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The Gibraltar of the East: Corregidor May 1942
The Gibraltar of the East
Fort Mills, the official designation of Corregidor, and its associated harbor forts, have been in the Japanese crosshairs since the beginning of the war. The entire point of the Bataan Campaign was to keep the Japanese from bringing artillery within range of the island forts for as long as possible. For months under frequent bombing attack it is not until the Fall of Bataan that the real siege of the 'Gibraltar of the East' begins in earnest
As of April 1942, the Harbor defenses of Manila Bay are the sole concern of the US Army Manila Bay Defense Command, under Major General George F. Moore. He has men from the US Army, Philippine Scouts, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, US Marine Corps and US Navy under his command and his force is now the sole remaining conventional Filipino-American force in the Philippine Islands after the fall of the southern and central islands and the surrender at Bataan on April 30.
Fort Mills (Corregidor)
3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles across (at widest point) and is tadpole shaped and is located 2 miles from the closest point on Bataan. In total land area it has 2,200 acres
Geology and climate.
Geologically consists of Topside (the largest section, the head of the tadpole, with the highest point over 600 feet above sea level, then plunging down to Bottomside, which is barely above sea level before rising again into Malinta Hill which is Middleside and trailing gradually to the tip of its tale which post war has become known as Tailside. Prewar the island was heavily forested, with the typical lush flora found throughout the Philippines except for the areas cleared for installations, the parade ground and the small airstrip at the tail.
Infrastructure
Tailside: Kindley Field (2,400 yard landing strip), small tunnel with Navy Intercept Station
Middleside: Malinta Tunnel 1,400 feet long, 30 feet wide, with 25 laterals each 400 feet long plus the Hospital with an additional 14 laterals (with 1,000 beds and extensive facilities). Co-located is the Navy Tunnel which is similar in size to the Hospital. Has blowers to clear the air, an electric trolley system, and the tunnel system is where all the shops as well as the primary location for headquarters, stores, medical facilities and most of the headquarters and support personnel.
Bottomside: Peacetime location of warehouses, cold storage facility, and the power plant along with the civilian barrio (village) of San Jose. The civilian population (mainly employees of the US Department of the Army or civilian dependents of Philippine Scout officers and enlisted men, where evacuated in early December 1941. The equipment from the cold storage and power plant were moved into the Malinta Tunnel and reinstalled. Most of the buildings were stripped of useful lumber for defensive positions, and the contents inside mostly went to make those positions marginally more comfortable. The two docks remain operational as of May 1, 1942.
Topside: Location of the majority of the heavy seacoast guns and antiaircraft guns, as well as Topside Barracks, the parade ground, officers quarters and barracks, as well as the lighthouse, radio transmitter, and radar station.
Additional infrastructure: 65 miles paved roads and trails, 13.5 miles of electric railway, 21 deep wells (water), diesel generators for all batteries and the Malinta Tunnel complex,
Heavy Guns
Battery Hearn and Battery Smith (each 1 x 12 inch gun, range 27,000 yards, AP ammunition only)(360 degree traverse, open mounts)(after March, the 1,070 pound round with an .05 second fuze is modified so that it can burst on impact, however it has a relatively small bursting charge although still similar in size to an 85 mm shell)
Battery Cheney, Battery Wheeler, Battery Crockett, (each 2 x 12 inch guns, range 17,000 yards) (see Battery Hearn)
Battery Way (4 x 12 inch mortars) and Battery Geary (8 x 12 inch mortars)(each has a range of 14,000 yards with a 700 pound shell or 2,400 yards with a 1,046 pound shell). These mortars have a limited number of high explosive rounds (only 1,000 rounds) available but can reach targets on Bataan due to their 360 degree traverse. However they are vulnerable to plunging fire and bombing as they are open mounts in a pit.
