OT - I visited Corregidor last year or 2 years ago. Just a day trip. My group visited Malinta Tunnel, Battery Way (8-inch mortars I think) and Battery Hearn (8-inch gun), as well as the Pacific War Memorial.

I have pictures of some ruins, especially that of Batteries Way and Hearn (IIRC, I had posted a thread in TankNet with pix).

I have them on my hard drive and I'll post them here as soon as I can get to my PC (currently using my school's PC).

I was supposed to go to Corregidor this December for a three-day camping trip with my group, but that got scrapped because one of us can't get home from the USA. The December trip was supposed to be a "recon" for a proposed Filipino Armoramaniacs get-together slated for Summer 2004. The recon was supposed to include a trip to Fort Drum (aka El Fraille island which was leveled by the US engineers to sea level, then with the rock and concrete was "terraformed" into a "concrete battleship" including several casemated guns and two twin 12-inch gun turrets) and Carballo Island (Ft. Frank I think). Both Drum and Frank are currently 'outposts' of the Philippine Navy and I reckon I'll need permission from PNHQ to visit it.

Alternatively, I might try contacting the 503d RCT Heritage Battalion to help me out on this one as they've been doing this for years with the veterans of the 503d RCT who liberated The Rock.

Speaking of which, IIRC those veterans as well as Heritage members are slated to come back to Corregidor this January 2004 for a 2-week visit. I was hoping to go with them but the schedule is not good for me, so it's all-or-nothing for next year's April.

Again, back to the subject of photos, there's a site on the Net that has outstanding pictures of Ft. Drum. I've been meaning to build a 1/350 scale diorama of Ft. Drum either in its present condition or in its "operating condition" 60 years. Probably the current condition as the rust orange of the gun turrets are in direct contrast to the white-gray-black of the concrete - which makes for a nice effect.

BTW, I'm also inviting the rest of interested Armorama members to join in if you want for Operation Corregidor 2004 (this'll really make it worthwhile :-) ).

BTT

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was composed really of several battles - The Battle of Surigao Strait which IIRC was the last instance of 'Crossing the T' (which IIRC happened only 3 times - the other two are the Battle of Tsushima Strait and Battle of Jutland), The Battle of Mindoro, another battle off Mindoro which resulted to the sinking of the IJN BB Musashi, then there's Halsey's run for Ozawa's decoy force of carriers off Northern Luzon, then finally RAdm Clifton Sprague's valiant defense against overwhelming odds in Leyte. A must read for the Battle of Leyte Gulf is "Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf" by Kenneth I. Friedman, published by Presidio Press. Around 414 pages long with pictures. It's a damn great book on the subject.

With regard to the atom bombs, IIRC there were more than just 2 available. Or, alternatively, there 2 already ready, with several others that can be quickly assembled, shipped and loaded into a bomber, if there was a need to do so.

Another memorable Pacific Theatre battle is of course Guadalcanal. There's a nice small book on the first stages of Guadalcanal titled "Bloody Ridge: The battle that saved Guadalcanal" by which Michael S. Smith I highly recommend. It's small and has pics but it's a very good book to have. Unlike most Guadalcanal books, this one delves more in the first parts of the operation.

Then there's of course the Battle of Bataan, the Fall of Corregidor, and the subsequent liberation of the Philippines which I reckon has been discussed here already.

Then there's also the Cabanatuan rescue (if this can be considered as a battle) by the Rangers which was featured in Oliver North's "War Stories" and is now made into a TV movie (last I heard, it's slated to be shown or was shown this last quarter of 2003 in the USA). There's a book by Hampton Sides titled "Ghost Soldiers" which is about the Cabanatuan Raid and the life of the POWs at the Cabanatuan POW camp.

GIB--- fascinating rundown on the Island. We are lookiing forward to seeing the pictures. Nice commentary on the Ranger Raid for Cabanutan. Awesome operation!
thanks
DJ

Ask and you shall receive... :-)

First, the view from Lorcha Dock - from where Gen. MacArthur left Corregidor for his journey Australia on board a PT-boat until he reached Mindanao, from which a B-17 picked him up and his party to Australia:


(BTW, up ahead, the hazy looking mountain at the left-of-center is Mt. Mariveles which is on Bataan. The dock to the right side of the picture is where the ferry from Manila and Bataan docks to drop off visitors on Corregidor)

Gen. MacArthur himself - or a larger-than-life bronze replica of his, at Lorcha Dock. The fat blob at the right is me, with my college comrades who were doing a recon of Corregidor to set up our underground bunker as a first step on our campaign to rule this world... MWUHAHAHAHAHA! #:-) :



3-inch AA gun at the Japanese Peace Memorial. Now, the Japanese Peace Memorial is of relatively recent construction, with one big buddha at one corner, and the memorial's seaward side is ringed with these AA guns positioned by the builders of the memorial (hence, these aren't in their original positions). The 503d RCT particularly, uh, "reviles" this memorial because 1) it's supposed to be a PEACE memorial, then why the presence of AA guns positioned as if they were protecting it? and 2) Corregidor was forcibly taken by the Japanese and was retaken with much blood and lives by the Americans, so this memorial is, for the 503d RCT's opinion - "misplaced" and should never have been built - in fact, they are of the opinion that there shouldn't be ANY Japanese memorial on Corregidor:


