
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Post by tomasctt on Aug 18, 2010 20:30:57 GMT 8
Awesome pix! Thanks for sharing!
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Post by okla on Aug 18, 2010 21:53:01 GMT 8
Hey Nowhere....These are great shots. I saw somewhere, years ago, movietone newsreels showing happy Filipino civilians on those beaches helping unload barges, pushing vehicles mired in the sand to more solid ground, just anything to help the returning GIs. Those people just seemed estatic, knowing that the visitors from the north would soon be on the run. Thanks for sharing these still photos. Postscript....On a second viewing, methinks I can see several Filipino civilians helping to unload a damaged landing craft as was shown in those long ago newsreels. I am sure those Beachmasters could use all the help they could get in order to get the troops moving south toward Manila. This is good stuff.
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Post by tomasctt on Aug 19, 2010 10:57:51 GMT 8
Hey Nowhere....These are great shots. I saw somewhere, years ago, movietone newsreels showing happy Filipino civilians on those beaches helping unload barges, pushing vehicles mired in the sand to more solid ground, just anything to help the returning GIs. Those people just seemed estatic, knowing that the visitors from the north would soon be on the run. Thanks for sharing these still photos. Somewhat on topic... I remember my grandfather's tale of taking care of family and mum (who was still a baby back then) during the war. They took to the hills when occupation was getting too hard already. Then the Americans arrived to liberate Panay. He told me he ran out to the beach to greet the GIs, bringing a watermelon. He returned to his family with several cans of milk for mum.  |
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Post by okla on Aug 19, 2010 21:08:31 GMT 8
Hey Tomas....Great story. Don't care how many years go by, there will always, and should be, a special bond between our two peoples/countries. We both shared the same fox holes and spilled too much blood together back then, especially 1942.
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Post by westernaus on Aug 19, 2010 21:51:52 GMT 8
HI okla, Iam westernaus. I live in the same aussie state as Mapmaster and possibly live a short distance from him. Since 2005-2006 I have been watching in silence to all this magnificent material that everyone from EXO to the odd respondant has placed on this site. I have been to the island once in 1990 and did what EXO calls the 3 hour tourist tour . Since that trip like you iam addicted to any info on CORREGIDOR .
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Post by okla on Aug 20, 2010 2:31:41 GMT 8
Hey Aussie...Fots maintains there is no known cure. I have been hooked since I was 10 years old when the bad news just kept coming in. I had a small newspaper route in my town and avidly read the front page each day. Strange that at that young age I became so intrigued with the whole Corregidor/Bataan campaign. Still submerged in it to this day. This website has been a literal Godsend. Information/photos/etc that I never dreamed I would have access to. Postscript..The son of my very best and oldest friend has just returned from an extended time working in and around Perth. He loves your country, especially the vast western area. He also spent some time in Singapore. He is with an oil company, based in Houston. Having never been "down under" I have always imagined Western Australia to be similar to West Texas. Being from Oklahoma I would imagine that the western portion of your great country would suit me just fine. Cheers.
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Post by westernaus on Aug 20, 2010 13:59:59 GMT 8
Thank you for your welcome Okla and Fots... I Know that someday my luck will change and I will be able to return to Corregidor . When i did the trip to Corregidor with a nephew , instead of seeing the light and sound show in the Malinta Tunnel , we elected to do a tour with a whole lot of koreans. We went down a lateral near the light and sound lateral , right to the back wher'e there was a service / venilation tunnel possibly running the whole length of the laterals . We headed towards the Gasoline laterals down this tunnel or west by compass. The tunnel wasnt lined in concrete and the floor was rough with rocks everywhere . In some area's the ceiling wasnt very high and we were hitting our heads . What we did notice was the whole tunnel was heavy with black soot . I was wondering if this was due to diesel exhaust venting , or whether it was due to flame throwers being used to flush out the then enemy. ( Kentucky Fried Chicken style ) ?? anyone got any idea's .
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Post by westernaus on Aug 20, 2010 14:37:39 GMT 8
Hi Okla ... Perth or Fremantle played played a big part in the evacuation of personal and resupply of corregidor while it was possible . The US Navy set up a submarine and shipping base at Fremantle after they retracted from the philippines . We also had at 2 -3 sqadrons of USN. catalina's operating close to Perth on the swan river. They had come from Cavite like the submarines . At 2 years of age i can remember a large droneing sound at night and a cracking sound . It worked out it was a shot up catalina making for a landing on the swan river and had come in so low he had broken some branches on a tall tree wher'e I lived during the war. Regarding western australia i would say the area that looks like western texas would be in the Pilbarra area it is very hot and humid during summer. In the kimberley area it is the same , hot and humid during summer. In both area's there are very large mining sites and station properties usually about 200-300 square mile in area and the people up there get around dressed like cowboys. The station properties usually have cattle and sheep growing on them. In perth we have a more moderate climate medium size city and suburbia. further out from the city about 60 miles we have sheep and wheat farms orchards and vineyards.
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Post by fots2 on Aug 20, 2010 20:18:06 GMT 8
It is off topic but I will try to answer your questions.
I would say that the soot (in many areas) is from the numerous fires raging after the Japanese tried to blow up Malinta Tunnel in 1945. If you keep walking west in the north side ventilation tunnel where you were, you will come to entrances of the Gasoline storage laterals on your left. There were huge fires here judging from all the tanks, fuel drums and tunnel lining damage you can see there. You saw the soot very close to here.
Before the war, the Malinta Tunnel laterals were ventilated with blowers so people could survive inside and this included the hospital area. They would need reasonably good air. It sounds like air quality deteriorated during wartime bombing but they probably did the best they could under the circumstances.
One of the Navy tunnels has pads for generators, electrical switch panels etc plus at least two exhaust pipes straight up through the tunnel roof. I assume no diesel exhaust was intentionally vented inside the tunnels. To my knowledge, there was no fighting inside the tunnels either.
The south side air ventilation shaft had fuel and grenades dumped down it in an attempt to get the Japs out. Sounds like a barbeque recipe to me, “well done’ style. That area and the nearby Quartermaster tunnels are still very blackened after all these years.
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