#7. The Ill-Fated Engineers of Company C

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75% of servicemen in Company C, 803rd Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers, died in captivity during WW2.

Company C had 166 servicemen on its roster when WW2 began.

Only 38 returned home.

The rest died in battle, on the Bataan Death March, or in POW camps.

This episode follows 4 men from Company C . . . From the company’s beginning in Hawaii. Through their work hard, play harder days in Manila. Into the starvation of Bataan. And to captivity, until only one member remained in The Philippines.

This is the story of Company C, 803rd Engineers.

Images
Nichols Field viewed from the southeast with Manila city and Manila Bay in the upper background, c. 1937 — about 5 years before Company C, 803rd Engineers, arrived to expand the runway. The Officers’ Club is in the center left (building with white roof).  Flight line and hangars are in the center. Barracks, Officers Quarters, Headquarters, and Philippine Air Depot are in the upper right.  
Two North American A-27s of the 17th Pursuit Squadron at Nichols Field, in 1941. All of the A-27s at Nichols Field were destroyed when the Japanese attacked the island.
Wrecked P-35s at Nichols Field in the wake of Japanese bombing attacks, December 10, 1941.
American servicemen watch gasoline and other equipment fires in Manila, late December 1941.
Fires burn gasoline and other equipment stores in Manila, late December 1941.
This is purportedly a shelter at the Bataan Airfield in 1942. It’s the only image of Bataan airfield that I could find.
Map showing Philippine locations of the men of Company C, 803rd Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers, during WW2.
James Caldwell Sources
  • 2Lt James R Caldwell memorial (1), Find a Grave, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • 2LT James R. Caldwell memorial (2), Find a Grave, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James R. Caldwell entry, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data:  National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, 1941-1945. ARC ID: 212383, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 – 10/2007, ARC ID: 731002, Records of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Collection ADBC, ARC: 718969, National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, accessed 22 December 2022
  • James RCaldwell entry, “U.S., World War II Military Personnel Missing In Action or Lost at Sea, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: Department of Defense, Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/MIA_MAIN.HTM, July 2007, accessed 22 December 2022
  • James R Caldwell entry, “U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2000; original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James Robert Caldwell entry, “Wisconsin, U.S., Birth Records, 1812-1921,” database online: Ancestry.com, 2022, original data: Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Madison, Wisconsin, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James R Caldwell entry, “U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A (Recoverable), 1941-1975)”, database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, original data: Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A, 1941-1975. Washington, D.C. USA: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • Jennie Caldwell family, Lodi, Wisconsin, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • Jennie Caldwell family, Lodi, Wisconsin, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • “Madison Lieutenant Dies in Philippines,” The Oshkosh Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 2 February 1942, page 7, online at Newspapers.com
  • “Memorial Rites for Lt. Caldwell in Lodi Church,” The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, 16 February 1942, page 6, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • Paul W. Ropp, Good Outfit: The 803rd Engineer Battalion and the Defense of the Philippines, 1941-1942 (Air University Press: Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 2021), page 47-49, 205, 214, 473.
  • Russell Caldwell family, Lodi, Wisconsin, “1920 United States Federal Census,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2010, original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920 (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • The Fifty-Fifth Badger, University of Wisconsin at Madison yearbook, 1940, in “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010.
James Booher Sources
  • “Columbus State Hospital,” Wikipedia, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • Coral Booher family, indexed as Carole Booher, Newark, Ohio, “1930 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • Coral Booher family, indexed as Carol Boober, Newark, Ohio, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James R Booher entry, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data:  National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, 1941-1945. ARC ID: 212383, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 – 10/2007, ARC ID: 731002, Records of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Collection ADBC, ARC: 718969, National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, accessed 22 December 2022
  • James R Booher entry, “US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2005, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database], ARC: 1263923, “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James R Booher, indexed as James R Booker, Columbus, Ohio, “1930 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • “To Be Buried in Johnstown,” The Newark Advocate, 4 November 1930, page 11, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 22 December 2022
  • James Ryan Booher memorial, Find a Grave, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James B Booher entry, “U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2000; original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, accessed 22 December 2022
  • James R Booher entry, “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James R Booher entry, “U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2014, original data: Cemetery Records, Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington, VA., Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949, Series A1 43, NAI ID: 7408555, Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1918–ca. 1995, Record Group 117, The National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C, accessed 22 December 2022.
  • James B Booher entry, “U.S., Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: United States, Army, Quartermaster General’s Office, Rosters of World War II Dead (all services), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army, accessed 22 December 2022; James R Booher entry, “U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949.”
Peter Laniauskas Sources
  • 4 Bay Staters among Prisoners in Philippines,” The Boston Globe, 8 March 1943, page 4, oline at Newspapers.com, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • “Cabanatuan 3 Daily Log,” page 18, PDF format, online at: image #10, Cabanatuan 3 Daily Log, Records from Other Sections of Philippine Archives Collection, Philippines Archives Collection, original data: Cabanatuan 3 Daily Log, RG 407 The Philippine Archives Collection, Section: POWs and Civilian Internees, Box 41, National Archives and Records Administration.