Battery Grubbs (2 x 10 inch guns)(range 14,000 yards, same issues as the 12 inch guns in terms of vulnerability and limitations)
Battery Malinta (1 x 8 inch gun)(range 24,000 yards, atop Malinta Hill, brought over from Bataan and crewed by Philippine Army personnel beginning January 1942)(has plenty of HE ammunition)
Medium Guns
Battery Morrison, Battery Ramsey (2 or 3 x 6 inch guns)(range 13,000 yards, open pit mounts)
Batteries Martin, Hamilton, Kysor, Rock Point, Sunset, Stockade, Monja, Cocepcion, Levagood (2 or 3 x 155 guns with a range of 17,000 yards but have an inadequate supply of HE rounds and thus counter battery fire will be limited).
Antiaircraft Defense
28 x 3 inch AA Guns, effective range 27,000 feet
48 x 50 caliber machine guns deployed throughout the island to fight strafers
10 x 60 inch searchlights
Anti landing Defenses
Batteries James, Keyes, Cushing, Hanna each with 2 x 3 inch guns
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion / 59th Coast Artillery (this battalion formed April 1942, with 8 x 75 mm guns, 12 x M1 4.2 inch mortars that arrived by submarine along with illumination and HE rounds) (4th Battalion located at Tailside)(also has a MG company with 12 x 30 caliber liquid cooled machine guns)
Organic weapons assigned to 1st Marine Battalion (separate) (12 x 37 mm guns, 24 x 50 caliber machine guns)(located at Malinta Hill and Bottomside)
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion/91st Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts)
(created April 1942 from artillery personnel evacuated from Bataan)(organized as an light artillery/heavy machine gun battalion with 12 x 75 mm guns (French 75s) and 24 x 30 caliber machine guns (M2 type, arrived by Submarine in March 1942) and has a platoon of 4 x 4.2 inch mortars for illumination.) Defending platoon sized positions along the perimeter of Topside, with most concentrated on the coast facing Mariveles and Bataan.
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion/92nd Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts)
(created along with the 4th/59th and 4/91st and equipped as a machine gun battalion with 36 x 30 caliber (M2 type) machine guns and 36 x Boys Anti Tank Rifles. Assigned to the defense of Topside as a mobile reserve. Also supports the 60th Coast Artillery (AA) and rest of the 92nd Coast Artillery (AA) in defending against any strafing aircraft.
Mobile Forces
26th Cavalry Regiment (500 men) reorganized as a battalion from the survivors of the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS), 112th Cavalry Regiment, and 192nd Tank Battalion. They are the survivors of the 9th Cavalry Brigade which at the start of the war had 3,500 armored, mechanized and mounted troops and they have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their outstanding service in the campaign so far. They have the last 5 American M3 Stuart tanks in the Philippines along with 6 Halftracks equipped with 75 mm guns The vehicles and their crews are in Malinta Tunnel along with the dismounted cavalrymen and are the counterattack force for a landing at Bottomside or Tailside.
809th Military Police Company was reorganized as an infantry company at Eisenhower's order, and spent much of the siege on Bataan until March when it went to Corregidor and late April when it was sent to Fort Frank, which as it was within 500 yards from Cavite Province needed an infantry garrison to back up its coast artillery gunners.
1st Engineer Brigade (Philippine Army) has been spending the last few months digging entrenchments and dugouts and then rebuilding positions and repairing damage. In a pinch, this force can be used as an infantry force although it is equipped only with a few submachineguns, with the rest of the men having only shotguns and a few old World War I Enfields. Spread about the island doing its work.
65th Infantry Regiment (US Army) fought extremely well at Lingayen Gulf and at Bataan but has been reorganized as a single battalion with 4 infantry companies and 1 weapons company. Located Topside to act as a mobile reserve in case of a landing.
31st Infantry Regiment (US Army). As for the 65th Infantry Regiment but located Topside just above Bottomside as a mobile reserve.
