Round Table 11

The road that ran along the front of Topside Barracks made a sharp, 90 degree right turn before reaching the end of the barracks, then ran south toward the row of two story buildings which I later learned were Senior Officer's Quarters. To the right of the road lay the parade ground, and to the left of this south bound road stood several imposing buildings. The nearest to our barracks at first appeared to be a church, but my guess brought several chuckles. It proved to be the Topside Theater, or Topside Cine in the local vernacular. The architecture was attractive, but unlike any that I was familiar with.

Beyond the "Cine" was a long two story building, skirted by a wide veranda, both upstairs and down. In appearance, it was a very plain structure. This proved to be the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. The end of the "BOQ" was adjacent to the road, or street, and stretched eastward with a wide walkway running along the front. Steps led up to the veranda. At each end of the veranda, concrete stairs, complete with railings led up to the second floor.

Just to the south of the BOQ stood a more massive, and somewhat impressive building. This was Ft. Mills Headquarters. The street running parallel to the Sr. Officer’s Quarters, and bordering the south perimeter of the parade ground, crossed the street fronting Headquarters, and ran eastward, past the southern extremity of the Headquarters building and up a slight rise to the lighthouse. As the sergeant led our group of 'policer's' out to the street in front of Topside Barracks, it became obvious that Topside Barracks dominated the upper heights of Corregidor . The building was three stories high, and its length seemed endless. We were very young and the immensity of the barracks easily overwhelmed each of us. Our group covered the immediate area of "D" Battery with our pointed sticks, going through the motions of stabbing imaginary cigarette butts and scraps of paper and soon we were back in the barracks.