  • “Escapes Continued,” “Cabanatuan History 1942,” page 6, PDF format, online at: image #3, Cabanatuan History 1942, Records from Other Sections of Philippine Archives Collection, Philippines Archives Collection, accessed 26 December 2022, original data: Cabanatuan History 1942, RG 407 The Philippine Archives Collection, Section: POWs and Civilian Internees, Box 41, National Archives and Records Administration.
  • Jan Laniewski, Naturalization Declaration, “Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011, original data: Copies of Petitions and Records of Naturalization in New England Courts, 1939 – ca. 1942, Textual Records, 615 Boxes, NAID: 4752894, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787–2004, Record Group 85, National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts, accessed 26 December 2022
  • John Larnis family, “1930 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2010, original data:  National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese File, 2007 Update, 1941-1945. ARC ID: 212383, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese Data Files, 4/2005 – 10/2007, ARC ID: 731002, Records of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Collection ADBC, ARC: 718969, National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, accessed 26 December 2022
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “U.S., Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: United States, Army, Quartermaster General’s Office, Rosters of World War II Dead (all services), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army, accessed 26 December 2022
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2014, original data: Cemetery Records, Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington, VA., Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949, Series A1 43, NAI ID: 7408555, Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1918–ca. 1995, Record Group 117, The National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945”; Peter Laniauskas entry, “U.S., Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A (Recoverable), 1941-1975)”, database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, original data: Unaccounted-for Remains, Group A, 1941-1975. Washington, D.C. USA: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “US, World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945”; Peter Laniauskas entry, “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Index, 1860-1970,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2013, original data: Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Births [1916–1970], Volumes 92–160, 162, 168, 175, 212– 213, Facsimile edition, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniauskas entry, “US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2005, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database], ARC: 1263923, “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Peter Laniasukas, Wahiawa, Honolulu, Hawaii, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • PeterLaniauskas (sic) entry, “U.S., World War II Military Personnel Missing In Action or Lost at Sea, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: Department of Defense, Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/MIA_MAIN.HTM, July 2007, accessed 26 December 2022
  • Pvt Peter Laniauskas memorial, Find a Grave, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Ropp, Good Outfit, page 48-49, 130, 201-204.
  • “Week’s Parade of the Services in Hawaii,” The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1 December 1940, page 64, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 26 December 2022.
Stanley Malor Sources
  • Ignacy Byrcousky family, Salem, Massachusetts, “1920 United States Federal Census,” Database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, 2010, original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920 (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Ignacy Meler family, Salem, Massachusetts, “1930 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2002, original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls, accessed [date].
  • Malor, Stanislaus, Beverly, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1959, page 468, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011.
  • Malor Stanislaus, Beverly, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1960, page 475, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011.
  • Malor, Stanley, Haverhill, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1965, page 78, “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011.
  • Maj. John J, Dugan, “Fr. Dugan’s Story: “Life under the Japs, Japs Suddenly Pull Out, Leave Prisoners Unguarded,” The Boston Daily Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 19 April 1945, page 28, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Phil Ewer, comp., “Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camps in Vermont,” Vermont Historical Society, 1985, PDF online, accessed 26 December 2022
  • Ropp, Good Outfit, page 130.
  • Stanislaus Malor entry, “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 26 December 2022
  • Stanislaus Malor entry, “US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2005, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database], ARC: 1263923, “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Stanislaus Malor entry, “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2005, original data: World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database], Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Md., accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Stanislaus Malor, Salem, Massachusetts, “US, World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011, original data: First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945 (Washington), 198 boxes, NAI: 2838690, Records of the Selective Service System, 1926–1975, Record Group 147, National Archives and Records Administration, St Louis, Missouri, accessed 26 December 2022
  • Stanislaus Malor entry, “U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2014, original data: Social Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, Master File, Social Security Administration, accessed 26 December 2022; Stanislaus Malor entry, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011, original data: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Stanley Meiner in Mrs. Brice Allen household, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, “1940 United States Federal Census,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940, T627, 4,643 roll, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • Ignatius Meler family, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, ”1950 United States Federal Census, database online, Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, 2022, original data: Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 – 1950, Washington, DC: National Archives, Washington, DC., Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, Record Group 29, accessed 26 December 2022.
  • See my POW – Malor, Stanislaus family tree on Ancestry.com.
  • Stanislaus Malor memorial, Find a Grave, accessed 26 December 2022
Historic Audio Source
Image Sources

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