Corregidor has always been one of those places that has fascinated me. Since I was able to visit the island for the first time more than 15 years ago, it has held a special place in my heart and therefore in my collecting interests.
I'm fortunate to have a couple of groups related to the defence of Corregidor in my collection. One of these is to Herbert F. Markland, a Sergeant in the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment who was one of the defenders and spent three years as a prisoner of the Japanese.
The medals I have for him are pictured above (from left to right):
- Bronze Star (engraved Herbert F. Markland)
- Purple Heart
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
- Good Conduct Medal
- Prisoner of War Medal
- National Defense Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Battle Stars
- Philippines - Defense Medal
- Philippines - Liberation Medal (not pictured)
This is his story.
Herbert
MARKLAND was born in Kansas in1920 and had received four years of high school
education by the time he enlisted as a Private in the US Army on 27 November
1940. He gave his occupation as embalmer or undertaker.
Being
posted to the Coast Artillery Corps, he was sent to the Philippines as part of A
Battery, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft), who were
responsible for anti-aircraft defences around Manila and Subic Bays as well as the
southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula. The 60th CA was equipped with
3-inch guns (an older model with a vertical range of 8,200m), 37mm guns, .50
calibre machine guns and 60-inch (1.5m) Sperry searchlights. The motto of the
60th CA was Coelis Imperamus
– “We Rule the Heavens”.
Life
on Corregidor
The
most important part of Manila’s defences was Fort Mills, the island of
Corregidor: the motto of the Coast Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays was Corregidor Omnia Vigilat – “Corregidor
Guards All”. It was to Fort Mills that Herbert MARKLAND was sent for duty.
MARKLAND
gave extensive accounts in the Coastal Defense Study Group Journal on his time
on Corregidor:
“Life on Corregidor during peacetime
was really nice. We worked hard, but
also had ample time to ourselves. The weather was good, and the facilities for soldier recreation fine.
The ‘mile-long barracks’ was really nice.
It seemed like it was over 1,000ft long, but not quite as modern as Ft. Sill’s barracks had been. The shower room
and latrines were all on the ground
floor. Each battery had its own mess on the ground floor. Everything except the barracks proper
was on the ground floor; orderly room,
supply room, barber shop, and day room. Regimental HQ was in the center of the barracks. The regimental HQ
also had an indoor gym, library, shoe
shop and other things around the perimeter of the upstairs HQ. The PX and guardhouse were on the
ground floor. This guardhouse was
used to manage the guard mounts that were maintained for the batteries and other important
structures on the island.
Reveille was at about 6:00 in the
morning, and you would fall out for Physical
Fitness Training (PT). Then we went for showers and on to breakfast. First formation was called at about
8:00 or so, and we would march down
to the battery for drill. We came back for lunch, and then in the afternoon back to the battery for
maintenance or details. We never saw the
officers in the afternoon. They were either at the golf course, conducting ‘officer type’ training, or
doing office work. The afternoon belonged
to Corporals. We knocked off at about 3:00 and got ready for retreat at either 4:30 or 5:00. One
morning per week we would do close order
drill on the parade ground with the band. We would wear our brown (almost green) flannel shirts for that, or
cotton khaki. We always conducted
the drill with fixed bayonets. That was a tradition we held from the old foot artillery of the Mexican
War. Using fixed bayonets during
the drill was a special privilege for only the Coast Artillery Corps, especially this regiment.
The Regimental Parade was on Thursday
afternoons. We marched in columns of
fours and then formed battalion squares with three battalions. Each battery was a line in the battalion
square. We had our own regimental
march, ‘The March Lorraine’, a French march. These parades were really something and I really
enjoyed them. When the General (Harbor
Defense Commander) reviewed the troops, a waltz was usually played. ‘In the Good Old Summertime’ was
the most commonly played. The other regiments held parades on separate days. The 60th Coast Artillery (AA) paraded on Tuesday, and
the two Philippine Scout regiments
paraded on Mondays and Fridays.
Friday mornings were devoted to the
infantry tactics and maneuvers. We concentrated
on squad and platoon level drills for the protection of our beaches and the gun position proper.
Individual techniques were also practiced,
such as hand-to-hand combat and bayonet drills. Saturday mornings we had inspections. They were
very rigid, and they usually ended
at about 11:00 in the morning. Soldiers and junior NCOs were generally free for the rest of the weekend unless
you had guard or detail.
Life was really good and pleasant,
though a bit monotonous. The food was
good. Topside itself was very comfortable and at night sleep was pleasant, unlike the rest of the Philippines
garrisons. There were no mosquitoes since
we were so high. The barracks was on the highest point of the island and you could see out to sea both ways. Middleside
also had no mosquitoes.
