| WW II Archaeological Discovery!!! |
At the end of the day on
Tuesday, July 6, a construction
crew trenching for a new fence
line near the Naval Base Guam
front gate hit (literally) a major
find. They had discovered a
Marine Amtrack (Amphibious
Traked landing craft) from
World War II. Jennings Bunn,
the base historian, quickly
called me and a few others on
July 7.
Tuesday, July 6, a construction
crew trenching for a new fence
line near the Naval Base Guam
front gate hit (literally) a major
find. They had discovered a
Marine Amtrack (Amphibious
Traked landing craft) from
World War II. Jennings Bunn,
the base historian, quickly
called me and a few others on
July 7.
John Gerber, a local historian, ID'd the craft as a
Landing Vehicle Track, or LVT. Probably an
LVT-4 he said (later confirmed that he'd got it in
one). This was also no ordinary LVT-4; it was a
vintage 1942 LVT-4. One of the early ones--so
early a model that it is powered by an aircraft's
radial engine! Later models were diesel powered.
Jennings got the photos of me here climbing in so
I could start photographing the pilot house. All
the controls--the engine, the drive train and
transmission, the fuse box, throttle, brake pedal,
accelerator, etc--are still in place. In fact, John
Gerber and I were the first two men in 60 years to
be inside this vehicle.
With his positive ID of it, we can safely say with
confidence that this is one of the LVT's the
Marines came ashore in on July 21, 1944, to
liberate Guam from Japanese control.
Landing Vehicle Track, or LVT. Probably an
LVT-4 he said (later confirmed that he'd got it in
one). This was also no ordinary LVT-4; it was a
vintage 1942 LVT-4. One of the early ones--so
early a model that it is powered by an aircraft's
radial engine! Later models were diesel powered.
Jennings got the photos of me here climbing in so
I could start photographing the pilot house. All
the controls--the engine, the drive train and
transmission, the fuse box, throttle, brake pedal,
accelerator, etc--are still in place. In fact, John
Gerber and I were the first two men in 60 years to
be inside this vehicle.
With his positive ID of it, we can safely say with
confidence that this is one of the LVT's the
Marines came ashore in on July 21, 1944, to
liberate Guam from Japanese control.
This photo at right, which I shot on July 11,
shows the further excavation of the LVT-4 (also
called a "Water Buffalo"). You are looking at the
bow. The craft floated on pontoons built into its
sides, and used its tracks as paddle-wheels in the
water. In the water it made a vulnerable 8 knots.
Once on shore it could go 24 mph or so. The
Marines rode in the open bay behind the pilot
house, up to 16 of them.
This was shot with a 16mm wide-angle lens, so
you get some wide-angle distortion that makes the
background bend rather sharply. However, see
the hillock behind the Water Buffalo? Jennings
and I are guessing that there might be another
vehicle buried there becuase it's the same height
and grade as this mound that turned out to entomb
the landing craft. I'll go poke around tomorrow
(July 12) and see if there's anything poking above
the surface.
shows the further excavation of the LVT-4 (also
called a "Water Buffalo"). You are looking at the
bow. The craft floated on pontoons built into its
sides, and used its tracks as paddle-wheels in the
water. In the water it made a vulnerable 8 knots.
Once on shore it could go 24 mph or so. The
Marines rode in the open bay behind the pilot
house, up to 16 of them.
This was shot with a 16mm wide-angle lens, so
you get some wide-angle distortion that makes the
background bend rather sharply. However, see
the hillock behind the Water Buffalo? Jennings
and I are guessing that there might be another
vehicle buried there becuase it's the same height
and grade as this mound that turned out to entomb
the landing craft. I'll go poke around tomorrow
(July 12) and see if there's anything poking above
the surface.
Looking at the exposed engine from the aft
personnel bay. (Above) you can see the
air-cooled radial engine (that would otherwise go
in a fighter plane) covered with dirt and debris.
(Right), this is a close-up of the engine after I had
cleared it of soil. The cylinders were set in a
circle around the central crankshaft. If this were
on a plane, the propeller would be attached to a
shaft coming the center of this on the other side
(this is the back side).
personnel bay. (Above) you can see the
air-cooled radial engine (that would otherwise go
in a fighter plane) covered with dirt and debris.
(Right), this is a close-up of the engine after I had
cleared it of soil. The cylinders were set in a
circle around the central crankshaft. If this were
on a plane, the propeller would be attached to a
shaft coming the center of this on the other side
(this is the back side).
This is the first major find on Guam in over 10 years.
During the 1950's, the Navy hired Chinese contractors to
haul off most of the "scrap", so Guam has a surprising lack
of relics for the size of the battle fought here. Palau,
Saipan, Tinian, Chuuk (used to be "Truk")...all have loads
of WWII aritifacts. At left you see the second major find by
this construciton crew--a WWII Sea Bee bulldozer! Only
the blade was partially exposed by July 11; on July 12
they'll dig the rest out, and I'll get photos of that for you.
What makes this more of a special event is that in two
weeks, July 21, 2004, is the 60th anniversary of the
Liberation of Guam. On July 21, 1944, U.S. Marines and
Army landed and started to take Guam back from the
roughly 20,000 Japanese troops who maintained a brutal
occupation of the island.
During the 1950's, the Navy hired Chinese contractors to
haul off most of the "scrap", so Guam has a surprising lack
of relics for the size of the battle fought here. Palau,
Saipan, Tinian, Chuuk (used to be "Truk")...all have loads
of WWII aritifacts. At left you see the second major find by
this construciton crew--a WWII Sea Bee bulldozer! Only
the blade was partially exposed by July 11; on July 12
they'll dig the rest out, and I'll get photos of that for you.
What makes this more of a special event is that in two
weeks, July 21, 2004, is the 60th anniversary of the
Liberation of Guam. On July 21, 1944, U.S. Marines and
Army landed and started to take Guam back from the
roughly 20,000 Japanese troops who maintained a brutal
occupation of the island.