Here's the post I made at the "Jeep Jeep" thread:




So, having said that, it sounds a weee bit interesting if most - not all - of us Filipino Armoramaniacs can go. SR chimes in:




To which I propose:




And he further answers:





Jeepney finds the idea interesting and might bring his Supreme Commander of Jeepney Headquarters with him. Which leads me to say that you guys can bring your wife and kids, or girlfriends, or mistresses (hehehehe) along with you if they find sleeping in tents, going on without baths (hehehehe) okidokee - just so to make us singles extremely jealous hehehehe.

So, anyone else interested? To summarize, it'll be 3 days, 2 nights, camping (we'll be bringing our own tents and supplies - that includes Surface-to-Air missiles and 105mm howitzer rounds, plus concertina wire and lots of 7.62mm ammo hehehehe), doing serious hiking, visiting Fort Drum (a must see) and Carballo Island (if possible), checking out Malinta Tunnel (hopefully at night - I heard they do night tours in it and the ancillary tunnels), joining the day trip (done in the first day), etc.

I know it's still 2004 (summer or late December - it's a vote) but heck, better start planning early and saving some cash. :-) Also, it'll give our brethren who are now out-of-the-country (like Blitz et. al.) time to consider and plan. So, Blitz, Mondo (sp?), etc., consider Op:Corregidor 2004. :-)

Pipe in everyone! :-)

Pwede family? Ayos! Sama ko sila!

BTT

BTT?

In relation to order of thread, BTT stands for Back To Top.

In relation to the discussion within the thread that has gone OT (Off Topic), BTT stands for Back To Topic.

In this case, BTT means Back To Top so that those who missed this thread can put their input.

MY ONLY REQUEST IS .. TAKE A LOT OF GOOD PHOTOS .. IT'S WORTH ONE GOOD DAMN PROJECT ...CORREIDOR ARTILLERIES.. PLEEEAAAASSSSEE.. AGAIN THANKS FOR THE OFFER.. CAN WE SET THE DATE MAYBE SUMMER OF 2005 HEHEHEHE JK :-)

have you visited this site http://corregidor.org/

Thanks for the link Blitz! The picture leading to the link on the coastal defenses is Battery Hearn - an 8-incher, and supposedly the largest gun on Corregidor itself. Went there meself and had me party taken a pic while we're sitting on the gun.

If my Operation Corregidor 2003 this december will push through, I'll be taking a LOT of pix, particularly of Fort Drum. I'm planning meself to do a scale model of Fort Drum - either in 1/350 or 1/144.

kng december yan ok lng! hheehe kc pag summer m ojt ako mahirap magabsent #:-)

The club(IPMS Phils-BAC) has also been planning a trip to Corregidor. We're working on a group rate to try and make things a bit cheaper. No definite schedule yet but definitely in the works. Tony Feredo('Bossman" at IPMS) is one of the foremost historians of Corregidor, especially the coastal batteries. In fact, he's a member of an international Coastal Battery Association, and he would have been George W. Bush's tour guide had he gone to Corregidor last state visit. We could probably coordinate our effforts.
Another interesting item would be Dr. Hermie Landayan's 1/72nd scratchbuilt model of a disappearing gun based at Corregidor.
And, the club is also planning a model of Fort Drum in 1/48th scale, as soon as we finish the USS Gambier Bay project. Although your guess is as good as mine when that will be hehehe

So once again GI, another good suggestion/project!

I too am planning on building a Fort Drum model - only not as big as 1/48 (me mum will be pretty much pissed off I guess on where I'd put it considering the lack of real estate over here hehehehe). Mine will be in 1/350 - pretty manageable, and will be depicted as it is today rather than what it was back then.

My lolo headed some artillery guns back during WWII, wherein he was one of the survivors of the Death March. My history is really bad, but is Corregidor in the same vicinity of the guns in Bataan? Or is that another story? I remember some mention of Coastal guns in the book Ghost Soldiers.

Again Tony Feredo would be the man to answer all our questions. He presented a slide showing in one of the meetings once regarding the history of Philippine coastal batteries. We've asked him to present it again soon. That's what actually sparked the interest in touring the island. We'll let everyone know when that will be(slide showing).

