Part 2: Vintage photos of Battery Geary

 

Armaments of Battery Geary consisted of eight 12-inch mortars mounted in a two-pit arrangement of four mortars each. Facing the enemy, Pit 'A' was on the right and Pit 'B' was on the left. On each side of the mortar Pits were three magazines. Pit 'A' mortars were model 1898M1 and Pit 'B' mortars were the more modern model M1908. The field of fire was 360-degrees.

Heavy Japanese shelling from Bataan began to wear away at the concrete roof of the magazines. On May 2, 1942, a 240mm howitzer shell penetrated the center magazine detonating 1,600 62 pound powder charges. The resulting explosion shook the island and threw large chunks of concrete and debris up to a mile away.

To my knowledge there are no pre-war photos showing the whole battery. Pit view photos do exist and I will include a few in this report.

One rendering from an Osprey Publishing book entitled 'American Defenses Of Corregidor & Manila Bay 1898-1945' is quite interesting in that it gives us a good idea of the overall configuration of Battery Geary. The book itself is packed with photos and maps which allows for a good understanding of Manila Bay forts. I would recommend it.
 

Overall view of an undamaged Battery Geary. (American Defenses Of Corregidor & Manila Bay 1898-1945).




This 1945 parachute drop photo shows us what Battery Geary looked like almost three years after the explosion.




Right side view of the M1898M1 mortar. This model was placed in Pit 'A'. 




Left side view of the M1898M1 mortar.



 
Front view of the M1898M1 mortar.




This Pit 'A' view gives me the impression that it is still under construction.
The trolley line at the top of the photo continues to the right towards Battery Crockett.




Another Pit 'A' view. The trolley line has been extended in this direction also.
(Tony Feredo Collection)




Screen capture of a trolley load of shells arriving at the battery.
(Courtesy Batteryboy) 




(Screen capture, Courtesy Batteryboy.)




The 700 lb. Deck Piercing shell seen in the above screen captures.




Pit 'B' drills.




















In the above photos you can see the 1,046 lb. Deck Piercing shell.



 
A lucky shot for the photographer.
The tip of a Pit 'B' mortar shell can be seen as it emerges from the smoke.



 
View of Pit 'B' taken from the front parapet.




The destruction around Battery Geary as seen in this 1942 Japanese photo.
A Pit 'A' mortar can be seen pointing upwards at mid right.




A US patrol walks through the battery on March 6th, 1945. Magazine #3 is in the background.
The wall beside the road seen at upper left leads to Battery Crockett.
 

As for the eight mortars of Battery Geary, six are still onsite today. Four are in the battery, one was blown across the road and one sits on top a nearby ridge.

It is said that one mortar was thrown up to the golf course. Supposedly this mortar plus one more were to be shipped to Japan for scrapping. Of these two, one broke through the bottom of a barge and sank in Manila Bay. The second one made it as far as the Pasig River in Manila.
 

1945 photo of a 12-inch mortar lying on a bank of the Pasig River during the Battle for Manila.




1945 post-war photo of a Pit 'B' mortar. Today, this is one of two mortars that support the roof of Magazine #3.
(Photo courtesy Armyjunk)




1981 photo of the same mortar.

Most text you read about Battery Geary will say that this battery was totally destroyed by the magazine's explosion. This gives people the impression that there is not much left to see today. The reality is that quite a bit remains and I find it more interesting than if it was fully intact. 
 

Part 3 coming soon.




 

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