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"DENVER"
WAR HISTORY OF BATTERY "D" 60TH CA (AA)
by
2d Lt. Charles L. Kasler
Battery
"D" AA gun position was
located on Wilson Park Ridge at the water tanks of Kindley Field, at East
end of
Corregidor
.
The
Battery
was initially manned by four (4)
officers and one-hundred and fifteen (115) Enlisted men.
It moved from East end of Topside barracks into the field on
November 29, 1941
.
Our equipment consisted of four new 3" AA mobile guns, a new
M-4 director, a new M-l Height-finder, and two new power-plants.
Prior to the war each gun was test fired six times at Aberdeen
Proving ground.
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Dec.8,1941 |
At
6:00 A.M.
our battery first received word
over the flash-phone that a state of war existed between
U.S.
and
Japan
.
There was no activity in the area of BataanCorregidor on this
first day.
However, we received reports throughout the day that
Clark
Field was bombed, and that hostile
planes were operating all over
Luzon
. |
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Dec.9 |
At
9:00 A.M.
we could hear explosions in the
direction of
Manila
.
Our battery soon received a report that Nichols Field and Port Area
were being bombed.
At
10:30 A.M.
we saw three flights of planes
bomb Cavite Naval Base for two hours.
Many fires were started in
Manila
, Nichols & Cavite.
We tracked planes that bombed
Cavite
during the entire raid.
At
1:10 p.m.
those heavy bombers broke away
from the rest who were raiding
Cavite
and headed west towards
Corregidor
at an altitude of 4200 yds.
"D" Battery was the only AA gun battery to open fire on these
planes from the "Rock".
Ft.
Hughes
("I" of 59th) also fired.
We fired 59 rounds before the planes turned South over
Fort
Drum
before reaching their bomb release
line. |
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Dec.l0 to 15 |
No
action was taken by the battery. Heavy
bombers concentrated their action on the Port Area and Nichols Field.
Dive Bombers were active against shipping in
Manila
Bay
. |
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Dec.15 |
Two
flights of heavy bombers flew over the east end of the "Rock"
and bombed at two mine-sweepers east of
Ft.
Hughes
.
We fired about 80 rounds. |
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Dec.16 to 24 |
Enemy
bombing continued over the
Manila
Port
area and over small boats in
Manila
Bay
.
No activity was reported in vicinity of
Corregidor
. |
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Dec.23 |
Two
flights of heavy bombers dropped bombs at two of our destroyers and one
cargo freighter, "Don Jose" in the
North Channel.
The destroyers were not hit, but the "Don Jose" was set
afire. We fired about 150
rounds that day. |
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Dec.24 |
18
heavy bombers approached the "Rock" from
Manila
Bay
flying abreast in bombing
formation. All batteries fired
and split the flight in half--nine planes went north to finally bomb
Cabcaben, while the nine others went South.
No bombs were dropped on the "Rock". |
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Dec.25 to 29 |
No
activity in our area outside of daily patrol by one light bomber and
observation plane. Also
sporadic bombing of small boats continued in
Manila
Bay
by the dive bombers. |
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Dec.29th |
The
heavy raid on the "Rock" commenced at
11:00 a.m.
by approximately 54 heavy bombers.
The planes were formed into flights of nine.
A Navy gasoline store-house just north of our position was hit and
exploded. Heavy black smoke
from this fire obscured the planes from our vision, hindering our fire.
Many bombs were dropped in our battery area. One bomb dropped 10
ft. away from the entrance to our director pit and blew in the entrance.
The Glass window on the angle of train dial was broken but no other
damage to our director resulted. The
parapet to the height finder position was blown in.
Large pieces of
shrapnel jammed in the recoil slide on gun #3 and put it out of action for
two days. The battery
officers' quarters and battery office were blown up by two direct hits.
Power-plant cables were cut in three places.
The battery was completely out of action for 12 hours.
Four enlisted men were wounded:-
Pvt. King; Pvt. Swanson; Pvt. Wetzel; Cprp. Renfro.
All received minor injuries except Pvt. Wetzel who received a
compound fracture in both legs. Effective
fire from all batteries was instrumental in causing future flights to
attack at a much higher altitude. The
maximum altitude on this day was 6500 yds. |
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Dec.30 to Jan.2 |
There
was no activity outside of continuous patrol by observation planes.
To this date our battery was credited with having brought down 5
enemy planes. |
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Jan.3 to Jan.8 |
Daily
bombing raids on the "Rock" by heavy bombers continued. Usually
three flights of 9 planes each. Dive
bombers operating from Nichols and Clark Fields were staging raids on
various military objectives in
Bataan
at least twice daily. One enlisted
man was injured on Jan. 7 when bombs dropped in our
Battery
area.
The power plant cables were again damaged and tactical
communication lines disrupted. |
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Jan
29 to Mar. 24:- |
During
this period no aerial bombing activity was reported over the
"Rock", except for daily patrol by observation planes. However,
daily air raids were carried out over
Bataan
by both heavy and light bombers.
We fired on single observation planes whenever they came within
range. |
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Mar.24 to Apr.1 |
Aerial
bombing of the "Rock" resumed
on a large scale. Daily
flights of 27 to 65 planes came over for the attacks.
Altitudes during these raids was much higher--8500 to 9100 yds.
Dive bombers were very active over
Bataan
.
Artillery fire in
Bataan
was getting much louder which
indicated that our lines were moving back. |
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April
1 to April 8 |
Aerial
activity was mow confined to destruction of military objectives and
personnel in
Bataan
.
Wave after wave of light and heavy bombers were operating
constantly over the entire peninsula where our troops and the 2nd
Battalion of the 60th CA (AA) were located. |
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The
Battery Histories which appear on this website are due to a long line of men,
many whose names will never be
known. These men, at the risk of their lives, wrote them
from memory and created the original
documents whilst incarcerated in Japanese POW Camps. They then
concealed the documents for the duration. Not every battery
history has survived the war, and their loss is part of the tragic
story of Japanese
indifference to human life in their custody.
At
the end of the line of these men who have preserved these
histories, are George Munson and Al McGrew (himself a POW),
who have enabled us to put them into the public domain. |
April 8 to May 5:- |
On the morning of Apr. 8 we could see large numbers of our
troops concentrating on the shores of southern
Bataan
. 1st Sgt. Brady, Dewey G. and Cpl.
Jack Rogers was killed at their post on Water Tank by
shellfire April 24. (unintelligible - ref to his
appointment as 2nd Lt.)*
Artillery fire was greatly increased.
At about
4:00 p.m.
we received word that our troops
had surrendered.
Since the surrender our
Battery
"D" position was the constant
target of Japanese artillery barrage fire.
Daily our men were getting killed and wounded and our ordnance and
other equipment damaged. From the observation balloon which
the Japs had in
Bataan
it was possible to observer our
entire battery position, which resulted in very accurately
placed artillery fire. Whenever a flight of planes came over
the "Rock," we would merely have to elevate our guns to
invite a half-hour artillery barrage. |
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/s/
CHARLES
L. KASLER
2nd
Lt. Btry. "D" 60th CA (AA)
Range
Officer |
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The unintelligible reference probably refers to Sgt. Dewey Brady being
killed on the same day that he received notification of his promotion to
2nd
Lieutenant. The Battery fell apart on Brady's loss, and suffered
thereafter from less than ideal leadership.
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CD
Version
26-10-10 BACK TO TOP |
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