Battlefield Tours – The Mile Long Barracks And Vicinities

Our battlefield tours were about to end as our tour bus, the tranvia, was heading to another military baracks ruins en route to the remaining portions of our Corregidor Tour destinations. While on board the vehicle, our expert tour guide gaily informed us that Corregidor Island is inhabited by a few hundred people most of whom are employees of the Sun Cruises, Inc. (SCI) which is a tour agency and major leisure provider granted lease by the Corregidor Foundation, Inc. (CFI) to assist in making the place as the leading island vacations and historical destination in the country.
A few minutes later, we witnessed the ruins of the world’s longest military barracks, the Topside Barracks which is popularly known as Mile Long Baracks due to its entire length of 1,250 feet or 463.41 meters.

The first span of the three-storey hurricane-proof reinforced concrete structure which once stood elegantly of its tile roof, pedimented façade porches, verandas and capiz shell sliding windows.

As I was walking through these ruins, I cannot help but imagine the happy faces of the American soldiers enjoying the amenities of the barracks: the gymnasium, billiard rooms, bowling alley, swimming pool and barbershop, to name a few.

Another span of the Mile Long Barracks which housed, aside from the artillery barracks, the Post Exchange, offices, kitchen, mess hall and bath rooms.

The United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) headquarters moved to the Topside Barracks on December 24, 1941 only five days before it was rained by bombs and destroyed by the Japanese invaders.

Battlefield Tours – The Rock Force

I couldn’t help but waxed nostalgic when we stopped at this tiny go-point area where 3,000 paratroopers belonging to the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) aptly called “The Rock Force” floated down from C-47 troop carriers on the surprised Japanese defenders at sunrise of February 16, 1945.

The Philippine and American Flags vibrantly flew at the paratroopers’ landing site with the “Rock Force” memorial proudly standing in between their poles.

Standing in front of “The Rock Force” memorial, I really felt sorry on the casualties of the 10-day campaign to recapture the island: 507 of the combined US paratroopers and amphibious forces demised; 734 were wounded and another 210 were injured as they missed their drop zones and landed on rocky ground or tumbled into the sea. But counting on the figures of the Japanese casualties had really sent shivers down my spine: out of the 6,700 Japanese on the island when the 503rd PRCT and 34th Infantry landed, only 50 survived and another 19 were taken prisoner.

Battlefield Tours – The Pacific War Memorial And Vicinities

The Pacific War Memorial was our next Corregidor Tour stop. As I stood in front of this statue, I couldn’t help but admire the gallantry of our American and Filipino soldiers . . .

A statue of the Filipino and American soldiers holding on to each other in times of adversities . .

Our Corregidor Tour next stop was the Pacific War Memorial Museum . . .

The museum outdoors . . .

We went inside and see for ourselves the precious war relics and memorabilla . . .

The museum's indoors . . .

We proceeded to this dome hosting a marble tablet in honor of the fallen soldiers . . .

The Pacific War Memorial Dome . . .

I was really awe-inspired upon witnessing the Eternal Flame of Freedom . . . after which, we proceeded to the Spanish-Built Light House . . .

The towering Eternal Flame of Freedom

The sprawling Spanish-built Lighthouse

Finally, we stood in front of the Corregidor Flagpole, which dates back to the Spanish-American war, circa 1898. It was the mast of a vanquished Spanish Warship.

The Corregidor Flagpole

It is the same flagstaff from which Gen. MacArthur raised the U.S. flag after Corregidor’s liberation on March 7, 1945. As I gazed upon the flagstaff, upon which the Philippine colors is proudly hoisted since the United States turned over Corregidor Island to the Philippine Government on October 12,1947, the words of General Douglas MacArthur reverberated in my mind: “I see the old flag pole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak and let no enemy ever haul them down.”

We then proceeded to the wharf and boarded back to the Sun Cruises II for our trip back to Manila.

As I reclined and relaxed on my seat at the ferry, the words of Archivald Mcleish carved in granite at the Harvard University corridors and brought home to us Filipinos by the martyr and hero Ninoy Aquino, came to my mind…”How can freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always and in the final act, by faith and determination.” I then murmured to myself . . .judging from the lessons I had learned from the recently concluded battlefield tours, freedom is not entirely free !