Manpower
65th Infantry Regiment (600 men)
31st Infantry Regiment (600 men)
1st Engineer Brigade (1,500 men)
26th Cavalry Regiment (500 men)
1st Marine Battalion (separate)(900 men)
59th, 60th, 91st, 92nd Coast Artillery Regiments (8,000 men)
Headquarters and Support personnel (2,500 men)
Misc Bataan escapees (2,200) (1,200 assigned to the Coast Artillery,500 to Support, remainder to Engineer Brigade)
Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, US Army Air Force personnel (400 men)
18,200 military personnel plus 1,000 civilians (many of whom are working as support and medical personnel)
plus 700 hospital patients (nearly all Americans) who were evacuated from Bataan or were wounded on the Rock
Other Islands
Fort Frank (Carabao Island) located 500 yards from Cavite, has cliffs 100 feet high all around the island except for a small point. It has a 2 x 14 inch guns, 8 x 12 inch mortars, 4 x 155 mm guns, and 4 x 3 inch AA guns plus numerous heavy and medium machine guns. A battalion of the 91st Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts) plus the 809th MP Company defends the island with 600 coast artillerymen (including reinforcements sent over from Bataan in April) and 120 US Infantry (who used to be military police).
Fort Drum (El Fraile Island)
The concrete battleship has 4 x 14 inch guns in turrets, plus 4 x 6 inch guns in casemates and 2 x 3 inch AA guns plus 3 light guns pointed toward Manila Bay. The arc of the turrets and casemate guns are such that there are blind spots directly behind the fort (facing Manila Bay). It has a garrison of 250 including Philippine Coast Guard personnel assigned to the fort after their craft were sunk in April.
Fort Hughes (Caballo Island) is furthest from Manila Bay and screened in part from shellfire from Luzon by Corregidor. Armed with 2 x 14 inch guns, 4 x 12 inch mortars, 2 x 6 inch guns, 3 x 155 mm guns, 3 light guns, it has only 350 men in the garrison until early April when personnel from the 3rd Coast Artillery (Philippine Army) were sent to the island forming a machine gun battalion of 600 men with the rest providing sufficient personnel to add another 100 men to the coast defense gunners.
Total Personnel Manila Bay Defense Command
Fort Mills: 18,200
Fort Frank: 720
Fort Drum: 250
Fort Hughes: 1050
total personnel: 18,220 men plus 1,000 civilians
The Defense Command has several motor launches and small fishing boats at Fort Mills which are hidden and used only when a US submarine is approaching plus a nightly patrol to inspect the signs that the Japanese are trying to clear mines.
Fort Mills, the official designation of Corregidor, and its associated harbor forts, have been in the Japanese crosshairs since the beginning of the war. The entire point of the Bataan Campaign was to keep the Japanese from bringing artillery within range of the island forts for as long as possible. For months under frequent bombing attack it is not until the Fall of Bataan that the real siege of the 'Gibraltar of the East' begins in earnest
As of April 1942, the Harbor defenses of Manila Bay are the sole concern of the US Army Manila Bay Defense Command, under Major General George F. Moore. He has men from the US Army, Philippine Scouts, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, US Marine Corps and US Navy under his command and his force is now the sole remaining conventional Filipino-American force in the Philippine Islands after the fall of the southern and central islands and the surrender at Bataan on April 30.
Fort Mills (Corregidor)
3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles across (at widest point) and is tadpole shaped and is located 2 miles from the closest point on Bataan. In total land area it has 2,200 acres
Geology and climate.
Geologically consists of Topside (the largest section, the head of the tadpole, with the highest point over 600 feet above sea level, then plunging down to Bottomside, which is barely above sea level before rising again into Malinta Hill which is Middleside and trailing gradually to the tip of its tale which post war has become known as Tailside. Prewar the island was heavily forested, with the typical lush flora found throughout the Philippines except for the areas cleared for installations, the parade ground and the small airstrip at the tail.
Infrastructure
Tailside: Kindley Field (2,400 yard landing strip), small tunnel with Navy Intercept Station
Middleside: Malinta Tunnel 1,400 feet long, 30 feet wide, with 25 laterals each 400 feet long plus the Hospital with an additional 14 laterals (with 1,000 beds and extensive facilities). Co-located is the Navy Tunnel which is similar in size to the Hospital. Has blowers to clear the air, an electric trolley system, and the tunnel system is where all the shops as well as the primary location for headquarters, stores, medical facilities and most of the headquarters and support personnel.
