ROCK FORCE CONTENTS
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1945 MAP

A digital version of the original 1945 jump map is now available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE READ AND  RECOMMEND

 

The "Rock Force" is the name applied to the land contingent that retook Corregidor Is. commencing 16 February 1945, under the command of Col. George M. Jones.

 

503 Prcht. Inf. Rgt.

  503d PRCT On The Rock Website

    503d Heritage Bn. Website  

PIR Lineage 

  RCT Lineage   

Jump Training

3d Bn PRCT on Corregidor  

  503 PRCT Still Photo Archive

Bless 'em All

S-3 Journal, Opn No. 48 (Original) (Annotated)

Selection of Orders Relevant to the Corregidor Operation

503d WWII Reference Collection

 

 

 

462 Field Artillery Bn. (Prcht.)

Corregidor Field Orders - Operation 48 

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3d Bn. 34 Inf. Rgt.

   Lineage    A Brief History of the 34th Infantry Regiment

   Setting The Stage - from the Journal of the 24th Infantry

   Corregidor Coordination - Lt. Col. E. M. Postlethwait

   34th Infantry Regiments on Corregidor - Paul J. Cain

   We Storm Corregidor - Jan Valtin

Pacific Journal - William McKenna

Two Hour Tourist on Corregidor -  Phil Nast

Bloody Corregidor Battle Recalled -  Tulsa World, 1978

Camera at War - Corregidor -  Jim Mathis

Approaching Black Beach - Signal Corps Photographs

Surface of the Moon - Nicholas & William Russiello

Roster of Killed - 34th IR, 24th ID - February 1945

The 34th Infantry Regiment 1940-1941 (Volume I)  - Jonathan J. Ott

The 34th Infantry Regiment 1940-1941 (Volume II)  - Jonathan J. Ott

 

 

 

Co. "C", 161 Airborne Engineer Battalion

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18th Port. Surg. Hosp. (Reinforced.)

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Observations by Capt. Charles M. Bradford, MD.

 

 

3rd Platoon Antitank Co. 34 Inf. Rgt.

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3rd Platoon Cannon Co. 34 Inf. Rgt.

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  M-7 Mission to Topside - John D. Reynolds

 

Co. "A" 34 Inf. Rgt

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3rd Platoon Co. "C". 24th Med. Bn.

 

Detachment Serv. Co. 34 Inf Rgt.

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Btry. A  950 A.A.A. (AW) Bn.

 

174 Ordinance Service. Detachment, (Bomb Disposal Squad)

 

Detachment,  592 Engineer Boat and Shore Rgt.

On to Corregidor" with the 592d EBSR  

2d Engineer Special Brigade

 

Detachment, 98 Signal Bn.

Detachment, 1st Platoon 603 Tank Co.

I am the Tank Pilot

Detachment, 592 Joint Assault Signal Co.

Detachment, 6th Support Air Party

Combat Photo Unit "A" G.H.Q. Signal Station

Combat Photo Unit "Q"  G.H.Q. Signal Section.

 
HONOR ROLL of CORREGIDOR'S OTHER KIA'S

The U.S. Navy at Corregidor

 

The USN was not a part of the Rock Force, but was integral to the success of the Operation.  The pre-invasion plans had been worked out by the higher staffs, and the Navy had been designated to bombard the island for several days from cruisers and destroyers. The pre-landing bombardment was copious, well placed and was furnished by cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, rocket firing LCI�s and PT boats. On D-day the fire never ceased from the opening of the heavy guns at daylight until the first wave touched shore amid the dust of the final volleys of five-inch shells. PT Boats stood off, ready to pick up paratroopers who fell short of the Landing Fields. Thereafter, the Navy provided 'floating artillery' from destroyers which stood offshore day after day giving close support with gnat�s-eye accuracy. The set-up was similar to that of field artillery and air support, a liaison party and a forward observer party. These parties come from the Joint Assault Signal Companies made up of individuals from both the Army and Navy. There were two destroyers available at all times, day and night. During the day, one destroyer sat dead in the water off the south shore firing on any likely looking target east of Malinta Hill, while the other worked around the west end, firing mission for the paratroopers in their clean-up of the rugged ravines and cliffsides in that area. At night, one destroyer lay out west of the island firing star-shell illumination until the moon rose, while the other patrolled outside the bay entrances though still available to fire on call. See "The U.S.N. at Corregidor" Article  Radio Log of the USS Abbot (DD 629)  U.S.N.  K.I.A.'s at Corregidor. U.S.N.  Losses Off Corregidor.  Action Report Bataan-Corregdior Operation - USS LCT 6 - Group 66)

