An evening with a scrapbook.

[villa66]

No surplus sandbags? In a venue currently under attack? I'd say that was pretty standard. Particularly given the desperation of the moment. But I imagine it took about one second and a half to switch from the idea of subtracting needed defensive supplies from the Philippines to getting some good use from the sub's return trip to Pearl.

The gold did get back to the Philippines, but of course I don't know how many of the pre-war banks survived the Japanese occupation--things really got nasty at the end.

The silver pesos--including the salvaged pesos that didn't get a ride to San Francisco, but which instead had to be dumped into the bay--were also returned to the Philippines. Except perhaps, any that might possibly have been melted to supply the metal for the (newly independent) Philippines' first coins, the 1947s 50-centavos and 1-peso.

The leaflets are interesting, aren't they.

v.

[Erdnussbier]

Thanks for sharing these documents!

[sigistenz]

Hi villa, again another exciting sidelight
As a European I never cared much about WWII in the Pacific Ocean.
Reading your post is a bit like opening the door to a room you've never been in before. Great post!
Sigi

.

[villa66]

Thanks much, guys. I hope soon to finish up a couple of other Pacific notes and post them too. But did I say "soon?" "Soon" is such an elastic concept!

v.