WAY HILL

 

This is Corregidor where, typically, all hell would break loose at any moment. When things were the quietest, Japs popped out of nowhere. Bailey had moved the company with him out when he sent orders for me to follow, so we were about thirty minutes behind them. As they skirted the  base of Way Hill, the road ran near the Ordnance Machine Shop. Two railroads also were laid there. They halted there, probably to let us catch up. Things were quiet, and they were resting and taking it easy. Many of them got out of their equipment belts.  Fred Morgan looked through one of the doors of the Machine Shop and was killed instantly by a bullet in his head.  There was an artillery battery nearby, and they opened up on the openings in the vault-like buildings buried in the base of the hill. They fired direct fire using the open iron sights of their 75mm pack howitzers. Redhorse Phillips and Burl Martin say the artillery was having trouble getting their rounds into the openings. The mortar platoon unlimbered their flat trajectory mortar under Pfc. Henry McCrory, and they too fired directly into the openings. Being at a closer range, they were able to put every round through the openings. Since they had not fired the night before, they still had 40-50 rounds, and they fired them all into the openings. Lt. Lee led a force into the building as soon as the fire ceased. Turning to the right they found the Japs huddled up in a room with concrete walls. One shot proved it was too dangerous to fire inside the room, for danger of ricochets. It required trench knives.

 

� 2006  Bill Bailey, William T Calhoun & 503d PRCT Heritage Bn