The defense of Corregidor was the immediate responsibility of the Philippine Coast Artillery Command under Major General George F. Moore. To carry out this important mission, 23 batteries were set up on Corregidor and the adjoining islands at the outbreak of World War II in 1941. These consisted of 56 coastal guns and mortars which formed the main power of the island fortress. Corregidor had 13 anti-aircraft artillery batteries with 76 guns, twenty-eight of which were 3-inch and forty-eight 50-caliber. With all the gun emplacements set up in the island, Batteries Geary and Way proved to be the best and most effective for the defense of Corregidor during the siege by the Japanese forces.

" Battery Way - Work on setting up of Battery Way started in 1904 and it was completed in 1914 at a cost of $112,969. It was named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Henry N. Way of the 4th U.S. Artillery who died in service in the Philippines in 1900. Armed with four 12-inch mortars, it was capable of lobbing a 1000-lb deck piercing shell or 700 lb high explosive shell 14,610 yards in any direction. This gun emplacement was equipped with anti-personnel firepower. It was designed to penetrate the thin deck armor of warships and against any enemy entrenched on higher grounds in Bataan. Its firing elevation was from 45 degrees minimum to 70 degrees maximum. The length of its rifled bore is 10 ft. To fire each mortar, a standard crew consisting of 14 men were needed. Three of the serviceable mortars opened fire on April 28, 1942 and on May 2, 1942. After the 12 hours of continuous firing, the remaining mortar finally frose tight on May 6, 1942. It was the last of Corregidor's "concrete artillery" to cease firing before the surrender of Bataan.

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