On about the 6th or 8th of August, 1941, I was called for a baggage detail at Manila, so we were rolled out at 3 AM, fed breakfast and hiked to the Bay.  (We were on Topside.)

 There we got on the Harbor Boat (about 20 of us), went to Manila and got there about 8 AM.  There was the President Coolidge.  We didn�t see any personnel but we understood it was officers; we then realized we had come over on a �cattle boat.�

 To my knowledge this was the last troop transaction in Corregidor before the Japs took over.

 However, later we met up with the 515 Artillery from New Mexico who were there on maneuvers when it happened, also 803 Engineers & 84 Tank Division.  Don�t know when they arrived.

 We were through unloading by noon, went to the Harbor Boat Station and no boat.  We had time on our hands, but no money so no eats.  If we could have had money we could have eaten � but nothing.  We waited until 5:30 PM for the boat.  It is about 25 miles from Manila across the bay to Corregidor, so it was dark when we got back.  No eats since before dawn.  The Mess Sgt. had to feed us after hours.  That is where the word S.N.A.F.U. originated, I think.  We always had a saying �The Army said they would feed you, but did not say when!�

 However, I did not mind these things at the time.  You didn�t need to be fat in the tropics.  This was the last time I was off the �Rock� until the Japs took us off.

 Things went fairly smooth for months.  We drilled, had parades, cut grass, a few �beach defenses� which were always interesting.  They blew the whistle, everybody was out of bed in the dark, no lights or smokes, got our field packs, rifles, machine guns, a few B.A.R.�s, headed through the jungles for the beach.  Could not use the roads.  Someone always wound up in the hospital.

 Normally is it so hot in the tropics that we did our drilling in the AM early; by noon we were so sweaty that we took a bath, ate dinner and took a nap after dinner, then had to dress up and stand at attention at 5 PM for retreat.  However, lots of PM�s they seemed to have a grass-cutting detail penalty for what a group had done or didn�t do.  Also, all recruits had to be acquainted with it.  On this we had a jingle:  �If any foreign nation ever lands of P.I. shore, they�ll find the Coast Artillery cutting grass on Corregidor.�

 �Hearn� was the name of our big gun, emplacement & tunnel (Battery F 59th, that is).  That consisted of a 12 inch diameter gun 35� long barrel or rifle, as it was called.  The projectile weighed 970 pounds.  It took 270 lbs of powder per round, had two spotter stations for observers to see about a half mile each way from the gun.  A plotting room underground, also the tunnel had sleeping quarters for about 100 men, 2 large Waukesha Motors for our own electric supply.

 
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Training Formation at Battery Hearn - The Ruhlen Collection

 

 

This gun had full traverse but was geared primarily for seaward defense, would shoot a projectile 30 miles or over, deck piercing ammunition.  This gun took a minimum of 45 men in the Battery to fire; this included cooks, etc.  They wanted big men on the shot truck, so therefore somehow, I would be azimuth setter.  We also had two machine gun nests right on top of the tunnel.  Our field kitchen was set up outside in the open, except there were plenty of trees for camouflage and shade.

This Battery Hearn was about a half mile from Topside barracks where we lived.  Things went quite smoothly until about December 1, 1941, when we were ordered to the �Field� - Hearn, that is.  Moved everything, sheets, blankets, all clothing, toilet articles, footlockers and everything.  We joked about it, just figured �more maneuvers.�

We manned the machine guns day and night.  Some of the men on machine guns (which I was) had good radios and at night could get a San Francisco station.  As I remember it, it was 12:10 AM, Dec. 8, when one of the men heard that Pearl Harbor was being bombed.  To us it was always Dec. 8, until we got back to the U.S., almost four years later.  There was a time change. 

Well, at first we didn�t know much.  News came very slowly.  But by 12:30 PM that same day they had hit our planes on the main island, Clark Field and Nichols.  By about then we knew it was the truth.  In fact we could hear the bombings of our own planes but could not see them.  From then on we didn�t have to identify planes before firing on them because they were not ours. 

Most every day a few bombers would fly in sight, pick out a few targets, such as a ship in the bay and Manila.  They were scared of the �Rock� for a couple of weeks, but soon learned that we only had 21 second fuses in our anti-aircraft guns, which would only go about that high, 21,000 ft, and they were coming in at 40,000 ft.  I was not in anti-aircraft, but could watch it every time, so they really riddled us for awhile.  They got the cold storage bombed.

Then one night about Christmas, I was in with a detail called �Submarines.�  We walked down to the docks at night, probably 2 miles, no smoking, etc.  There were two subs in the harbor with 40 second fuses for our anti-aircraft guns, among other things vital.  I was on fuses so don�t know what else.  We thought these sub took Gen. McArthur, his staff and family and some nurses back to Australia.

The next few days I saw several planes hit, explode and go tumbling into the bay or sea.  So once again they were bluffed by the �Rock,� but they had already got our cold storage plant.  Our street � car lines, all regular barracks were supposed to be bomb-proof but they proved not to be � not by any means.  Also a lot of our electric cables, mostly underground, so were impossible to repair.

About this time we heard there were 80 transport loads of Japs which left Japan for the Philippines.  It might have been true.

 
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Gas Mask Drill at Battery Hearn - The Ruhlen Collection

 

 

 

The 4th Marines were ordered out of China.  About this time they came to the �Rock.�  Some were attached to our Battery for rations, wishing they had still been in China, because they had not been bombed or shelled. 

 Part of the 31st Infantry, when they left Manila, stayed on the �Rock� for a week or so.  A few were attached to us for rations, then they were sent to Bataan.

 Up until this time, about Jan. 10, 1942, we had fairly decent eats, but by now our meat had spoiled.  Now our rice was getting weevils in it and raisins and prunes had some kind of worms.  Canned food was OK, but was carefully rationed as it was plentiful.