It was not only my mind, but also my stomach, which reacted positively to the latest announcement of our tour guide while our tranvia was moving when she told us that we were heading for the most awaited battlefield tours activity for the day- that of taking our lunch. After a while, our tranvia stopped within the vicinity of the Corregidor Hotel and we climbed through its elegant stairways and entered the Bar and Lounge en route to the restaurant. . .

The sprawling Corregidor Hotel . . .

The Coregidor Hotel Bar & Lounge

True to the guide’s earlier information, the hotel’s restaurant has a wide selection of local and foreign dishes that really tempted me and my wife’s palate. After taking a sumptuous meal, our tranvia travelled towards a plateau in the middle of Corregidor Island and I was saddened when these scenes were brought before my eyes . . .

Middleside Barracks ruins . . .

Another portion of Middleside Barracks ruins . .

The ruins were remnants of the Middleside Barracks, consisting of two three-storey buildings built in 1925 using advanced concrete construction technology of prefabricated and modular metal lathe reinforcements,  which used to be the quarters of the 66th Coast Artillery anti-aircraft regiment of the United States Regular Army, and the 91st Coast Artillery of the Philippine Scouts.

As I was imagining the sounds of the bombs being dropped by Japanese Air Force planes that pounded the barracks into pieces on December 29, 1941, the sound of our guide’s voice pierced into my ears when she exhorted us to board the tranvia as we have to witness weapons which were many times deadly as the Japanese bombs that destroyed the military facility- the artillery.

At the tranvia, our guide explained to us that artilleries are large-caliber weapons, such as cannon, howitzers, and missile launchers, that are operated by crews . . . and the emplacement for one or more pieces of artillery is called in military parlance as “battery.” After a few minutes, we saw a concrete ammunition station with sturdy trees growing on its rooftop bearing the inscription of BATTERY WAY. . .

Battery Way Ammunition Room

Battery way cannons . . .

Construction and installation works on Battery Way commenced in 1904 and completed in 1914 at a total cost of $ 112,969. Named in honor of 2nd Lt. Henry N. Way, 4th U.S. Artillery, who died in service in the Philippines in 1900, the battery is armed with Four 12-inch (305 mm) M1890 mortar carriages which were capable of lobbing a 1,000 lbs (454.5 kgs) deck piercing shell 01 700 lb (318 kg) high explosive shell 14,610 yards (8.3 miles or 13.35 km) in any direction with a standard crew per mortar of 14 men. Battery Way saw action against the Japanese invading forces on April 17, 1942 and in May 6, helped dispersed an attempted landing at North Dock by Japanese Landing Craft. It was the last of Corregidor’s “Concrete Artillery” to cease fire before the island’s surrender at 12:00 noon.

Afterwards, we proceeded to another battery site. Though standing as a war relic for 90 years, the artillery in Battery Hearn still commands a mixture of shock and awe to the eyes of a first time visitor like me. Being one of the largest guns in Corregidor, every window in the island were said to be shattered when it was test fired. I intentionally took this picture with my wife Vanjie, who has a 5′ 2″ height, underneath the barrel to tickle your imagination on how enormous the artillery is . . .

The gigantic Battery Hearns . . .

Battery Hearn was commissioned in 1921 after 3 years of rigid works with a cost of $ 148,105 along with its companion Battery Smith. Named in honor of Brig. General Clint C. Hearn who commanded the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic in May 1919, it was armed with a 12 inch (305 mm) gun model 189512, mounted on a barbette carriage model 1917, which with a maximum firing elevation of 35 degrees could fire a 1,000 lb. (454.5 kg) shell propelled by a 270 lb (122.7 kg.) separately loaded bagged charge to a range of 30,000 yards, 17 miles or 7.4 km. with a standard compliment of one officer and 33 enlisted men.  On April 8-9, 1942, Hearn and Smith pummelled enemy troops in Bataan before it fell silent after it was hit by enemy shelling. It was disabled by the crew before surrendering on May 6, 1942 only to be re-activated by the Japanese later with the help of the American POW’s.

The last battery that we visited was Battery Grubbs. This one of the two 10-inch model 1895M1 gun mounted on Model 1901 disappearing carriage would , after maneuvering, be swallowed into a chamber beneath  the extremely thick concrete rooftop  which was cured for 3 years before being mounted with the artillery, hence, the term “disappearing gun” . . .

The disappearing gun . . .

