Most guys who are intrigued by Corregidor history have always been .

View of the airshaft at the surface. There is a metal rung ladder down the inside of the shaft but it does not look very solid these days.

This view of the airshaft shows how close it is the South Shore Road. The main tunnel entrance was on the other side of the road where today, a large crater exists.

Continuing on from the airshaft, you cannot go much further south. At that spot I am probably at the northern edge of the South Shore Road.

As far you can go towards the Main Entrance. 

Unfortunately I did not notice if the pipe we see here is just a section sticking up or it continues up through the ceiling. This is definitely not the same pipe that we earlier saw on the surface. It is located on the opposite side of the airshaft. Books mention two pipes in this tunnel, one for diesel exhaust and one for air-conditioning exhaust. I can’t say which one this is.

Having seen all that we can for now we head back to the surface. Going up the 45 degree slope is not bad but the last vertical bit makes you work for a moment. It is a bit awkward with not much to hold onto. Little elbow room means the rope doesn’t help much.

After exiting the tunnel you go up the walled walkway and turn left.

 

The steps down to the South Shore Road.

The big crater starts at the road embankment so to get down to the location of the Main Entrance, it is easiest to loop around towards the east. Less thorny and not so steep this way. After the 1945 explosion I don’t think a single blade of grass remained. 

1945 photo at the Main Entrance of the Navy Radio Intercept Tunnel. You can see the two concrete walls leading to the entrance. The crater is just out of sight at the right. Dead Japanese soldiers are in the foreground. (Photo courtesy Corregidor.org)

1945 view looking towards the crater. Note the two concrete walls that led directly to the entrance. In this photo and the previous one, what is that big chunk of metal seen at the left? (Photo courtesy Corregidor.org)

Video capture from a Japanese newsreel. The crater seems deeper now, I wonder if the loose soil settled over the years.

The crater in January 2011. See what 70 years does!

Here are the two concrete walls of the walkway into the Main Entrance. The left-side wall has fallen inwards. The crater is straight ahead. 

Less than two minutes’ walk from the concrete walls is the Handball Court. It consists of a high center wall with a court on each side. Both courts have a concrete floor.

The battle damaged Handball Court wall.

The other side of the wall.

Close-up of some of the damage.

Notice the dark spot middle right. I scraped it lightly with my pocket knife and it is metal. It is large for 30 cal so perhaps it is a 50 cal bullet.

Broken concrete floor of the Handball Court.

Station CAST seems to have had an extensive antenna farm. I have no idea how many tall wooden poles there were but I have recorded the location of 17 so far. All of them were set in the ground and then ringed with concrete. Two poles have coax cables sticking up from the rings so here was the physical connection between these specific antennas and a transmitter/receiver back in the tunnel. (One document I read said that Station CAST also had transmitters).

One of the antenna poles with the concrete ring.

Another sample of these poles.

Some have quite a bit of wood sticking out of them
but none have the whole pole remaining.

Note the white dot at the 1:00 position.

A closer view shows a coax cable with two copper wires protruding
from the concrete.

Many places on Corregidor had field kitchens to feed troops who were at their war time stations. The old photo below appears to show an elaborate one. Near the south cliff is a small damaged structure made of solid bricks and concrete. It is not as elaborate as the field kitchen in the old photo but I am guessing that is what it was.

Field kitchen

Possible field kitchen south of the tunnel near the cliff.

To the west of the tunnel were the Officer’s and Junior Rank’s Quarters for the Station CAST personnel. One of the drawings shows the quarter’s locations. Maybe some evidence was blown away but I did not find that many buildings. The thorns and other vegetation was quite thick above the south cliff so I’ll admit to not looking very extensively in that area. I don’t know why the drawing shows so many buildings for just seventy+ people. All structures I found would have been constructed of wood. Concrete steps, support pedestals and occasionally a floor are all that remains.

Concrete steps to nowhere.
This wooden quarters building is long gone.

A second set of steps is nearby. 

One of numerous concrete support pedestals for the wooden buildings.

Corner of the most westerly quarters. This structure was approximately
100 feet long by 60 feet wide and had a concrete floor.

For some reason one of the large antenna poles w/ring is located inside the concrete floor.

North of the South Shore Road were the two wooden officer’s quarters. They had concrete steps, floor and low walls. Both structures even had a carport/garage on their eastern ends. Behind each structure was a small wooden structure on pedestals. 

Front steps of one of the Officer’s Quarters.

Both structures have low concrete walls.
The wood above the walls is all gone.

I kicked away some soil beside a wall and found a piece of melted glass. On April 29th 1942, Japanese shells from Bataan burned both structures to the ground. (Info from Battery "M" Historical Report)

Beside one of the walls was a subtle reminder that I am trespassing in snake territory. I suppose that this shredded skin means that it is bigger than that now!!! 

Front corner of one of the Officer’s Quarters.

For some reason the bit of trim at the top of the concrete wall caught my attention. It seemed familiar. Other than these two structures which both have it, I have not seen this anywhere else around here. When I got back to my computer I found a 1945 photo of the Monkey Point area with the same type of trim on a concrete wall. 

I think I got lucky. If you look at the maps, place yourself at the Officer’s Quarters and look east. Toward the left you would see the South Shore Road heading away from you. As the road passes by the tunnel you would see the crater on the right. A topo map I have also puts the eastern end of Caballo Island in view to the far right. Straight ahead, antenna poles are in a line from the Quarters going past the big crater on the left. 

Closer view of the trim on these concrete walls.

1945 photo looking east with the concrete wall at the bottom.
(Photo courtesy Corregidor.org)

Here is the above photo labeled. This photo was taken from one of the walls of the Officer’s Quarters. The soldiers in the foreground are standing on and sitting beside the South Shore Road. (Photo courtesy Corregidor.org)

Some accounts of the explosion say that all the soil was blown away. Perhaps much of it was but today the whole area is tree covered again. I’ll leave you with an aerial photo showing you the section of Corregidor Island we have explored in this report.

If anyone has further information regarding Station CAST, please add it to this report so it can be as complete as possible. 

Often on the ferry back to Manila I hear the day tour crowd saying they had a great trip and saw everything there is to see on the island. Little do they know what lies hidden out of sight away from the roads. Corregidor is an amazing island. I hope that never changes.