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A prewar view of Denver Hill from Malinta Hill. Note the water tank on the hill.

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In the confusion, two sailors, Signalman First Class Maurice C. Havey and Signalman First Class Frank H. Bigelow, became separated from their command and came upon an unmanned twin .50-caliber machine gun overlooking the beach area. They manned the gun and opened fire on the Japanese on the coastline for 30 minutes. Havey fired until the barrels burned out and Bigelow then replaced them. Suddenly, Havey dropped from the gun, turned and said, "I'm hit." He staggered to the rear toward Malinta Tunnel while Bigelow stayed with the gun. Havey had traveled only 100 yards when he was killed by seven machine gun bullets across the chest.

Unbeknownst to the Marines, the Japanese troops on Corregidor received reinforcements just before dawn. The 3d Battalion, 61st Infantry, engineers, and light artillery arrived with at least 880 men to join the battle. This force was originally scheduled to arrive at 0230, but the losses in landing craft in the initial attack forced the delay. Even so, five tanks and most of the field artillery were left on Bataan due to lack of landing craft. At 0530, three green flares signaled the successful landing by the Japanese.

Photo: National Archives