"It seemed that from then on the morale of the men started downward."  

Searchlight Number 8 was manned by Battery "K" 59th Coast Artillery. Anti-aircraft defences atop Malinta were commanded by  Battery "M" 60th Coast Artillery (A.A.) . The searchlight was situated in a tunnel near the south-eastern crest of Malinta Hill. It received a direct hit through its ventilation shaft on 29 April 1942 killing five men and seriously wounding four others. An extract from the M-60th Unit History takes up this story. . .

The Battery commander Capt. Holmes and Lt. King set out for Malinta Hill as soon as the shelling ceased. We learned from some of our men in Malinta Tunnel that the pompom had been blasted out and that Lt. Friedline and some of our men had been burned to death in the fire that had swept through the searchlight tunnel. A 40 mm shell came down a ventilation shaft and exploded the gas tank of the 25 KV generator and the fire swept all through the tunnel. Lt. Friedline and four men died of burns that afternoon and four other men were seriously burned.

We went up to inspect the damage immediately. The pompon and the other machine gun pit were totally destroyed. A crew of engineers was working to extricate some of the bodies caught in the wreckage of the SL tunnel. The lower section had not been hit but its morale was badly shaken.

The deaths and injuries that day was a distinct shock to all of us. The men had lost some of their good friends, many of them just couldn't believe it. The officers were deeply grieved over the loss of such an excellent and promising officer.

It seemed that from then on the morale of the men started downward. They had borne up well indeed in their position of only being able to duck down in their gun pits as the bombers flew over at an altitude of from 25,000 to 30,000 feet often even beyond range of the AA guns. Had they been able to flight back they would have felt better, but now frequent shellings added to their helpless misery and even our big guns could do little in reply.

Today there is not a damn thing erected there to record the episode.

 
Click to read the Battery History