The Battery Grubbs concrete roof top

The battery was named for 1st Lt. Hayden Y. Grubb, 6th U.S. Infantry, who died during the 1899-1902 Filipino-American War, which the Americans referred to as the Philippine Insurrection. It was constructed in 1907 to 1909 and put into active service in early April 1942 but was directly hit on April 6^th and abandoned by the crew.

As I boarded back to the tranvia, I couldn’t help but felt sorry on the efforts of the Americans with their Filipino counterparts in installing the batteries. Built to thwart against any enemy attempt to enter Manila Bay, none of the highly-sophisticated batteries had fired even a single shot when the invading Japanese forces landed on Philippine soils in December 24, 1941. The reason was plain and simple. . . the vastly superior numbers of Japanese on hundreds of transports heavily escorted by destroyers, cruisers, battleships and clouds of airplanes had not dared made a frontal attack on the City of Manila  and instead followed a circuitous route to evade the mighty Corregidor fortress and successfully landed unchallenged in the southern and northern parts of the island of Luzon.

While on board the tranvia on our way to our next battlefield tours destination, my attention was divided between listening to the historical, and sometimes funny,  accounts of our guide and taking pictures at every Corregidor Island scenery which I found interest in. But I put my Nikon D7000 DSLR camera off, sat upright and focused my attention to her when she told us that we were heading to the east entrance of the Malinta Tunnel.  But I could feel my heart beating faster when she narrated that construction of the tunnel was started in 1922 and was finished in 1932. Further, she was telling us that the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed the tunnel without the benefit of funds appropriated by the US Congress due to the conclusion on February 6, 1922 of the  Washington Naval Treaty which led to an effective end to building new battleship fleets . The Philippine Scouts worked as foremen and clerks. But, the labor was provided  as counterpart by the Philippine Commonwealth in the form of 1,000 convicts from the Bilibid Prisons in Manila. Candidly, the last statement had sent shivers down my spine. What I heard since my childhood that my grandfather had worked on “forced labor”  in Corregidor for being convicted of sedition and brigandage being one of the combatants in the 1924 Colorum Uprising in Bucas Grande Island, Socorro, Surigao del Norte, Philippines, was corroborated by the historical facts being narrated by the guide. Being herded to Corregidor in 1924, my grandfather was surely among the 1,000 “forced laborers” being offered by the Philippine Commonwealth as  equity in the construction of Malinta Tunnel Project. The information I got had made me ecstatic to see the place. As our tranvia came to a complete stop, I literally run to this signage to have a glance on its message. . .

After getting tickets for me and my wife for the Malinta Channel Lights and Sounds, we proceeded to the East Entrance. . . then marched deeper into the tunnel . . .

My thrills and excitement about the tunnel were appropriately reciprocated by the vividly staged Light and Sound Show dubbed  “The Malinta Experience” scripted by national artist and film director Lamberto Avellana. The experience started with a voice over welcoming us to the Malinta Tunnel describing it among others as the marvelous achievement of engineering skill and  a subterranean passageway cut from solid rock. Our first stop was at the junction on the first lateral on our right where I had the chance to admire  the  great  sculptures made by national artist Napoleon Abueva of President Manuel L. Quezon being welcomed to the island by the fortress commander Major General George F. Moore on December 24, 1941. As we moved inside, we were shown with the other events of World War II including the evacuation of President Quezon and General Douglas MacArthur on board the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three  from Corregidor to Mindanao where they were later flown to Australia. Other scenes of the Pacific War were being shown but what shocked me most was the portrayal of the re-taking of the island by US forces in 1945, wherein, Japanese soldiers who held out inside the Malinta Tunnel began committing suicide by detonating explosives within the bowels of the tunnel complex on the night of February 23, 1945. These collapsed laterals resulting from the said explosions have never been excavated . . .

The audio-video presentation’s finale was  the playing of the Philippine national anthem. Our trip to the 835 feet long,  24 feet wide and 18 feet high at arch top main tunnel had ended when we  made an exit at the West Side of the Tunnel . . .

As what I have done before entering, I hurriedly headed towards this signage . . .

As the tranvia was speeding away, I glanced back and got a view of the tunnel entrance on the foot of the 118.87-meter Malinta Hill. No wonder it is dubbed as the most unimpregnable fortress in the Philippine Islands as it offers complete protection from artillery or air attack.

