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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. |
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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 |
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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. |
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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. |
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