Post by kungfuzu on Jul 3, 2022 10:37:01 GMT -8
South From Corregidor by John Morrill and Pete Martin. Originally published in 1942
I was rummaging (metaphorically speaking) around Kindle Books and somehow came upon this book. The blurb interested me so I decided to take the $2.00 plunge and upload it. Let me say upfront that I am glad I did.
"South From Corregidor" is John Morrill's story about the fall of the Philippines and his escape from Corregidor after it fell. Although it reads as if it were some adventure tale by Robert Louis Stevenson, it is taken from Morrill's experience as a naval officer in charge of a mine sweeper in and around Manila Bay when the Japanese invaded.
Before reading the book, I did a little background research on Morrill and found out that he retired from the Navy as a Rear Admiral, so I feel pretty confident that his tale is true.
Pete Martin, Morrill's co-author must have been a journalist or professional writer.
The book begins with Morrill and his crew on the "Quail" mine sweeping around Bataan while the Japanese invade the Philippines. Morrill had to keep a shipping lane open for the various American vessels coming and going in the area. As time went on, Morrill the Quail performed other duties such as serving as an anti-aircraft platform, offshore artillery platform shelling Japanese positions and such.
Morrill gives a good description of what went on shortly prior to and during the Japanese invasion. He paints some very vivid scenes of battle as well as the suffering Americans went through before the fall of Corregidor.
Morrill had positioned some good sized boats around the area on which he planned to escape should it be necessary. In the end, only one of the boats survived before Morrill and eighteen others, not all his actual crew members, decided it was time to say goodbye to Manila Bay.
From that point on, the book deals with Morrill's journey south. The crew, and he eventually ended up in Australia, but only after some dangerous and difficult times avoiding the Japanese, dealing with some questionable natives in the Dutch East Indies, a failing engine and stormy seas.
While the feat may not be on the same level as Captain Bligh's voyage from near Tahiti to Timor, it is still amazing. In the end, Morrill received the Navy Cross and each man in the crew was given a promotion of one rank above his rank at the time of the journey.
The book is written in a very 1940s style. Everything is upbeat, even when things aren't going so well. What a different time. The Kindle version I uploaded must be about 200 pages, therefore it was a pretty quick read.
I don't recall the Kindle version having any maps or photos (I finished it three weeks ago,) so I would suggest anyone reading the book to find a good map of the South China Sea on which to follow Morrill's journey. I wish you good reading.
I was rummaging (metaphorically speaking) around Kindle Books and somehow came upon this book. The blurb interested me so I decided to take the $2.00 plunge and upload it. Let me say upfront that I am glad I did.
"South From Corregidor" is John Morrill's story about the fall of the Philippines and his escape from Corregidor after it fell. Although it reads as if it were some adventure tale by Robert Louis Stevenson, it is taken from Morrill's experience as a naval officer in charge of a mine sweeper in and around Manila Bay when the Japanese invaded.
Before reading the book, I did a little background research on Morrill and found out that he retired from the Navy as a Rear Admiral, so I feel pretty confident that his tale is true.
Pete Martin, Morrill's co-author must have been a journalist or professional writer.
The book begins with Morrill and his crew on the "Quail" mine sweeping around Bataan while the Japanese invade the Philippines. Morrill had to keep a shipping lane open for the various American vessels coming and going in the area. As time went on, Morrill the Quail performed other duties such as serving as an anti-aircraft platform, offshore artillery platform shelling Japanese positions and such.
Morrill gives a good description of what went on shortly prior to and during the Japanese invasion. He paints some very vivid scenes of battle as well as the suffering Americans went through before the fall of Corregidor.
Morrill had positioned some good sized boats around the area on which he planned to escape should it be necessary. In the end, only one of the boats survived before Morrill and eighteen others, not all his actual crew members, decided it was time to say goodbye to Manila Bay.
From that point on, the book deals with Morrill's journey south. The crew, and he eventually ended up in Australia, but only after some dangerous and difficult times avoiding the Japanese, dealing with some questionable natives in the Dutch East Indies, a failing engine and stormy seas.
While the feat may not be on the same level as Captain Bligh's voyage from near Tahiti to Timor, it is still amazing. In the end, Morrill received the Navy Cross and each man in the crew was given a promotion of one rank above his rank at the time of the journey.
The book is written in a very 1940s style. Everything is upbeat, even when things aren't going so well. What a different time. The Kindle version I uploaded must be about 200 pages, therefore it was a pretty quick read.
I don't recall the Kindle version having any maps or photos (I finished it three weeks ago,) so I would suggest anyone reading the book to find a good map of the South China Sea on which to follow Morrill's journey. I wish you good reading.
