Post by mish on Jul 18, 2015 21:23:02 GMT -5
A snippet from Osprey's American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898-1945:
The life of the military personnel assigned to posts was fairly routine. Following
the 1924 reorganization of the US Coast Artillery Corps, there were two
regiments of Regular Army coast artillery, the 59th and the 60th, and two
regiments of Philippine Scouts, the 91st and the 92nd officered by Americans,
assigned to the defenses. These regiments retained more of their allotted
strength than similar regiments in the United States due to their overseas
location. Most of the officers who served with the Philippine Scouts thought
highly of their men, they worked hard and learned their training well. In the
words of veteran Charles F. Ivins: "They were a lean, sharp lot their canvas
gaiters scrubbed white, fitted over brilliantly shined shoes without a wrinkle,
their uniforms made by Chinese tailors at their expense, fitted to their trim
athletic bodies and bore no relation to the ill-shaped travesties of uniforms
then issued to stateside garrisons. They could shoot well. Their drill was precise
... They talked of jungle marches, of the Igorrote head-hunters of Luzon, of the
bloody treacherous Moros of Mindanao and Sulu ... These men were not
intellectuals, probably a sixth-grade education was their limit, but they were
tough and they were loyal and they loved soldiering." As usual with any army
garrison they had their problems tropical diseases and too much sun, as well
as the usual problems with drinking, fighting, and venereal diseases, but all in
all the American coast artillerymen seemed to get along reasonably well with
the natives they lived and worked with. During the 1930s, with the cutbacks in
military spending, many of the regular tactical and drill practices were not
conducted for lack of funds. Despite all these cutbacks and neglect by the
government back in Washington, D.C., the officers and enlisted men who
served there were proud of their duty and served well.
I was a bit weirded out by the reference to "gaiters scrubbed white." An interesting point from a collecting perspective. I wonder if it was a supply issue (the whiteness resulting from extended use), or those gaiters were ceremonial.
The life of the military personnel assigned to posts was fairly routine. Following
the 1924 reorganization of the US Coast Artillery Corps, there were two
regiments of Regular Army coast artillery, the 59th and the 60th, and two
regiments of Philippine Scouts, the 91st and the 92nd officered by Americans,
assigned to the defenses. These regiments retained more of their allotted
strength than similar regiments in the United States due to their overseas
location. Most of the officers who served with the Philippine Scouts thought
highly of their men, they worked hard and learned their training well. In the
words of veteran Charles F. Ivins: "They were a lean, sharp lot their canvas
gaiters scrubbed white, fitted over brilliantly shined shoes without a wrinkle,
their uniforms made by Chinese tailors at their expense, fitted to their trim
athletic bodies and bore no relation to the ill-shaped travesties of uniforms
then issued to stateside garrisons. They could shoot well. Their drill was precise
... They talked of jungle marches, of the Igorrote head-hunters of Luzon, of the
bloody treacherous Moros of Mindanao and Sulu ... These men were not
intellectuals, probably a sixth-grade education was their limit, but they were
tough and they were loyal and they loved soldiering." As usual with any army
garrison they had their problems tropical diseases and too much sun, as well
as the usual problems with drinking, fighting, and venereal diseases, but all in
all the American coast artillerymen seemed to get along reasonably well with
the natives they lived and worked with. During the 1930s, with the cutbacks in
military spending, many of the regular tactical and drill practices were not
conducted for lack of funds. Despite all these cutbacks and neglect by the
government back in Washington, D.C., the officers and enlisted men who
served there were proud of their duty and served well.
I was a bit weirded out by the reference to "gaiters scrubbed white." An interesting point from a collecting perspective. I wonder if it was a supply issue (the whiteness resulting from extended use), or those gaiters were ceremonial.