OK, guys, El-Jefe here (aka as the Bossman) of IPMS Phils: BAC. If you guys want any information on Bataan and Corregidor, please fire away. I have studied all the defense structures including possesing all construction dates, serial numbers of all the guns, costs, battery histories, operational reports, some of the personnel diaries, firing tables and zones of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bay. These cover the Corregidor, Caballo, El Fraile, Carbao and Grande Island (Subic) plus two other island in Manila Bay named Limbones and La Monja. I have friends who were captured in the island in 1942 and friends who jumped with the 503rd PIR during the retaking in 1945. I also have the Japanese point of view including operational records and never before documementary footages from captured Japanese sources. About several meetings ago, I did a PPT presentation on the Harbor Defenses of Manila Bay and showed images of all the Forts and defense structures. My maps date back all the way to 1907 and I have the technical drawings of all seacoast and semi-fixed armaments in the island forts.

OK, saw some of your posts in this thread and my comments are as follows:

Fort Hughes, Caballo Island is restricted and you need special permission from the Philippine Navy to get inside. The tow only remaining 14-inch guns on disappearing carriages are still there in their rusted state. The remains of a M4 Sherman Tank is rusting away on the south side of the island. If you like to see a photo, let me know.

Fort Drum is still there but the iside of the structures have been scrapped heavily. It’s a bit tricky to get there and you need to hire a banca with a special ladder to get in. it’s not a tourist spot.

The largest guns on Corregidor are the 12-inchers of Battery Hearn and Smith and the 12-inch DC guns of Wheeler, Cheney and Crockett. The 8-inch gun barrel (used to be with Battery RJ-43) is now located at the North Dock facing Bataan.

Battery Hearn and Smith could fire all the way up to Naic and Ternate Cavite. It was Hearn that did most of the firing as Smith was being reserved for surface action. However on the night of the 8th of April up to the morning of the 9th (before Bataan surrendered)—both guns were firing road interdiction fire at the Pandan River bridge to delay the Japanese advance.

I go to Corregidor every year and spend at least 3 to 7 days exploring the island, bringing friends and visitors or just doing my research. I have traveled Manila bay via banca and reached as far as Carabao Island.

Malinta is the main tunnel structure in the island but there are several tunnels butyl as well. In Carabao Island (Fort Frank), the tunnel systems there are more intricate and elaborate as compared to the ones in Corregidor.

If you talk about Fort Drum (that has four 14-inch guns on turret mounts), there should have been another in Manila bay that was suppose to be similar in design but it should have housed two 16-inch Mk1 guns. This was suppose to be at La Monja Island. I have the plans but construction was cancelled due to the Washington treaty.

Another trivia is that the guns on Corregidor are ARMY guns and NOT Navy as some people think. Coast Defense was an integral part of the US Army. In fact, the earlier Army guns were even more powerful than the navy in one point in time.

As for the site www.corregidor.org, that’s owned by my friend Paul Whitman. I have written some articles there as well and have corrected a lot of his earlier postings especially on the armaments tabulation and he got the battery histories and names from me.

OK, I said enough… like what I said, fire away should you have any questions.

Or better yet, attend one of the BAC meetings and I’ll be glad to show you a slide presentation on Corregidor and the other island forts if you guys like…

El Jefe

Bossman:
as far as I know, our PCFs cant come close to El Fraile- mahahampas sila ng alon; ang PMC ang nagmamaintain ng lighthouse sa El Fraile and they go there by RHIB; suggestion- if you guys can go there mga start of March, you might be able to get sight of the USS Fort McHenry (LSD) disengorging AAVP 7s towards MArine Base Ternate for Balikatan 04; too bad alang amphib assault sa Ternate, kita nyo siguro yung flashbang effects from the coastline of Corregidor; question is you rent bancas to go there (El Fraile) from Cabcaben? Alam ko papuntang Carabao eh from Ternate o Batangas side e faster but from Cabcaben to El Fraile nga ba ang plan of approach mo usually? When ba ang plan ninyo pumunta nga sa Corregidor area? Ty!

Yeah. I read one "AAR" at Corregidor.org and they said there that their boat nearly crashed onto Ft. Drum because of the waves. IIRC, there were also some Kiwis and Aussies trapped at Ft. Drum for two days I think because of the bad weather.

Good point you mentioned at Op.JMN - the elections. Because of that, I'm seriously considering a reschedule to December '04 or Summer '05. Perhaps we merge this Op. Corregidor with what IPMS-Phils (BAC) is planning?