(BTW, one must ask, why am I moving towards the camera. Answer: I thought the delayed shutter didn't work so I went to check - then the camera took the picture. Hence, my somewhat awkward stance)

Malinta Tunnel - this is one of the main exit/entrance of the main tunnel. In this tour, you enter the other side and exit here. The main tunnel and several ancillary tunnels have been restored as well. The main "tourist" feature of this is the light and sound show (which can get quite corny I must honestly say). The light and sound show features voice re-enactments of MacArthur and Quezon, among others (not to mention a part where Quezon curses with much gusto - I must, my favorite part hehehehe) and ends with the Philippine National anthem played with our country's flag raised at the middle. If I were the Secretary of Tourism, I'd remove the light and sound show and just leave the tunnel as it is, as a silent, somber tribute to those who fought and died at The Rock. BTW, if you join the overnight tours, one of the highlights is to do some serious tunnel crawling along one of the ancillary tunnels - AT NIGHT! :-) :



Battery Way - 8-inch or 12-inch mortars. Battery Way - and another mortar battery whose name escapes me - were the most useful artillery batteries during the Battle of Bataan. These mortar batteries provided much needed fire support for "The Battling Bastards of Bataan" on the Bataan peninsula with deadly precision. They were eventually silenced by a big bombing raid on Corregidor by the Japanese - and with their silence, sealed the fate of the USAFFE troops on the peninsula:



Battery Hearn - 8-inch gun, which was one of the largest - if not THE largest - guns on Corregidor. It - like most of Corregidor's guns - were sea-ward, i.e. positioned to defend the approaches of Manila Bay from the South China Sea. Thus, they were rendered practically useless just by being pointed in the wrong direction:



Top Side - I think this is "Mile Long" barracks. They aren't really a mile long but at that time they were considered the longest barracks in the world:



Two pictures of antique cars - one of them is Pres. Quezon's, the other is MacArthur's:




The Pacific War Memorial - it's sad that the government doesn't have much money to maintain this war memorial. In fact, this - along with many other WW2 war memorials in this country - are in disrepair, and so WW2 veterans particularly the 503d RCT are quite "disheartened" to see it in such a bad state of affairs. If one goes on beyond, you'll pass by a column with plaques commemorating the various Pacific Theatre battles during WW2 and at the very end is the Eternal Flame in red steel (in this picture, you can see that steel sculpture poking through at the middle):



Above, the plaque reads: "Sleep my sons, your duty done, for Freedom's Light has come, sleep in the silent depths of the sea or in your bed of hallowed sod, until you hear at dawn the low, clear reveille of God." Never fails to bring me close to tears.

So far, that was all I took from that day tour. We visited up-close-and-personal only Batteries Way and Hearn, then there was one from a distance but I couldn't get a good pic of it. It's really strongly suggested to camp there for at least 3 days and hike around the island to visit the other ruins, as well as take the boat to Carballo Island (Ft. Frank) to visit 12-inch guns on disappearing carriages, and mighty Ft. Drum (El Fraille).

For those who are highly interested in Corregidor, I suggest you take a peek at corregidor.org which is run by veterans of the 503d RCT as well as the Heritage Battalion (the "fan club" of the 503d RCT).

...seek and ye shall find... :-)

And for those who are wondering "What the hell is Fort Drum?" Well, here she is:



(Pictures of Ft. Drum courtesy of corregidorisland.com)

Ain't she a beauty? Yup! She's sooooo pretty. #:-) Had my Dekabr trip this year - and the proposed trip in April next year - pushed through, visiting this massive concrete battleship would be the highlight of the trip. And not just visit it from away on a boat, but I mean docking by its side and climbing up to the turrets like happy excited children in a playground. Yup. This be the highlight alright. Ft. Drum served a vital role during the Battle of Bataan. It fired its guns on the Japanese, supporting USAFFE troops. Often, the guns were more of a morale support for the beleaguered defenders, the massive *BOOM BOOM* of the guns giving hope to the weary soldier that, yep, we're still here, alive and holding on. Ft. Drum was NEVER took out-of-action by the Japanese. It was subject to among the heaviest concentrated bombardment - both from air and by howitzers on the mountains of Bataan. But all that did was nick off a foot or two of the concrete armor - I'm not kidding! There is much debate on how much damage Ft. Drum would've done to the Japanese had its commander not obeyed the surrender order of Wainright. Sure, the men there would've either starved to death or ran out of shells, but it was nonetheless a threat to any ship that tried to enter Manila Bay. During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese occupied Ft. Drum (and AFAIK didn't bother reinforcing it). When MacArthur made his promise good, Ft. Drum was a threat to be neutralized. How was it neutralized? A US destroyer sat beside it, pumping hundreds if not thousands of gallons of gasoline in one of the air vents. Then the gasoline was lit. The explosion was so great that the 20-ton manhole hatch that served as the main entrance to Ft. Drum flew to the sky tens and tens of meters into the air - as well as vaporizing everyone inside it. Thus, Ft. Drum was neutralized.