The American Red Cross

 

The American Red Cross was represented at Corregidor by two extraordinary personalities, both civilians, and their support staff, whose names we do not have.  Jumping with the 503d PRCT was Harold Templeman who, though not a paratrooper, became as much a part of the unit's history as any man. Templeman published the book "Return To Corregidor" which is as close to a Unit History as the 503d had at the time. It was Templeman who compiled the list of men who jumped on Corregidor which, though not gospel, provides us with the best source document of the men who jumped to battle there.  (Corregidor Jump Roster) The second personality was Weldon B. Hester, the Red Cross Field Director with the 3dBn of the 34th Infantry Regiment, who landed across the beach.  Hester had just come from 3 days at Zig-Zag Pass on Bataan, and before that, from 75 days of combat on Leyte. He had a reputation to keep -  for serving coffee to the troops within an hour of arriving on a beachhead. His recollection  is at "A Red Cross Man on Corregidor."

  

317th Troop Carrier Group - "Jungle Skippers"

 

Though not a part of the Rock Force,  the Jungle Skippers, comprising  the 39th, 40th, 41st and 46th Troop Carrier squadrons of the 317th Troop Carrier Group, under Col. John Lackey, delivered us to the jump zones and kept us supplied during the critical times.  Their Transport Orders are available for the Corregidor Operation.  They have a website.    We have a series of photographs of their Nose Art.

17th Recon Squadron, 71st Recon Group, 5th Army Air Force -

 

Though not a part of the Rock Force, we include them here as they were involved in the pre-mission reconnaissance, and in covering the jump photographically with their big-negative cameras.  A detachment operated from Dulag Airfield, Dulag, Leyte from 9 February until the end of the war. The 17th  recon Squadron flew P-38/F5's and B-25's and extensively photographed the island.  (They also bombed from their B-25's.) We feature two series of images, one known as the Fred Hill Collection, a truly exceptional series of medium resolution air-to ground images  photos, including some spectacular detailed images of the Jump. The second is a series of low resolution contact prints of the big negatives themselves.  If you want photographic enlargements, you've left it too late. They are no longer available.  

Mopping up the other islands of Manila Bay

 

Company B, 113th Engineer Battalion was moved to the island on the 23 February.  It was not a part of the Rock Force.

 

2d Battalion 151st Infantry Regiment was not a part of the Rock Force, but was was detached to relieve the 3d Bn 34th Infantry, and landed on Corregidor's Black Beach on 24 February 1945. It thereafter continued mopping-up operations in league with the 503d PRCT, assisting to secure the island sufficiently that on 2 March Colonel Jones could present General MacArthur with Fortress Corregidor at the formal raising of the flag on  the old Spanish flagpole at Topside.  The entire island was turned over to the 151st on 8 March. From Corregidor, the 2d Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment assaulted Caballo Island, about a mile south, on 27 March.  Fire support was provided by the 163d Field Artillery Battalion from Corregidor, and by the 150th Field Artillery Battalion from Bataan. Mopping up operations lasted until Company F was relieved on 13 April.  Some Japanese did remain on the island, and in fact twenty Japanese resisted capture until 1 Jan 1946.   A comprehensive description of their attacks on Fort Hughes, Fort Drum, and Fort Frank is available in an extract of the 38th Infantry Division Historical Report.



Reports of Gen. MacArthur - Corregidor

Triumph in the Philippines - Corregidor - Official History

Corregidor Island Operation - USAFFE Board Report No. 308

Post Operation Reports - a selection

Battlebook Corregidor


 

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Last Updated: 24-08-23