OH 1464 | Oral History

OH 1464

BIGELOW, Frank H. (b. 1921)

Military Service: U.S. Navy WWII Veteran
Notable: survivor of the siege of Corregidor
Survivor of the siege of Corregidor. His experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Boyhood in North Dakota; various jobs during the Great Depression; enlistment in the Navy, 1939; volunteering for duty in the Philippines and assignment to the submarine tender USS Canopus, 1940; pre-war military life in the Philippines; the Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard and the destruction of the Canopus, December, 1941; retreat to Bataan, January, 1942; retreat to Corregidor; the fall of Corregidor; confinement in the 92nd Garage area; forced march down Dewey Boulevard in Manila; confinement at Cabanatuan, 1942-43; hell ship to Japan, July, 1943; coal mining for Mitsui Heavy Industries, Omuta, Kyushu; amputation of his leg by fellow prisoners after a mining accident, January, 1945; liberation; his description of the destruction in Nagasaki due to the atomic bomb.

About this Oral History

Physical Description 93 pp. plus documents (8 pp.)
Terms of Use Open
Interviewer(s) William J. Alexander
Date of Interview June 13, 2002

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