When the Pacific War broke out in December 1941, Prof. Beyer was caught unaware with four apartments on Nebraska and Florida Streets filled to the brim with archaeological stuff, Filipiniana, periodicals, and ethnological specimens of inestimable value; the basement of the Bureau of Mines building was also overflowing with cans and boxes of archaeological specimens; and the second floor of the Rizal Hall Annex was full of Filipiniana, manuscripts, articles, tektites, archaeological and ethnological materials. Immediately upon the occupation of Manila by the Japanese military the U.P.buildings were occupied almost at the same time. His collection in the Rizal hall Annex was therefore the first one to suffer; this was robbed of its precious contents, mostly of the gold jewelry, prehistoric ornaments and jade, while he stayed close by at the Ateneo de Manila premises.

Later Dr. Tadao Kano came to see him, a very fortunate event indeed; for it appeared that Beyer used to know him in Harvard. His presence in Manila as liaison officer was an auspicious one and paved the way for a better treatment and consideration of his collection. Sometime in May 1943 the collection in the second floor of the Rizal Hall annex was transferred to the Watson building on Aviles Street (now renamed Laurel Street), close to Malacañang Palace. From time to time Prof. Beyer was allowed to transfer other material from his Nebraska apartments, too. This is how he saved about one half of his valuable collection of Filipiniana and anthropological material.

As Japan was losing its grip in the Pacific, sometime in September 1944 Prof. Beyer was taken into the Santo Tomas Interment Camp where he stayed until the liberation of the big city in February 1945. He busied himself right away, though in a different kind of activity. In khaki pants and shirt with long sleeves he made the daily rounds with the American military engaged in salvage work. He was thus enabled, with the assistance of the U.S. Army and Filipino assistants to save Filipiniana belong to the National Library and the Bureau of Science including valuable Rizaliana. But nothing more was saved of his collections housed in the apartments on Nebraska Street; everything, even stone implements, got pulverized by the shelling and fire.

With about one-half of his archaeological and book collections in the Watson Building intact and the Philippine Ethnographic Series saved, he started to finish one or two manuscripts left behind in pre-war years, or to write or dictate off and on to his secretary, Miss Natividad Noriega, two important works which remain to this day his main contributions in the field of Philippine archaeology and prehistory. These are the Outline Review of Philippine Archaeology by Islands and Provinces and Philippine and East Asian Archaeology and Its Relation to the Origin of the Pacific Islands Population.

The first is a handy summary of archaeological work some kind of work had been carried in the past presented in a thumb-nail style. The second work is an interpretative and reconstructive study based on thousands of specimens and printed material in which a theoretical framework of Philippine prehistory is laid out in general terms. Both works had their beginnings, of course, from pre-World War II years.

These two works were the culmination of his career as an archaeologist and prehistorian. Although he never showed any sign of relaxation in his anthropological activities, nothing more significant came out of his pen. He, however, supported with vigor the plans of the National Congress in Quezon City in 1953 to which the 4^th Pre-hisotry Congress became a part. In the field of anthroplogy and prehistory he worked hand in hand with Dr. Patrocinio Valenzuela in carrying out a successful congress which was held in Quezon City on November 16-28, 1953. It can be said that the success of the anthropology division of the 8^th Pacific Science congress and the Prehistory Congress was in a large measure due to his untiring efforts. Then he edited parts of the Proceedings.

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