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-08. This is an excellent picture of the Olongapo Naval Station and the Naval Yard at right. When was it shot? Where is the floating Drydock Dewey? Was it shot after the Dewey was towed to Mariveles? A 2nd picture is the zoomed in area where the Oryoku Maru survivors had to shim to. Also it shows a boat landing slip, which is zoomed-in in a later image. Somewhere under the trees is also the Spanish Gate, the other important landmark, then and today, but it is hidden under the trees. The USS Rochester is still there before it was scuttled. It was used as the base power plant! This image was provided by John Duresky. This is a paragraph from this Wikipedia URL or click here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_York_(ACR-2)

Rochester departed Balboa on 25 February 1932 for service in the Pacific Fleet. She arrived Shanghai on 27 April, to join the fleet in the Yangtze River in June and remained there until steaming to Cavite, to decommission on 29 April 1933. She would remain moored at the Olongapo Shipyard at Subic Bay for the next eight years. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 October 1938, and she was scuttled on 24 December 1941 to prevent her capture by the Japanese.

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-12. The grave of WWII Army Lt Chester K Britt. This is the story of one man of millions and millions, who paid a heavy price in the struggle for freedom in WWII. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-11. The Oryoku Mary burning and the picture shows the boat slip which is a good landmark. John sent this image for comparison. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-10. The same picture as the last one, under the down pointing arrow, John believes, that could be an Oryoku Mary life boat. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-09. This double picture shows: first, the zoomed in boat slip, and then a view of the Navy Yard Olongapo, in the north Direction. In the previous picture, John Duresky marked in, the directions of the sighting of these two pictures. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-05. 1941 3 Sgt. Laurente on his reservation on Fort Wint view 1. This is one of two pictures from the Britt family collection. It seems that the spouse of Lt. Britt visited in 1941. The fort was manned by US Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army Coastal Defense Forces with US Officer in the leading position. In 1941 it was mainly used as a training facility. I like the picture because it shows a berthing facility of the time before the War. This image was provided by John Duresky.
Dave Britt, he wrote this to John Duresky, about how his father Lt Britt and Sgt Laurente may have interacted first at Fort Wint on Grande Island and then on Bataan:

“My guess is that the Filipino Sgt was a part of the force evacuated to Bataan to fight with the scouts. Since Mom knew him; he must have been associated with Dad in the training business, which is what they were doing on the Ft Wint post until the war began.
He may have been the First Sgt for the 92nd CAC Battalion, at least the Filipino element of the unit.

Remember, Dad fought with Filipino Scouts, except for a few American officers as battery commanders, the guys that manned the guns were all Scouts. Probably the 500 trainees from the classes at Ft Wint.

One of the hats Dad wore was HQ company commander, so he had responsibilities for post maintenance. Maybe the Sgt was his 1st Shirt for this unit, comprised of Filipino soldiers most likely.

I wonder if he (Sgt Laurente) survived the war?” – Dave Britt

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-04. 1941 3 Sgt. Laurente on his reservation on Fort Wint view 1. This is one of two pictures from the Britt family collection. It seems that the spouse of Lt. Britt visited in 1941. The fort was manned by US Philippine Scouts and Philippine Army Coastal Defense Forces with US Officer in the leading position. In 1941 it was mainly used as a training facility. I like the picture because it shows a berthing facility. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-03. A Google Earth image of the former Olongapo Naval Station, then the Subic Bay Naval Base and now the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ). The Tappan Park, then and now, (also was the Olongapo Square) is the clearest landmark (prewar & postwar) to identify areas today and in the past!

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-02. A cropped image of a US. WWII reconnaissance image of the Olongapo Naval Station under Imperial Japanese occupation. The red markings are from John Duresky and the yellow markings are from Karl Welteke. This image was provided by John Duresky.

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-01. 1941 Olongapo, Chet Britt Sr.at the Olongapo Fleet Boat Landing and Waiting Shed. It looks like the Army Coastal Defense Force of Fort Wint on Grande Island in Subic Bay used the same boat landing area as the US Fleet in the Olongapo US Naval Station. This image was provided by John Duresky.
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Army Lt Chester K Britt, was one of 1,619 POWs that were on the Oryoku Maru. Lt Britt was first assigned to Fort Wint on Grande Island in 1940, then when it was abandoned on about December 24, 1941, he fought on Bataan, was on the Bataan Death March, then spent the next 2-1/2 years at Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan, Davao Penal Colony, and Bilibid Prison which he left at the end to board the Oryoku Maru. He survived the Oryoku Maru, then the Enoura Maru, then the Brazil Maru, then 3 months at Fukuoka POW Camp #3, then almost 4 months at the POW camp in Mukden Manchuria. He was freed on August 16, 1945. He died in 1953 due to health problems from his time as a POW. When he died my friend was only four years old. This is Lt Britt’s memorial page from West Point. He graduated on June 11, 1940 or click here:

https://www.westpointaog.org/memorial-article?id=73a5cf7f-479b-48de-baa0-c2214732cc7a

Lt Col David Britt, USAF (Ret), Lt Britt’s son and family loved and cherished him!

John Duresky is the friend of Lt Col David Britt, USAF (Ret) and he is going to write a book about Army Lt Chester K Britt.

Karl-Wilhelm Welteke is a retired USN Sailor and resident of Olongapo. During his research, John Duresky asked me for information and we shared them. He found some interesting pictures and gave me permission to use them. I post them here in my Flickr account because one can do it in high resolution and viewers can download them in high resolution to be able to read or view them properly.