We quickly board the banca tied up alongside the North Mine Dock. Mike Nagartan, the inn-keeper, has chartered the 'Randy Boy', out of Cabcaben, to take Don Abbott, Ed McCarthy and I to Battery Monja. The boatman has just made the twenty minute trip from his home port across the North Channel to Corregidor and now he must refuel before we head south to Wheeler Point. We watch as the boatman sucks gasoline from a one gallon glass jug through a length of plastic tubing and we can see some bubbles in the liquid dart quickly as it constantly flows into the inboard engine's gas tank. 

This done we shove off at 0720 and turn due south.  The calm sea is covered with unsightly jetsam discarded by the passengers on the Island Cruiser and the many bancas that tie up at Bottomside's north shore. I feel almost cool even though the sun burns brightly in a cloudless sky. It may be I don't notice the heat because I am a little excited as we rapidly make headway through the South China Sea toward Wheeler Point.

Little can be seen from the banca except the heavy jungle above the beaches. Most of the buildings and fortifications are well hidden. We pass Searchlight #1 at Battery Point but all that is left are a few pieces of concrete hanging precariously over the bare cliff awaiting the final plunge on to the rock strewn beach far below. The remains of Battery Hanna (or what we take to be the battery) is a huge rectangle of concrete on the side of the vertical wall at Cape Corregidor where it is suspended 30 or 40 feet below the North Shore Road.  The earth beneath the concrete battery emplacement has washed away and the entire structure, still nearly intact, has slowly slipped down from the top of the massive palisade.

We land just a little south of Wheeler Point at 0758. I look up at the tree-covered cliff we soon must climb and it looks steep and formidable. Since Beda knows the right trail to take, we waste no time and move quickly up the face of the cliff. It is thickly covered with trees, here offering secure handholds along the well travelled  trail. You can't mistake the trail since several people have recently climbed it. Noel and the boatman are behind me and every so often give me a push,  but it is hardly necessary as I am making good progress on my own. It is hot work and the cliff is steep. I have two canteens filled with a gallon of water that are heavy enough but Ed is having a much harder time with the bulky camcorder.

At 0825 we are at Battery Monja's casemate opening, the only way left now to enter the battery dug in the cliff wall. In February 1945 there were three entrances, but two of the openings have since been blocked by debris that has fallen from the cliff above. The climb was neither overly difficult nor overly tiring. I am happy to have reached the prize finally after the dismal failure on the first try two years ago. The climb, this time, was simple because we took the right route.

The battery is in good condition and except for the two entrances on the South Shore Road being blocked, there is little damaged. The casemate opening has been narrowed by cascading debris and I feel a slight twinge of claustrophobia at the effort I make to squeeze through the narrow slit on my back. Once inside the chamber is roomy and the Coleman lanterns burning brightly fill it with the slightly unpleasant smell of kerosene.

There is considerable evidence that visitors have recently tried to remove dirt blocking the exit opening on the South Shore Road. The facility was never hit during the siege or the 503d's recapture. It is easy to see why it escaped harm. It couldn't possibly be struck by aerial bombs since they could not be detonated near the structure. The bombs could hit the top of Wheeler Point 270 feet above and the beach 180 feet below and, if perfectly dropped, on the little nose where Searchlight #4 and the battery's second gun was, but even in this unlikely event, the bomb would detonate 40 feet below the casemate. The only way this battery, tunnelled into the cliff at Wheeler Point, could be hit would be a from a naval rifle round entering the casemate's 2'9"x11'6" opening. To make this shot even more difficult, assuming you could find this small opening, it must be fired from an area north of Wheeler Point and west of Cape Corregidor. The battery in turn, could only fire to the northwest. 

As D and E Companies learned, to their sorrow, there is no practical route for an unsupported land attack. The approach from the south using the South Shore Road is so narrowly restricted that a handful of defenders can easily block any movement from that direction. There simply is no way to approach the battery from the north. It is virtually invulnerable to attack by infantry troops without naval rifle support at close range and probably tank support on the South Shore Road as well.

We leave the tunnels and magazine, going through the tight squeeze at the casemate again and examine the Panama mount just west of the casemate. There is a relatively flat narrow nose that extends west from Wheeler Point below the casemate. A large hole was dug in the nose below the casemate and a Panama mount placed in the cut. The field of fire for this gun was severely limited since there was a wall of earth blocking fire to the southwest. Someone digging at the Panama mount has uncovered a steel rail that supported the trail of a 155mm gun, Battery Monja's second gun.

An observer at this gun position had a perfect view to of the beach almost to Cheney Ravine to the north. It is small wonder D Company suffered such losses as they attacked Battery Monja from the north. They were under observation almost from the moment they emerged from Cheney Ravine. At 0930, Randy Boy sails north to Cheney Ravine.