 On the �Rock� the garbage had always been picked up by mule teams and wagons.  I, as an old horseman, always admired these beautiful mules, but in these intensive bombings several mules got badly shrapnelled and so had to be shot.  I did not count these mules myself, but heard there were 38 head to start.  They were butchered and distributed in small portions.  Sure made good soup.  The last count I heard was 3 left, which were shot at the time of surrender.

 Prunes and raisins were in full supply.  All you could use.  So we had fired a few rounds of 12 inch ammo.  These powder drums were about 6 feet long and 10 inches in diameter.  Can�t remember the gallonage, but we had prune jack and raisin jack.  The worms would come to the top and could be skimmed off.  By straining it through a cloth we knew �we had the impurities out.�  Still thick.

 During this short lull in bombings, the Japs moved in their field artillery to the south of us.  They shelled us at will, a few in the day time, a few at night, some where they had picked out a chow line for a target where they killed and crippled several men.  So we had orders no more chow lines in daylight hours.  Therefore, we had two meals per day, one before daylight, one after dark from then on.  Our breakfast was �hot cakes with syrup,� no butter, sausage, bacon or eggs.  We did have coffee.  Our suppers were cooked rise with weevil, some tomatoes, canned, I suppose, with the meat boiled in.  During the day we had shredded coconut issued individually and our prune jack or raisin jack. 

 This was standard ration for about two months.  During this time the Japs over-run and took Manila, therefore, set up field artillery there, so they shelled us from the east.  Every so often a low flying strafing plane would show up from nowhere, it seemed.  I don�t think any of those got home, as our machine guns were very effective. I heard there were 10,000 machine guns on the �Rock.�  We had 2 nests, each having twin 50�s (calibers).

 Once or twice they strafed our big gun; never did do it any harm but we picked up the bullets on the emplacements where they had bounced off the gun.

 About this time, February �42, we could hear artillery fire on Bataan daily; also they had disabled or sank every ship in Manila Bay, including a lot of freighters.

News was very scarce although we had some radios where we got the U.S. at night.  The Japs had taken over a Manila station that we used to listen to.

 
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Ft. Mills' Headquarters and the Post's Spanish mast flagpole are the heart of Topside -  The Ruhlen Collection

 

 

 

It was not on the air to our knowledge, about March 1, 1942, when they set up artillery to the north of us so they could hit us from three sides.  We had a deep ravine on two sides of our gun emplacement.  Never did have a direct hit on our gun but sure had a lot of hits in these ravines.  By this time the bombings began again, this time they came in so high that they were hardly visible to the naked eye and well above our 40 second fuses or 40,000 ft. level.  So things again were mighty hot all over the �Rock,� shelled from three sides and bombed every day which lasted till about April 1, 1942, then it quieted somewhat.  Some shelling but little bombing for about two weeks.  At this time we learned that Bataan had surrendered on April 8, 1942.  During this period we did fire our big gun all night on the mainland at a large bridge.  Don�t know how effective this was, as we had deck piercing ammo (delayed action).  Gun was set to fire seaward with tunnel behind it.  Firing on mainland meant we had to fire over our tunnel, in doing this the concussion blew all the leaves and camouflage off the whole battery, leaving us like a chicken without feathers.  We fired two rounds, then waited 45 minutes for the barrel to cool, or a total of about twenty rounds.

 After Bataan fell, on clear days, we could see ships at sea in the distance, but out of range for our gun.  We were quite tense not knowing what was next; we even expected a seaward attack.  Our gun had more range than any other on the �Rock.�  They never did try a seaward attack, on Manila Bay that is. 

 By this time our rice supply was very low or should I say the weevil was getting worse, so we were issued some C rations, mostly left over from World War I.  The cans were rusty, etc. so it was opened in the kitchen and cooked there.  It did taste good but was in short supply. 

 Soon the shelling and bombing got a lot worse.  Then on May 5, 1942, we heard the Japs were coming across the bay, our Battery was on the back side.  In think we were held there on account of possible seaward attack.  The shelling and bombing were so intense that there was no chance of battling off the invading forces anyhow.  So that night we were told to destroy everything and be prepared to surrender the following morning, May 6, 1942.  This was the end of my army life, and the beginning of P.O.W. or �Hell Camps.�  I had been losing some weight during this period, but still weighed 145 lbs, which is enough in the tropics.  One reason was food, the other was carrying a full belt of 30 caliber ammo, our rifle, a steel helmet and we also carried a gas mask at all times.

 The next morning, May 6, we lined up four abreast or in columns of four and we started down the hill.  As we hiked other Batteries fell in until there was a continuous column from Topside, Middleside to bottom.  Soon after we passed Middleside, we met up with the front line Japs.  Seemed to have big smiles on their faces at first glance.  They lined up single file on either side of us.

 We walked in between.  They looked us over sharply.  If they spotted a watch or radio or anything they wanted they would pull a man out of ranks and take it.  A few resisted.  They were clobbered or cold cocked on the spot.  The Japs would then laugh.  They were tough and meant business we damn soon found out.  On top of that they were a lot bigger than we ever thought.  It was unbelievable how much the bombing and shelling had done to the �Rock.�  At the time of our surrender orders, most of us threw away our helmets, destroyed our rifles and ammunition, also our gas masks but kept the canvas bag to carry our toilet articles, etc., also food if we could scavenge some.  We kept our canteens and belts; that was a must in the tropics.  This stuff the Japs didn�t want.  Pocket knives were also an item they took.  We were fairly before we got to bottomside.  Once we gat there they headed us for Malinta Tunnel where we went through on street car tracks, still in columns of four.

 
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