7 Sept. 2024 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

[browningautorifle]

I think of the forts in PI the engineers helped take out, this one is Ft Drum...

This left Fort Drum as the last position in Manila Bay held by the Japanese. It was a nearly impenetrable fortress built by the United States in 1909, with 6 meter (20-ft) thick reinforced concrete walls and four 14-inch turret guns. After heavy aerial and naval bombardment with little result, a detachment from the 113th Engineers and F Company, 151st Infantry Regiment were assigned to neutralize Fort Drum. The 113th Engineers altered their technique, using TNT and incendiary grenades to detonate the diesel/gasoline mixture that was pumped into a vent. The explosion ejected a 1-ton hatch 300 ft (91m) into the air and blew out parts of the fort's reinforced concrete walls. The fall of Fort Drum marked the end of Japanese resistance in Manila Bay.