I was smiling intently while on board the tranvia for reasons that I traced the historical connection as well as  my personal sentimental attachment to the tunnel. Never did I know that a historical joke of our guide would ruin my mood. She was telling us that:  “Malinta was derived from the local dialect for “leech,” as the place was full of leeches during its construction and even during the time of its occupation. Nevertheless all the leeches were gone after the bombing of  the Japanese inside the tunnel during their suicide spree. But, fortunately or unfortunately, some of the leeches were resurrected and managed their way to the House of Representatives and the Senate.” We the Filipino tourists were just smiling, or  grinning, but the American and Australian visitors occupying the seats in front of me were laughing with their hearts out. And I said to myself: “Is this the right form of tourism… portraying our officials… the hallmark of the vibrance of Philippine democracy… as bunch of leeches in the eyes of the foreigners?

My  eyes glittered upon hearing our guide  telling us on board  the Tranvia 1 that our next stop was the Japanese Memorial Garden of Peace. My mind then flew to the Japanese-made caves we had passed a while ago. I was hoping that I would be enlightened  on the details of the fast-moving boats hiding on those caves while while on a lull of their suicide missions.  Upon arrival, I proceeded directly to the small pavilion to satisfy my desire for information on the Japanese side of the same war story. My eyes were glued at the pictures hung on the wall… and with the use of my Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera, I took close up shots on the first picture I want to see in the Japanese Memorial . . . the  suicide boat “Shinyou-Tai”- with the front compartment colored green marked as “BOMB COMPARTMENT.”

I then figured out how  these one-man driven, 30-knot speed “ocean shaker” motorboats  had wrought havoc to US Naval Forces particularly the crippling of a  warship as well as the sinking of a submarine chaser  and Large Landing Craft Supports (LCS) in various parts of the Philippine archipelago.

The caption of the wall picture reads. . . Philippine Shin You -Tai fallen soldiers 1,144 out of 1,700. Total Shin You Tai 114 Forces, fallen soldiers were 2,557. So, Philippine Shinyou-Tai had 45% died of total overall  Shin You-Tai.”

Glancing at this Japanese suicide note, I cannot help but be fascinated by the Japanese “Bushido”- a warrior code of dying for the emperor rather than surrendering alive to the enemy.

Many believe that this comely 10-ft Goddess of Mercy statue  referred to as  Jibo-Kannon  Buddha by the Japanese is a “Goddess of Fertility,”  wherein each and every woman visitor who long to have a baby needs to touch it. Located opposite the Shinto Shrine, this statue adds more value to the breathtaking seascape on the background.  The “Peace And Love” inscription on the wishing bowl  fronting the stone  statue is simply nostalgic.

On my way towards the waiting tranvia, I passed by this this marker erected near the relics of Japanese anti-aircraft artilleries that had  caught my attention…

It reads : “TRIBUTE TO THE BRAVE. In Remembrance of the 4,500 Fallen Comrades In Arms Of The Japanese Defense Batallaion . . . And Tribute To The Gallantry Of The Filipinos, Americans And Japanese Soldiers Who Fought And Died For A Cause On This Island. MAY THEIR SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE.”

As our tranvia was moving away from the place towards our next battlefield tours destination, my mind was figuring out on the real characters of the Japanese who were tagged as  “the most belligerent”  among the foes of the Allied Forces in the Pacific War. Their war time brutality  might have been displayed in other parts of the Pacific War zones but their humane nature surfaced in Bucas Grande Island, Surigao del Norte, Philippines.  My father had told me that the Japanese warships converged within the Sohoton Cove vicinity in the western part of the island more than a month before proceeding to their  final rendezvous with the American Navy Forces- the Battle of Leyte and Surigao Strait considered as the greatest naval battle in history.  But remarkably, during their stint in Bucas Grande, the Japanese never hurt anybody, had befriended the locals and carried the children on their laps and shoulders. Others contended, though jokingly, that they behaved that way because the island was destined to be the final resting place of the last remaining tranches of the “Yamashita Treasures”  on board their warships which allegedly were hurriedly unloaded and buried in the locality with the help of the local men, one of whom, an uncle of mine who once admitted to me the veracity of the story and acknowledged that he knew the exact location of the  ”gold burial ground” but brought the information on its exact whereabouts to his grave.