An anecdotal account of the 8-inch M1888 railway guns in the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941–42 states that eight guns (another account says seven guns) were shipped to Manila in late 1940, as part of the Inland Seas Defense Project. Initially, difficulties were encountered because the railway carriages were 36-inch (914 mm) gauge and the Philippines used a 42-inch (1,067 mm) gauge. In late December 1941 all eight guns were sent north in one train to oppose the Japanese landings at Lingayen Gulf, but six guns were damaged beyond repair by enemy air attack. The remaining two guns (possibly only one) were eventually shipped to Corregidor and Bataan by early March 1942, where they were mounted on improvised pedestal mounts. The account states that the one gun that information is available on fired only five proof rounds and sat idle for want of a crew until it was destroyed by air and/or artillery attack. One reference states that the other gun was mounted near Bagac, Bataan.