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"This is our distinctive insignia of the 60th Artillery Regiment. The 60th had been organised 23 December 1917, and the motto "COELIS IMPERAMUS" means 'We Rule the Heavens.' I wore this badge on my campaign hat throughout the war, through the prison camps, the work details at Pasay, through the hell-ship ordeal, right through my time in Japan - until some bastard stole it off me whilst I was in Okinawa on my way home from Japan. " Al McGrew
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Battery Ramsay, 6" D.C. Seacoast Gun Position,
was not manned and was not to be used in the immediate future.
The Director and Height Finder were located on the Parapet; the four
3-inch guns of Battery Hartford were located in a shallow, half-moon line immediately along the edge of
the cliff of Ramsay Ravine and in front of the parapet of Battery Ramsay.
The guns were well camouflaged by a covering of low brush of the same
height. The parapet of Ramsay was
clear of brush and necessitated camouflage to cover operations in the area. By the 13th of April our battery position was well enough located by the enemy, that, prior to planes coming in for bombing, the position was frequently shelled. Any time the battery was put into action and the gun muzzles elevated above the walls of the pits, the position was immediately shelled. Much of the camouflage was immediately destroyed and left the general area open to observation. On April 28th, an enemy 105mm. shell exploded above No. 1 gun pit, wounding three men of the battery. Corporal Jim Bible, had both legs mangled by shell fragments, one being amputated at the position during the shelling. He died later on May 3, at the Corregidor hospital. Pvt. Earnest Petty, and Pvt. Robert Gordon were also wounded at this time. On May 2, Battery Geary, 12-inch Seacoast Mortar Battery, was blown up due to the enemy artillery fire penetrating the powder magazines. Flying concrete from this explosion, landed in our battery position. One five hundred pound piece landed on a fox hole within the battery position, injuring one Pvt. Floyd E. Goode, to the extent that he died on the way to the Hospital. Another large block of about 10 tons landed between the director and height finder and buried itself level with the ground.
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We moved to the field Nov. 28th, 1941 and prepared for war. Capt. Starr told me to forget the bugle. (I had left it on my bed in Middleside Barracks) Capt. Starr instructed me to find Cpl. Layton for orders. Cpl. Layton was in charge of the machine gun section. His first order was for me to build a machine gun pit in front of Btry. Ramsey's No.1 gun, a 6" Disappearing gun. The bugle had been phased from my musical career. I would now be a machine gunner, and a back-up tracker on the height finder. Al McGrew - See his article "Corregidor Bugler"
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At 11:20 A.M., orders were received from Battalion headquarters to
destroy all equipment; that the Fortified Islands were being surrendered at 12 o'clock
noon and to await further instructions at the battery position. All speed was made in
attempting to destroy everything possible. The director and guns were destroyed with
dynamite. The height finder was destroyed with axes, along with all small arms ammunition.
Battery records, property, and fund books were destroyed. The 3-inch ammunition was not
destroyed, as there was not time to do it with axes; we had about 1000 rounds on hand,
&~ it could not be blown up as it was in the magazines with the Battery Ramsay shell
and powder. To explode Battery Ramsay position would have created an explosion too great
and~ of too much danger to personnel in the vicinity to be practicable. The enemy
continued to shell and bomb Corregidor beyond the surrender time. About 4 P.M. the Battery Commander ordered small groups of men to seek cover in the near surrounding small tunnels that offered. A Runner was sent to Middleside tunnel to find if ... remained for the battery personnel. At about 5 P.M. it was decided that what personnel that remained would go to Middleside tunnel for protection. This had barely been accomplished when three of heavy bombers bombed middleside area and our position. We were taken over by the Japanese occupational troops early on the morning of May 7 and taken to concentration area at the 92 CA (PS) Barracks area.
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Btty. Ramsay survived the Japanese bombardment, but not the American aerial preparation. A direct hit consigned it to history, and few photos exist of its heyday.
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