Filipino Naval Civilian Volunteer Force, 1943, Oahu, T.H. Red Hill

[Salvage Sailor]

Here's another very rare Hawaii (Filipino) Volunteer unit patch (and chevrons) circa 1943

Filipino Naval Civilian Volunteer Force, 1943, Oahu, T.H.

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Closeups (newsprint, so difficult to zero in on details)

[Salvage Sailor]

Some better photographs of the insignia, Filipino Naval Civilian Volunteer Force, 1943, Oahu, T.H.

 

 

The were part of the work force at Red Hill (Pearl Harbor) constructing the naval fuel depot storage tanks which are still in use. This secret war department project stated before the Pearl Harbor attack and continued into 1943.

 

 

Red Hill was administered by the Navy Department (Bureau of Construction and Repair until 1940, then BuShips Corps of Construction)

 

 

Red Hill also had a US Naval Civilian (uniformed) security police force.....

 

 

...and a USMC detachment

 

 

But is anyone familiar with this outfit - the Filipino Naval Civilian Volunteer Force, 1943, Oahu, T.H and their insignia?

 

 

Filipino Naval Civilian Volunteer Force, 1943, Oahu, T.H

 

[Wailuna]

I'll bump this over to the kid, as he is my patch expert, and he will probably pull in his hapa buddy Aaron Pollick. They both know a lot about the various WWII Hawaiian volunteer and paramilitary organizations. We'll see what happens...Great pix. for sure.

[kiaiokalewa]

If I recall correctly this particular image came out of a 1943 HAD periodical. Evidently, there were two companies that were both equipped with 30 Cal. M.G. to defend the strategic fuel reserves all stored in Red Hill area. From this location a pipeline reached Pearl Harbor.

If you look real close at the images you'll notice the obvious "V" and "O". But the letter within the "O" is the letter "F". Not quite the acronym match for Red Hill Volunteer!

 

We've theorized that this was a unit specific designation for "Organized Filipino Volunteers" of the Red Hill sector. I'm aware of at least one other naval volunteer unit that has an insignia based off of an actual WWII era published photograph.

 

Back in day segregation was the order of day and apparently it also affected the smallish organization of the Red Hill Volunteer. The Caucasian contingency was assigned to Company G.

[Salvage Sailor]

Thanks John,

 

That was my impression also, that they were a Filipino detachment of the Oahu Defense Force (Volunteer) This would indeed be a rare patch if one surfaces from an old scrapbook or collection.

 

The photos are from the Red Hill Weekly, May 1 1943 edition.

 

This is the Hawaiian Civilian Security Police Detachment at Red Hill, wearing web belts and .45 automatics. They appear to be a mix of Hawaiians, local Chinese and local Portuguese men.

 

 

This is the Marine Detachment, standing in front of their camouflage building. The Navy ran Red Hill, known as "The Mighty Project" for secrecy, and the Brig and Psyche ward was at Kaneohe Naval Air Station.

 

 

The rest of the magazine is filled with photos of the supervisory staff, construction crews, medical staff, mess hall staff, separate filipino mess staff, and the shop crews plus much more.