Battery Cheney - details

	Btty Cheney is an easy hike down from topside. There's a track which is on the south (ocean) side of the parade ground, and if you follow it through, you'll come to a fork. Take the left fork and you'll soon arrive at Btty. Wheeler. The right fork will take you for a slightly longer walk through to Btty. Cheney, skirting the sheer 300 foot Wheeler Point cliffs along the way.
	Cheney Ravine is best viewed from Btty Smith, because the Cheney Ravine Loop trail is fully overgrown just beyond the battery itself. There were freshwater springs in Cheney and James Ravines, and the paratroopers eventually captured them for their much needed water supply.
`The view of Topside from above the Cheney-Wheeler positions.`	Freshwater was in critical supply for the paratroopers of the 503rd Parachute RCT. Troopers would even shake the canteens of the fallen enemy for water. Many cans of water dropped from planes were damaged on landing. After they had captured Corregidor, the Japanese had failed to repair the extensive water supply system that the large American garrison had required. They instead had established only four water points. During the first two days of the 503rd's assault, water was one of their most critical requirements. Although we urged the men to go easy on water, we became short. It was tough to see resupply of water go into the ocean. This was not the fault of the resupply units. The wind was constantly changing direction and speed. They finally got it to us by dropping it at about a hundred feet or so. I recall we found some water standing on the top of an old water tank. It was covered with a green slime but we sent some men to the top and passed canteens to them. They would scrape the slime back and fill the canteens. we would then drop in halazone tablets and pass them on. Major Harris T. Mitchell, Sr. from Corregidor, The Rock Force Assault
	The paratroops had met with very little opposition at the time of the jump because the Japanese were mostly in their holes escaping the heavy bombardment. Most of the Japanese efforts had been to fortify the cliffs and ravines, in anticipation of a landing from the sea, as they had been of the belief that a parachute landing was impossible due to the lack of places to land. However in the area around Batteries Wheeler and Cheney the Japanese soon were able to lay down a heavy harassment fire upon the assembling 2nd Battalion. With troopers still in the air, they ran from their cover attempting to spear the jumpers on their bayonets as they landed.
	From their pillboxes near Cheney and Wheeler, the intense machine gun fire pinned down some fifty men of Companies E and F in the three buildings along the western edge of the parade ground. It was not until 1400 hrs that the pinned down men were able to get a radio message through for artillery support, and the pack 75 howitzers could be brought into action to direct fire on the pill boxes. Not until 1450 were the men of the 2nd Battalion able to approach the parade ground and assemble in its north west corner. The Battalion lost one officer and thirty-seven men. Five had been killed in action, twelve wounded, twelve injured and eight were missing. Fortunately the missing, who had drifted over the cliffs, were reorganized and were led back to Topside by daybreak of the next morning.