Bottomside: Peacetime location of warehouses, cold storage facility, and the power plant along with the civilian barrio (village) of San Jose. The civilian population (mainly employees of the US Department of the Army or civilian dependents of Philippine Scout officers and enlisted men, where evacuated in early December 1941. The equipment from the cold storage and power plant were moved into the Malinta Tunnel and reinstalled. Most of the buildings were stripped of useful lumber for defensive positions, and the contents inside mostly went to make those positions marginally more comfortable. The two docks remain operational as of May 1, 1942.
Topside: Location of the majority of the heavy seacoast guns and antiaircraft guns, as well as Topside Barracks, the parade ground, officers quarters and barracks, as well as the lighthouse, radio transmitter, and radar station.
Additional infrastructure: 65 miles paved roads and trails, 13.5 miles of electric railway, 21 deep wells (water), diesel generators for all batteries and the Malinta Tunnel complex,
Heavy Guns
Battery Hearn and Battery Smith (each 1 x 12 inch gun, range 27,000 yards, AP ammunition only)(360 degree traverse, open mounts)(after March, the 1,070 pound round with an .05 second fuze is modified so that it can burst on impact, however it has a relatively small bursting charge although still similar in size to an 85 mm shell)
Battery Cheney, Battery Wheeler, Battery Crockett, (each 2 x 12 inch guns, range 17,000 yards) (see Battery Hearn)
Battery Way (4 x 12 inch mortars) and Battery Geary (8 x 12 inch mortars)(each has a range of 14,000 yards with a 700 pound shell or 2,400 yards with a 1,046 pound shell). These mortars have a limited number of high explosive rounds (only 1,000 rounds) available but can reach targets on Bataan due to their 360 degree traverse. However they are vulnerable to plunging fire and bombing as they are open mounts in a pit.
Battery Grubbs (2 x 10 inch guns)(range 14,000 yards, same issues as the 12 inch guns in terms of vulnerability and limitations)
Battery Malinta (1 x 8 inch gun)(range 24,000 yards, atop Malinta Hill, brought over from Bataan and crewed by Philippine Army personnel beginning January 1942)(has plenty of HE ammunition)
Medium Guns
Battery Morrison, Battery Ramsey (2 or 3 x 6 inch guns)(range 13,000 yards, open pit mounts)
Batteries Martin, Hamilton, Kysor, Rock Point, Sunset, Stockade, Monja, Cocepcion, Levagood (2 or 3 x 155 guns with a range of 17,000 yards but have an inadequate supply of HE rounds and thus counter battery fire will be limited).
Antiaircraft Defense
28 x 3 inch AA Guns, effective range 27,000 feet
48 x 50 caliber machine guns deployed throughout the island to fight strafers
10 x 60 inch searchlights
Anti landing Defenses
Batteries James, Keyes, Cushing, Hanna each with 2 x 3 inch guns
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion / 59th Coast Artillery (this battalion formed April 1942, with 8 x 75 mm guns, 12 x M1 4.2 inch mortars that arrived by submarine along with illumination and HE rounds) (4th Battalion located at Tailside)(also has a MG company with 12 x 30 caliber liquid cooled machine guns)
Organic weapons assigned to 1st Marine Battalion (separate) (12 x 37 mm guns, 24 x 50 caliber machine guns)(located at Malinta Hill and Bottomside)
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion/91st Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts)
(created April 1942 from artillery personnel evacuated from Bataan)(organized as an light artillery/heavy machine gun battalion with 12 x 75 mm guns (French 75s) and 24 x 30 caliber machine guns (M2 type, arrived by Submarine in March 1942) and has a platoon of 4 x 4.2 inch mortars for illumination.) Defending platoon sized positions along the perimeter of Topside, with most concentrated on the coast facing Mariveles and Bataan.
Organic and attached weapons assigned to 4th Battalion/92nd Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts)
(created along with the 4th/59th and 4/91st and equipped as a machine gun battalion with 36 x 30 caliber (M2 type) machine guns and 36 x Boys Anti Tank Rifles. Assigned to the defense of Topside as a mobile reserve. Also supports the 60th Coast Artillery (AA) and rest of the 92nd Coast Artillery (AA) in defending against any strafing aircraft.
