The CORREGIDOR GALLERY will feature rare, unusual and historic photographs. Our first photo is controversial, because it is said to be of three Defenders. "Said to be" because either the photo is from another time and place, or the new pattern helmets  made it to Corregidor. Which is it?

This picture is of my grandfather, Raymond E. Walker (far right), who was in the 59th Coast Artillery at Btty. Geary.   I have no info on the others pictured with him. There have been people who question the M-1 helmets, but I have shown this picture to several of the men of Btty. Geary (Byron Kearbey and Angelo Borruano) and they believe the photo was taken on Corregidor. Byron Kearbey says that he even recognizes the terrain in the background as maybe the golf course. He also says that there was an officer's bar close to the golf course, so that when they started getting bombed they moved the liqour to a 'safer' place. [I don't think they're looking too happy about using it for Molotov cocktails, Will, and I'll tell you that for free! Ed]

I have a good friend who was stationed in Iceland before the war and they had WW1 helmets until 1941 or 1942. I think that there were some of the men on Corregidor that may have received these helmets.

My grandfather was stationed only at Corregidor and was a prisoner for 3½ years, and discharged right after that.  He was killed in 1958 in a car wreck.    I'd appreciate it if anyone who could help with his history would contact me at wwalkerzz@zzpokynet.com .  The photo was from my great grandmother's scrapbook.  Thanks, you have a very helpful webpage.

Will Walker

Why are these guy's shirts buttoned all the way to the top (shrapnel protection, cold weather (???) I believe this is still way too early.

Kirk J. Poole
Portland, Oregon

The Ordnance Corps began investigating an alternative design to the '1917' pattern helmet in 1932,  and production continued "throughout 1940". The Army adopted the M1 pattern helmet in 1941, and by the end of that year 323,510 were manufactured by McCord, the only manufacturer at the time. The liners were fibre, and much thicker than later variants.  It's not impossible that M1 helmets found their way to Corregidor or Bataan.

Hugh Zillman
Brisbane, Australia

As for the recent picture you posted of three soldiers purportedly on Corregidor wearing the metal helmets associated with later phases of WWII, I seriously doubt this was a 1941-42 picture.  I have never interviewed a pre-war veteran yet who has mentioned any headgear except for the brimmed and much adored campaign hat or the hated pith helmet replacement which was distributed early in 1941.  Pictures of captured Corregidor defenders taken by the Japanese fails to show any of these helmets either.  The ones who are wearing metal headgear are all wearing the WWI helmet.  Likewise, the weather was simply too hot on Corregidor for me to believe soldiers wore their uniforms as shown in the picture.

Scott Harrison
20 July 1999

I don't think these three guys were on Corregidor when it was taken.  I would like to take a closer look at the boots the men are wearing. The boots on the guy on the right  looks like they might have the leather strap uppers on them but that's a pretty wild guess because the print quality is very poor.  We wore those when we couldn't get replacement  jump boots which in the Pacific was always. Not only were we on the tag end of a strategic supply priority [the European guys had first dibs] but we had super thieves at the Pacific rear depots who all sported  what few replacement  boots that got that far. If things were that bad for us they had to be a thousand times worse in 1941/42. I cannot bring myself to believe some Quartermaster said "Let's give those guys the latest in helmets" when they couldn't even get proper artillery ammunition for the AA guns delivered to Corregidor except by subs. I think the middle man is wearing coveralls that are zippered in front. Tankers wore similar coveralls. There were no US tanks on the island. The two on the right look like they are wearing fatigue clothes of some type. The work uniform was blue denim in '41 and they are not wearing denims.  While there is no accounting for the vagaries of the military mind, the possibility of tanks being used on the island's steep rocky hills and deep ravines should not have given the Defenders much cause to worry. Molotov cocktail training by artillerymen seems a very remote possibility. As it turned out, according to the Belotes, eyewitnesses saw two Jap tanks.

John Lindgren
503rd PCRT
24 July 99