Going east up the sandstone creek bed, we scale a steep hogback about 50 yards from the beach and reach the Strategic Materials Storehouse #8 dug into the side of the narrow ridge. It is a surprisingly sturdy concrete structure with a rather imposing entrance. An unlined 50 foot tunnel has been cut through the rear of the storehouse running west out to the cliff face. Another very narrow unlined tunnel branches east from the main shaft. Both tunnels were dug long after the SMSH was built. 

Ed, our party's intrepid mole has, in a few minutes, explored the entire primitive tunnel system. Two shallow 4x8x10 foot caves are cut in the base of the palisade where it meets the the beach, 30 yards south of Cheney Ravine.

We board the banca and leave for James Ravine, arriving there at 1100hrs. The boatman skilfully guides the ship over the rocky ocean bottom and and brings us close to shore. Our little column marches in single file up the heavily wooded ravine and, after several false starts, we find the entrance to the underground infantry barracks blocked by tons of debris about 200 yards from the shore. If you would explore this wonder further, tons and tons of earth and broken concrete would have to be removed. Was the damage done by bombing, artillery fire or demolition? Probably a combination of all three.

We ease the banca off the rocks and set a course for home. The wind has come up and the swells are getting higher, causing our little craft to pitch. The passengers are silent now, tired after a long day. Even Ed, our outgoing cheerful companion has little to say. Our helmsman swings around Battery Point as we make the final turn to starboard and the familiar North Dock suddenly is in sight. It is 1230.

I go to my aerie on the upper level of Mike's house and take off my sweat soaked corduroy trousers and dark-green USMC tee shirt and change to fresh clothes. We are served BLT, soup and fresh pineapple for lunch and I top it off with a San Miguel.

Mike explains the recent excavation at Battery Monja that we have just seen.  Mr. Koite, a former Japanese soldier was serving on Corregidor when the 503d assaulted the island, and surrendered on New Year's Day, 1946 after hiding in Battery Monja for nearly 9 months.  He visited Corregidor in October 1988 and, among other things, attempted to find the remains of one of his Battery Monja comrades who was buried in a landslide that fell on the entrances at the South Shore Road. Koite said the Americans triggered the slide by exploding charges on Topside to seal the battery's entrances when they suspected the Japanese were hiding in the battery. After an unsuccessful search for his comrade, Koite was detained by a Filipino naval petty officer on a charge of treasure hunting. There is an official ban on "treasure hunting" (as Mike calls it) on Corregidor that is enforced by Filipino police and security officers. His baggage was searched but finally he was sent on his way.

Tourists are forbidden to carry shovels as they explore the island, or so Mike tells me. I talk with Mike about the island's present population and some other civil matters. There are about 300 people living on the island. An exact figure is hard to come by since the resident's relatives, who often make Corregidor their more or less permanent home, are hard to keep track of. A good example of this is Noel,  Beda's younger brother who was looking for a job and the family decided that he could go and live with his brother and perhaps get construction work.   He had been living with Beda and his wife for several months and could be considered a resident. Adi, the yardman, is not Mike's relative but the relative of a friend and has been on the island for sometime under Mike's aegis. Much of this sort of thing goes on making an accurate census difficult, but if anyone knows, Mike does.

The governing of the island is the responsibility of the Corregidor Foundation Inc., an agency of the Department of Tourism.   You can tell who the foundation people are by the distinctive red T-shirts they wear. They work in various places - the museum, the tax office, the road maintenance crew, the radio station. When the Philippine army governed the island until 1985 or so, the civilian force that could be likened to the Corregidor Foundation was called the National Shrine. The Corregidor Foundation replaced all of the National Shrine people however many of them stayed on Corregidor to live, from hand to mouth, selling souvenirs to tourists, fishing, trapping and doing other things. There is a contract security guard service that resembles a police force. There are Philippine navy men who are responsible for security as well. I would guess that they may well be combating NPA terrorism. Then there are the construction workers, by far, the largest single group. A rough breakdown follows; Lighthouse keepers-3 plus 12 dependents; Corregidor Foundation-40 plus 100 dependents; Navy-6 no dependents; Sarkies-5 plus 15dependents; Guards-22 no dependents; National Shrine-50; Construction workers- most of the remainder.

I get a ride to Topside with Toto in the coaster (i.e. a large van) who will deliver a load of charcoal to Mary who owns a cashew nut tree, several goats that graze, at least some of them, on Jump Field A - the parade ground.  Mary also has the only liquid refreshments stand on all of Topside where soft drinks and San Miguel are sold. An absolute monopoly and a very busy place when the tour buses deposit thirsty passengers at the memorial.

I have come up to look at Battery Wheeler and Wheeler Point. I walk slowly over the length of Battery Wheeler's berm. I think of the first platoon and Gifford and Mara racing down its steep bank on to the stairs leading into the battery. Pucci is lying on the ground near the stairs leading up to the gun port. "He's dead!" shouts Hughart,  Sanchez' assistant BAR man, to no one in particular as he races by the prostrate body. But SSG Pucci would live to fight another day.