Unfortunately, Bottomside had mosquitoes where the barrio and Malinta Tunnel were.”
 |
| 'Topside': the 'Mile Long Barracks' today. |
The
Pacific War begins
Japanese
forces attacked the Philippines at Cavite Naval Station and Clark Air Force
Base the same day they attacked Pearl Harbour (7 December, 1941). The US Armed
Forces Far East (USAFFE), under the command of General Douglas MACARTHUR, were
unprepared for Japanese attack, and despite the optimism of the lower ranks,
the officers were aware that reinforcements from the US would not be
forthcoming and their task was only to delay the Japanese forces.
Japanese
forces, under the command of Lieutenant General Masaharu HOMMA, planned a
50-day operation to take the Philippines and forces landed on Luzon on 10
December. As the Japanese advanced, the USAFFE forces fell back to Manila Bay,
specifically the Bataan Peninsula and the island fortress of Corregidor.
The
Philippine Coast Artillery Command was the responsibility of Major General
George F. MOORE and was made up of three coast artillery regiments and one
anti-aircraft unit (59th, 91st (PS), 92nd (PS)
and 60th (AA) respectively). Total strength was around 5,700 men.
There were an additional 600 Philippine Army troops which were hastily
organized into the 1st and 2nd Coast Artillery Regiments
(PA). These last two operated under the Philippine Scouts units.
Forces
on Corregidor were divided into four commands:
1. Seaward
Artillery Fire – Colonel Paul D. BUNKER
2. Anti-Aircraft
Fire – Colonel Theodore M. CHASE
3. Beach
Defense – Captain Kenneth M. HOEFFEL, USN
4. Inshore
Patrol – Captain Kenneth M. HOEFFEL, USN
The
other forts in Manila Bay had their own fire commands under the Philippine
Harbor Defense Command. These were: Fort Frank (200 men), Fort Hughes (800 men)
and the “Concrete Battleship” Fort Drum (200 men).
On
Christmas Eve, Subic Bay and Fort Wint were abandoned and personnel transferred
to Corregidor or other duties, followed by survivors from Cavite Naval Station
and US Army personnel from Manila itself. MACARTHUR and the Philippine
Commonwealth Government under President Manuel L. QUEZON established their
headquarters in Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor on Christmas Day.
Specific
attacks on Corregidor began on 29 December, and intense aerial bombardment
commenced for eight straight days starting on 31 December. Unfortunately for MARKLAND
and his comrades, the aircraft could fly above the maximum range of their AA
rounds. Buildings on Corregidor were extensively damaged, but most guns
remained in operation after some light repairs. Soon, Japanese artillery began
firing from Cavite but the USAFFE fire was ineffective due to the guns and
ammunition in the forts being designed for attacks against armoured warships
and not land targets, and also the well hidden locations of the Japanese guns.
Fearing
for MACARTHUR’s safety, President ROOSEVELT ordered him to leave Corregidor and
he did so along with his family, President QUEZON and his staff on 10 March,
1942 by PT boat under the cover of darkness.
Renewed
bombing commenced on 24 March as Japanese forces closed on Bataan. At times
this bombing was extremely intense, but overall was sporadic in nature. On 8
April, units began transferring from Bataan to Corregidor. MARKLAND describes
that night:
“We fired until the Bataan line fell
back to where we were masked by our own
casemate hill. This was well after midnight. Battery Smith fired longer than we did; I guess they had a
better field of fire for that shoot. That
was also the first time I remember Battery Smith firing. Up until that time, Hearn and Geary had done most of them
major-caliber firing from Corregidor.”
The
Siege of Corregidor
With
the fall of Bataan, the population of Corregidor swelled to over 15,000, all of
whom were housed underground to escape the bombardment. Malinta Tunnel housed
all the command elements of the US Army and the Philippine Government as well
as the “1,000-bed hospital”.
  |
| Inside the Malinta Tunnel today. On the right is one of the hospital laterals. |
According
to MARKLAND:
"Our battery had its own mess section
and fixed pretty good chow. Chow varied
from company to company, depending on the skill of the mess sergeant and the resourcefulness of the
executive officer. We set up a field
kitchen on a concrete platform behind the battery. We moved the coal stoves down from the barracks
building so we could save gas. The fuel
was critical as it was used in the mess section’s field stoves. Long before Bataan fell, we improvised a
water main for the kitchen. The mess section
cooked right up to the end, and even a few meals beyond that time. We were lucky our mess section
was not hit. We never lacked for good
food. The kitchen was in a low spot, and was fairly well protected. We stacked old powder cans full of sand
around the site. They were stacked
about two or three deep and stopped most of the fragments.”
