Now and then bombs were dropped in our bivouac area without casualties I know of. We were hidden under tall, large trees in the forest and had dugouts through their roots.
Our troops were assigned to guard the western coast of the Peninsula near Corregidor. I was able to watch a Japanese armed boat try to probe our shore defenses by sailing along the shoreline as our coast artillery fired shots at it. It was beyond artillery range.
The Army Hospital near our camp was bombed on a Sunday, killing Col. Victoriano Luna, its Chief, and several others inside their dugouts. Hence, the V. LUNA ARMY HOSP. INQ.C.
The intelligence messages I received by phone and from our men mentioned the retreat of our front line men and several struggles moving towards our area of operations.
I did not see any Japanese soldier until we surrendered. Our battle lines were never reached until we got orders to surrender on April 9, 1942.
EARTHQUAKE ON SURRENDER DATE
It was a Friday night when all of us were startled from our sleep by a strong earthquake and loud explosions heard at a distance. It was claimed that the intentional sabotage of our ammunition dump caused the mountains to rock like an earthquake.
The news about our surrender came as a big surprise, because we never thought that we would lose the war and were just waiting for the “One Mile Convoy” to relieve us. Our officers did not even call us to formation. Everybody went on his own way after we were told to go to Mariveles for formal surrender.
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