I go to Wheeler Point next and look at the trees covering the promontory and talk with Toto about arrangements to cut them down. If I want to thoroughly explore this area the trees must be thinned out. I return to Bottomside and dinner;  fried chicken and rice and a San Miguel. I have a postprandial gin and tonic in the yard where I can sit and watch the boat traffic on the North Channel.  A long day and I am in bed by 2115.

 

 

 

Up at 0530. Slept well, considering my mattress is a board covered with a 1 inch sheet of foam rubber. We go up in the coaster and walk down Grubbs Trail looking for Battery Sunset, but overshoot it and end up at Battery Hanna at 8AM. We are using Black's sketch map for our exploration today.

There is a brisk breeze blowing, and after the one hour walk, it's welcome. (Note: what we thought was Battery Hanna is probably M'W) The battery is very close to the cliff edge. There is a 4x4 foot shaft, about 20 feet deep, shored up with 18" timbers dug in the floor of the reinforced concrete building. Ed McCarthy, a fearless spelunker, volunteers to go down the shaft and then explores a tunnel going about 100 feet east under the building and ending up in an 8x10 foot room. We quickly find RC6, a large, undamaged culvert constructed of thick reinforced concrete with a 4x10 foot opening about 300 yards from M'W down the North Shore Road. It is a bit unusual because it makes a 30 degree turn under the road. The Grubbs Ravine stream bed is about 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide where it passes through the culvert. The road at this point is in excellent condition and except for trees growing in the roadbed, it could be used today for heavy traffic with very little repair.

Moving south from RC6 a few yards we find the entrance to the large tunnel between the culvert and Battery Sunset. The unlined tunnel has a 10' wide passageway opening into two rooms. The first room has a fine spring with a constant stream of water running from a pipe into an 8x8x6 foot concrete cistern. The earthen floor is muddy and slippery. 600 men could easily be accommodated in it. A portion of the west wall has collapsed. From the looks of it I get the impression it was made by the Japanese. It is difficult to imagine what the structure was to be originally used for , but the rather high 14 foot ceilings suggest it was meant for storage.

We eventually find Battery Sunset. The ridge is covered with heavy growth and while a road is sketched on the Black map that leads directly to the four 155mm gun positions it is very difficult to make headway on it because of trees and vines. The position is quite close to Grubbs Trail. The guns in the sketch are very close together and so once you have found one gun you have found them all. The viewing is unspectacular, unless you can find some excitement in the rather simply built Panama mount.

The symbol for the western-most gun on the sketch shows a Panama mount with a 360 degree traverse but that is incorrect since the gun has a 270 degree traverse. About 50 yards east of the east gun is a 10'x15' concrete earth covered magazine not shown on the sketch.  It is "L" shaped with a 30' uncovered walled entrance into the earth covered magazine. The floor is covered with debris, mainly food and drink containers. The bottle caps had never been removed and although the food in the cans had long ago evaporated, the cans had never been opened. There were several beer bottles marked Dai Nippon Brewery Co. I think that this must have been a navy supply room after what Kyota had written me about the poor quality of Japanese army rations.

We arrive at the parade ground at Mary's place in time to sit down at a barbeque put on by Island Cruiser crew for what must be the Sun Tours deluxe package. The tour includes a Corregidor Foundation movie at the memorial theater and the picture oddly enough is titled "Corregidor". A large diesel generator provides power for the theater and to air condition it as well.

We leave for Battery Wheeler and a visit to C-1 Station (i.e. Fort Mills Primary Fire Control Station) about 150 yards due south of the battery. We find it without difficulty. Once we reach it we realiz that when we were here two years ago and failed to find it, we were easily within 20 yards of it. The thick reinforced concrete construction has two rooms one on top of the other. There is an intact DPF stand in the lower room. It is a 15 minute walk back to Battery Wheeler. We walk the slight hill back to Mary's and happily enough one of Sarkies buses waits at the drink stand.

Home at 1805 and I treat myself to a shower and a change of clothes.

 

.

 


© 1995
JOHN L. LINDGREN

I arise at 0430 and for some reason I am in unusually high spirits. I have awakened my roommate, our innkeeper Mike. He needs his sleep because he expects a party of 60 Japanese to arrive on a Sarkies Tour. I think I am doing too much and doing it too fast. I have a whole month to explore this island and I have plenty of time for a leisurely look at things. Instead of running here and superficially viewing many things, I will take my time looking at things that genuinely interest me.

It is very pleasant this early in the morning and there is a cool breeze blowing across the North Channel. There are many chickens and even a couple of turkeys on the estate. They have access to the crawl space under the house. I am not too sure what they are fed. The only organized feeding I have seen is an occasional bag of rice husks that is spread out in front of the house. In spite of this there are at least three, and possibly more, leather lunged healthy roosters that could wake the dead at about 4AM every morning without fail.

 

 

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Night at Battery Wheeler | An Outline of Events at Wheeler Point on the Night of 18/19 February, 1945 Patsy's Log 
The Casualty List - The Battle at Banzai Point

 

 

 

         

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