Once
Bataan fell, the Japanese were able to concentrate artillery fire onto
Corregidor and the remaining forts in Manila Bay. This consisted of some 116
artillery pieces arranged in 18 batteries in both Bataan and Cavite.
Shelling
and bombing intensified on 1 May as the Japanese prepared an assault on the
island. In just five hours on 2 May, 3,200 240mm and other calibres fell near
Batteries Cheney and Geary, with one shell hitting Geary’s magazine at about
1030, completely destroying it. The following three days saw even more intense
bombardment.
By
5 May, most guns on the island were out of commission and the Japanese began
their landings. By 0100 on 6 May the Japanese had taken Water Tank Hill north
of Kindley Field, and by 1000 were able to lank three tanks. Once they had
approached an area near Manilta Tunnel and its thousands of inhabitants,
General WAINWRIGHT, commander of the USAFFE decided to issue orders to destroy
weapons and surrender.
According
to MARKLAND, this was the saddest day of his life:
“We all agreed that the Japs should
never be able to make ‘good ole Hearn’
fire again, so as a group we decided to really destroy the gun by firing the drill shell backwards using the
largest powder charge we had. The
drill shell was too big for the bore, so we knew that would really damage the gun. Sergeant Touberville went down
to the gun well and unscrewed the recoil
oil plug and drained the oil out. I gave my last ‘Home, RAM!’ when we rammed in the drill shell. Once the
gun was loaded, I took my long lanyard and ran it back over the
casemate hill. Then we all went
inside the casemate and closed the doors. We had no idea how this would affect the gun, but we know it would hurt it
badly. Once we were inside, I gave
the lanyard a good hard yank! What a noise the
gun made when fired! I went back out and there she was, ruined. We were right, we had really damaged the gun.
The firing piece smashed the breech
down against the well, cracked a trunnion, and broke the elevation segment. To top it off, that drill round
probably stripped the bore, for it sure
was not in the gun!”
 |
| Battery Hearn in 1941 |
 |
| Battery Hearn today showing battle damage. The entrance to the magazine is behind. |
MARKLAND
becomes a prisoner of the Japanese.
MARKLAND
was captured when the Corregidor fell to the Japanese on 6 May, 1942. He was
held at Cabanatuan before being taken to the Japanese mainland along with 1,034
other prisoners aboard the hell ship Noto
Maru.
The
Noto Maru left Manila on 15
August, 1944, made a brief stopover in Takao, Taiwan, and arrived at Moji,
Japan. The prisoners were trained northwards with batches being disembarked
along the way, and MARKLAND was among 500 prisoners who arrived at Hanawa on 9
September, 1944. At Hanawa was Sendai #6 Divisional Camp (formerly Tokyo #8) and
MARKLAND was PoW number H-178.
Sendai
#6, Hanawa, was a slave labour camp for the Mitsubishi Company’s Osarizawa
Copper Mine, one of the oldest mines in Japan with a continuous working history
of over 1,300 years.
The
mine had long been considered uneconomical by previous owners as it required
heavy labour to extract any remaining ore, but operations resumed as soon as a
ready supply of slave labour became available despite the antiquated equipment
and absence of any safety personnel. The mine continued to be used after the
war and was finally closed in 1978, becoming a theme park named “Osarizawa Mine
Land”.
A
description of the Hanawa camp is given by survivor James T. MURPHY:
"The size of the prison compound was approximately 200’
x 350’. A twelve foot high wooden fence
surrounded the installation. Inside the enclosure were three barracks each approximately 20’x100’. The barracks
were connected by covered passageways
that were open on each side. The barracks
had 30’ ceilings housing double deck sleeping platforms lining each side. Straw mats were placed on these
platforms to form bed-like facilities.
The floors were packed dirt. Tables and benches were installed in the aisle of the barracks and provided eating
facilities. The meals were brought in
from the galley in buckets and served by fellow POWs.
Other buildings within the compound included three squat
type latrines over cement pits; two
rectangular buildings for an infirmary and medical personnel; an L shaped building for the galley and bath; and
a Japanese headquarters building."
Despite
the extremely harsh conditions (including constant cold all year and deep snow
drifts in winter), heavy labour and the poor health of the prisoners, deaths at
Sendai #6, Hanawa were surprisingly few, with perhaps only 10 deaths recorded
including one after liberation and another officially recorded as dying at
another camp.
MARKLAND
was liberated from Sendai #6 and taken to Tokyo POW Camp (Shinjuku) Tokyo Bay
Area 35-140 on 16 September, 1945 for repatriation.
After
the war he re-enlisted as a Sergeant on 8 February, 1946 for the Hawaiian
Department. He retired from the army as a Command Sergeant Major.
The fall of Corregidor, 6 May 1942. Lest we forget.
