503rd PIR in Australia, Yesterday and Today

This post is actually about bringing the hobby of metal detecting and the enjoyment of history closer together. But in honor of Anzac Day occurring this week (and the fact that I'm working on book about the 503rd), I found an illustrative example that includes the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and their time "down under" training in Australia during WWII.

First, take a moment to think about the relationship between metal detector enthusiasts and archaeologists/historians. My history friends that I've conversed with about relic hunters (two National Park Rangers and an Archaeologist), to put it plainly, did not have a high opinion of "relic hunters." The punishments for getting caught metal detecting on National Park property usually worked its way into the conversation. How is the view from the other direction? I have to assume that most metal detecting enthusiasts do not really understand why so few sites have been examined and what all the fuss is.

This dialogue in my mind came up when I ran across a post on the Society for Historical Archaeology blog about archaeologists and metal "detectorists" coming together in Montpelier. Here's the gist, borrowed from the SHA blog:

In mid March, the Montpelier Archaeology Department completed the first public archaeology program at Montpelier that was open to the general metal detecting public. This program pairs metal detectorists with trained Montpelier archaeology staff to conduct gridded metal detector surveys across a section of the 2700-acre property to locate and identify archaeological sites. This survey work is combined with lectures regarding what archaeology can reveal of sites, human activity, and how it meets the goals of a historic site such as Montpelier. On one level, the purpose of this program is to locate historic sites so they can be preserved. It just so happens that controlled and gridded metal detector surveys are one of the most efficient means of finding a range of sites from ephemeral slave quarters, to barns, and sites characteristically missed by standard shovel test pit surveys.

As you will find out in the article, both sides learned lessons from each other. The dectorists began to feel appreciated in having a valuable skill set gathered over years of pursuing their hobby. Apparently the interaction also went a long way toward convincing the archaeologists the the hobbyists were not the "looters" they were stereotyped to be.

And what, you may ask, does this have to do with the 503rd Parachute Infantry during WWII? Well, in 1942 the 503rd spent about eight months in Gordonvale, Queensland, Australia. They were training there in preparation for their first combat jump, at Nazdab in New Guinea. While writing about this period, I found the most interesting video, posted on YouTube by a member of the NQ Explorers, a group that maintains a blog about their relic and coin hunting trips around Australia. The video is very well done, with newsreel clips about the 503rd as an opener, then a drive through the local area to the site that gives you an idea of what the terrain is like. Next you see the site of the parachute packing sheds is now a park and tennis club. But the  detectorist finds some coins, a shell casing, and a belt buckle in the lawn around the tennis courts.

I thought this hobbyist provided a great service by not only making others aware of the subject, but also letting me get a glimpse of a historic site that I was interested in. I have to criticize the detectorist's historical knowledge, however. I've embedded the video below so you can see for yourself. I had to wonder, would this hobbyist enjoyed his trip more if he had a deeper appreciation for his subject? I'm undoubtedly biased, but I think so. Regardless, good on ya, mate. I appreciate the visit.

Remembering Bataan

This April 9th marks the 71st anniversary of the 1942 Bataan Death March of WWII. On March 17th of this year, the veterans who suffered during the infamous event were honored at the 24th annual memorial march at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

WWII Poster that urges civilian workers to

"Remember Bataan and Corregidor." National

Archives image ARC 515483

I just finished writing an introductory chapter for a book on the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment during WWII. The subject is the Japanese successes in the beginning of the war, paying particular attention to the fall of the Philippines. (The 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team is the unit that took back Corregidor in 1945.) My editor/proof reader/wife, Sheila, now with her radar tuned to the subject, passed on an article in Stars and Stripes to me about an event that honors the veterans of this tragic episode in American military history. As I was unaware of this annual happening, I'd like to share the information with you here, as I'm guessing there is a few readers out there that did not know about the annual Bataan Memorial Death March either.

During the fight for the island nation in early 1942, American and Filipino forces withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula on the north end of the opening to Manila Bay, on the west coast of the island of Luzon. Allied forces, without reinforcement or resupply, held out for almost five months before surrendering on April 9, 1942. Approximately 76,000 Allied soldiers (just short of 12,000 Americans, the rest Filipino) became prisoners of war. Almost a month later, the island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay surrendered, with nearly 15,000 (a majority of American) Allied soldiers following their comrades into captivity.

The Japanese force marched their prisoners, who were sick, exhausted, and diseased, over sixty miles non-stop to prison camps in the interior of Luzon. Exact casualty figures are not possible, but it is estimated that between five and ten thousand Filipino soldiers and from six hundred to a thousand Americans died on what became known to history as the "Bataan Death March." Thousands more would die in POW camps before being liberated in 1945. The news of these atrocities of course made it back to the United States. During the war the public was galvanized in their resolve to win the war with "Remember Bataan," "Remember Corregidor," as well as "Remember Pearl Harbor."

Both soldiers and civilians participate in the Bataan Memorial 

Death March through the desert at While Sands, NM to honor

WWII veterans of the tragic Bataan Death March of WWII.

USAF photo.

For a few years after the end of WWII, Americans acknowledged "Bataan Day" but it fell out of the collective memory in favor of "Pearl Harbor Day" and "V-J Day." April 9th remains a national holiday in the Philippines, known as "The Day of Valor." However, it came to the attention of the Army ROTC detachment at New Mexico State University that there were many veterans of the Bataan Death March living in there state. The 200th and 150th Coast Artillery were units from the New Mexico National Guard that had been mobilized and sent to reinforce the Philippines before the Japanese attack. In 1989 the New Mexico State ROTC cadets organized the first Bataan Memorial Death March through the high desert of the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, NM.

Now in its 24th year, the memorial march is a rough 26.2 miles through the desert at high elevation. Both civilians and soldiers come to march (and many to run) the course to honor those veterans who suffered through the original Death March. This year there were thirteen veterans able to attend the memorial and witness over three thousand take to the route to honor their service and sacrifice. The weather in New Mexico, apparently dry and in the mid-seventies, probably seemed perfect for the event. Compare that to the forecast for Manila, which was 96 degrees with over 60% humidity.

The Bataan Memorial Death March now has a long list of sponsors, most notably the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). But I'd like first throw out a "well done!" to the ROTC cadets who organized this event in the first place. And second, give a shout out to the folks who take the time to travel out to a military reservation out in the desert and gut out twenty-six as their way of showing these veterans that we remember. Keep this on your radar. Who knows, maybe one day we'll see each other there.