Mobile Forces
26th Cavalry Regiment (500 men) reorganized as a battalion from the survivors of the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS), 112th Cavalry Regiment, and 192nd Tank Battalion. They are the survivors of the 9th Cavalry Brigade which at the start of the war had 3,500 armored, mechanized and mounted troops and they have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their outstanding service in the campaign so far. They have the last 5 American M3 Stuart tanks in the Philippines along with 6 Halftracks equipped with 75 mm guns The vehicles and their crews are in Malinta Tunnel along with the dismounted cavalrymen and are the counterattack force for a landing at Bottomside or Tailside.
809th Military Police Company was reorganized as an infantry company at Eisenhower's order, and spent much of the siege on Bataan until March when it went to Corregidor and late April when it was sent to Fort Frank, which as it was within 500 yards from Cavite Province needed an infantry garrison to back up its coast artillery gunners.
1st Engineer Brigade (Philippine Army) has been spending the last few months digging entrenchments and dugouts and then rebuilding positions and repairing damage. In a pinch, this force can be used as an infantry force although it is equipped only with a few submachineguns, with the rest of the men having only shotguns and a few old World War I Enfields. Spread about the island doing its work.
65th Infantry Regiment (US Army) fought extremely well at Lingayen Gulf and at Bataan but has been reorganized as a single battalion with 4 infantry companies and 1 weapons company. Located Topside to act as a mobile reserve in case of a landing.
31st Infantry Regiment (US Army). As for the 65th Infantry Regiment but located Topside just above Bottomside as a mobile reserve.
Manpower
65th Infantry Regiment (600 men)
31st Infantry Regiment (600 men)
1st Engineer Brigade (1,500 men)
26th Cavalry Regiment (500 men)
1st Marine Battalion (separate)(900 men)
59th, 60th, 91st, 92nd Coast Artillery Regiments (8,000 men)
Headquarters and Support personnel (2,500 men)
Misc Bataan escapees (2,200) (1,200 assigned to the Coast Artillery,500 to Support, remainder to Engineer Brigade)
Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, US Army Air Force personnel (400 men)
18,200 military personnel plus 1,000 civilians (many of whom are working as support and medical personnel)
plus 700 hospital patients (nearly all Americans) who were evacuated from Bataan or were wounded on the Rock
Other Islands
Fort Frank (Carabao Island) located 500 yards from Cavite, has cliffs 100 feet high all around the island except for a small point. It has a 2 x 14 inch guns, 8 x 12 inch mortars, 4 x 155 mm guns, and 4 x 3 inch AA guns plus numerous heavy and medium machine guns. A battalion of the 91st Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts) plus the 809th MP Company defends the island with 600 coast artillerymen (including reinforcements sent over from Bataan in April) and 120 US Infantry (who used to be military police).
Fort Drum (El Fraile Island)
The concrete battleship has 4 x 14 inch guns in turrets, plus 4 x 6 inch guns in casemates and 2 x 3 inch AA guns plus 3 light guns pointed toward Manila Bay. The arc of the turrets and casemate guns are such that there are blind spots directly behind the fort (facing Manila Bay). It has a garrison of 250 including Philippine Coast Guard personnel assigned to the fort after their craft were sunk in April.
Fort Hughes (Caballo Island) is furthest from Manila Bay and screened in part from shellfire from Luzon by Corregidor. Armed with 2 x 14 inch guns, 4 x 12 inch mortars, 2 x 6 inch guns, 3 x 155 mm guns, 3 light guns, it has only 350 men in the garrison until early April when personnel from the 3rd Coast Artillery (Philippine Army) were sent to the island forming a machine gun battalion of 600 men with the rest providing sufficient personnel to add another 100 men to the coast defense gunners.
Total Personnel Manila Bay Defense Command
Fort Mills: 18,200
Fort Frank: 720
Fort Drum: 250
Fort Hughes: 1050
total personnel: 18,220 men plus 1,000 civilians
The Defense Command has several motor launches and small fishing boats at Fort Mills which are hidden and used only when a US submarine is approaching plus a nightly patrol to inspect the signs that the Japanese are trying to clear mines.
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