(BTW, wouldn't this look impressive in a 1/250 or 1/350 scale diorama? Hehe silly me am seriously planning on doing such one day. Imagine, building one and joining an AMPS or IPMS exhibit with this - and get ready to see the weird looks they'll make once the viewers see it :-) )

My Friend--- may I highly recommend that you ask Jim to post these outstanding photos to an appropriate album. Magnificent view of places that we read of and never appreciate in the flesh. I am particularly impressed with the Fort Drum photos. Amazing creation. Thanks once again for sharing these photos with us.
DJ

DJ in reference to Peleliu to say it was pointless and unnecessary is a bit of an understatement. It chewed up a Marine division and several Army units as well. There is an excellent book I have in my collection called the "Devil's Anvil" by James Hallas.

Superb book! Well, the 2nd Marine Division is decimated and I think they finally brought in the 81st Infantry Division to complete the suppression of the island. As I recall, the entire idea behind seizing the island was to provide airfields and anchorages for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines. Never happened. The fleet used Ulithi Atoll in the Carolines and not the Palaus Islands (Pelelieu and Angaur). It seems to me that Halsey made the decision not to use the island before they actually invaded. Someone let me know if I am off base here.
thanks
DJ

You heard correctly, my friend. In the Bataan campaign the combined US-Filipino forces (USAFFE) did win a few battles, thereby bluting the Japanese offensive. Sadly, the reinforcements and aid they were hoping for did not come though...

I'd put my vote on the Battle of Midway and Leyte Gulf. They underscore "victory by air power" and "death from above" US Naval aviation (and Marines) built a reputation here.

Who could never forget that all-USMC campaign at Iwo Jima?

Let;'s not forget that small unit of troops called the Alamo Scouts who made this possible. They are the forerunners of US SpecOps.

When you read Ghost Soldiers, it is amazing the role that the Alamo Scouts played in securing the objective. Unsung heroes.
DJ

True. But there's also another book which is more complete about the history of the Alamo Scouts by Lance Zedric. Secret Warriors.

1. Bataan and Corregidor bought MacArthur enough time to consolidate his forces and resources in Australia. From Dec. 8, 1941 to April 1942 the abandoned US forces with their Filipino counter parts frustrated the Japanese timetable. Only when the medicine and food ran out, plus the deteriorating health of all of its forces did the USAFFE finally surrendered.

2. Battle of Leyte Gulf , "Keep it up boys we are sucking them up to 40mm range." This was said by a sailor on one of the DDE (Destroyer escorts) who held the thin line between the Japanese navy (which included the Yamato and MUshashi) and the unarmed troops ships in Lingayen bay. US DDE's and CVE's (aka baby flat tops, jeep carriers) duked it out with the best of the remaining Japanese surface fleet and were able to fool them that they(Japs) had to retreat.

3. Guadalcanal, became a blackhole in the Pacific where men, ships, and planes from both sides came and never came back.

Did anyone mention the battle that the prisoners faced at the hands of their captors (japanese) . It was a battle everyday. Often for more than three years.

~Chip :-)

I have to provide a two part answer:

The Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor has to be the most memorable for Americans, especially with recent TV and movie publicity, regardless of authenticity. It did get the USA into the war, whole hog, and lead Hitler to declare war on the US #:-)

But I think that the Battle of Midway was the turning point, combined with the earlier Battle of the Coral Sea - stopped Japanese expansion.

Good subject for discussion. I'm going to go off on two tangents here.

First, the most memorable battle, in my mind, would be Midway. The US fleet was greatly outnumbered by the Japanese, but that was partially negated by the Japanese dividing their forces. Superb intellegence on the American part with the broken Japanese codes, and the courage shown by Admiral Nimitz to go with it. Plus the professionalism of the American airgroups, particulary the Enterprise's dive bombers in how they found the Japanese fleet. I am irked by those who say the Americans won by luck. It was good intellegence, good execution of a good battle plan, good, professional training of the US naval forces, surface, air, and submarine, and the courage of the individuals that won the battle for the US. That and good timing catching the Japanese carriers at the right time, with ordnance scattered all over the hanger decks.

I would have another to add, and that would be the Guadalcanal campaign. It was the first American offensive of WWII, a campaign on sea, air as well as land. The Japanese thought that the Americans would not have the stomach for a war of attrition, but that was exactly the type of campaign that it turned out to be, with the US forces winning that battle of attrition. It set the stage for amphibious assaults later in the war with lessons learned the hard way, including logistics, sea and air support.

I found the other posts thoughtful and enjoyed reading them.

Best regards:
Charlie