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| IJA 14 Area Army 1st Artillery Headquarters 4th Independent Heavy Artillery Battalion |
Gun History Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) as 305mm Howitzer Type 7 (1918) short barrel serial number unknown. One of ten 305mm Howitzers disassembled and shipped to Luzon in the Philippines. Wartime History Assigned to the 14th Area Army, 1st Artillery Headquarters to bombard the U.S. Army and Filipino positions on Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island. Afterwards, this gun remained on Luzon. During late 1944, the 4th Independent Heavy Artillery Battalion emplaced this 305mm short barrel Howitzers near Mount Macolod (Mount Makulot) to defend the area in anticipation of a U.S. landing. On March 19, 1945 the U.S. Army 158th Regimental Combat Team (158th RCT) "Bushmasters" began attacking Japanese positions at the southeast of Mt. Macolod. By March 23, 1945 they made little progress and were relieved by the 11th Airborne Division, 187th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by tanks, guerrillas, and artillery. By April 1, 1945 they had encircled the mountain and were able to concentrate their entire strength against the remaining 300 Japanese defenders but were again repulsed. By April 21, 1945 the last resistance on Mount Macolod was overcome ending the battle. During the battle of Mount Macolod, this gun was captured by the U.S. Army. Ultimate fate unknown, likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. References U.S. Army Triumph in the Philippines Chapter XXIII Securing the Visayan Passages pages 429, 430, 432, 433 (Page 249) "Meanwhile, other elements of the 158th Infantry had made contact with strong Japanese defenses blocking Route 417--the Batangas-Lipa road--at Mt. Macolod. Numbering some 1,250 men in all, the Japanese had the support of a 300-mm howitzer, two 70-mm. guns, ten or more 81-mm. mortars, a few lighter mortars, and a wealth of machine guns and machine cannon, including many removed from disabled Japanese aircraft at the Lipa airstrips. The 158th Infantry, launching an attack at Mt. Macolod on 19 March, had the support of two 105-mm. and two 155-mm. howitzer battalions." The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and Battlefront: Chapter XXI The Philippines: Luzon pages 427 (Page 427) "The southern Luzon campaign was characterized by hard fighting in the mountains and hills to which the defenders had withdrawn, notably at Mt. Macolod, where the Japanese had emplaced the one 305-mm. howitzer they had in the region." Contribute
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 305mm Type 7 |
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