Just prior to the
capitulation of the island to the Japanese, thirty-six Philippine Scouts filled two metal
lockers with gold ingots taken from the "vault’ located at the Stockade. After
dragging them on foot over the island roads to a point just in front of the Morrison
Battery the soldiers dug two large pits. After depositing the two large lockers in the
pits, the men connected them with a small chain leading from one hole to the other.
Unfortunately, just as they completed covering the
lockers with earth a Japanese shell burst nearby, killing all but two of them. Before
dying a few years ago the last survivor drew a map showing the location of the buried
lockers and gave it to one of the Corregidor inhabitants. This man, along with a
Philippine Army Colonel, has been searching for the elusive deposit ever since, but to no
avail.
During my visit to the island in 1988 I had the
opportunity to help search for this treasure. The original map shows the location to be in
the center of three large trees, set in a triangular pattern just in front of the battery.
Since I believed that such a large target could not escape a good Pulse Detector that I
had brought along with me, we believed that perhaps our chances in locating were pretty
good. After scanning the entire area that these men claimed to be the spot I walked away,
having discovered only the normal remnants of a battlefield such as spent ammunition,
shell fragments, and pieces of American and Japanese helmets.
If these lockers of gold were ever there on the island, they are certainly not
there now!
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