Battle for Manila or American Liberation of Manila A Term Paper Presented to Dr. Luis C.

Dery Department of History De La Salle University

In Partial Fulfilment: Of the Requirements for KASPIL2 EE2 3rd Trimester, SY (2010 - 2011) Submitted By: Kiong, Jennifer ID 10812482

March 31, 2011

Table of Contents I. II. III. IV. V. Introduction 3 Significance of the Topic ....3 Contents ...........4 Conclusion 7 Reference ..7

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Introduction Before the Second World War, Manila was considered as one of the most beautiful cities in the World. It was named Pearl of the Orient and had drawn several continents. The city had been seized by the Spanish in the 16th century, attached by the Chinese in the 17th, occupied by the British in the 18th, and taken by the Americans at the of the 19th. But even these happenings had not prepared the Filipinos for that had happened in February 3 March 3. 1945. Manila was completely destroyed in just a single month. The Battle of Manila was a World War II battle fought between American-Filipino forces and the Japanese Imperial Army in the capital of the Philippines from February 3 to March 3, 1945. It was part of the Allies Philippines campaign, which had begun on October 20, 1944, when the US forces landed on the island of Leyte. The Battle of Manila was the fiercest and bloodiest urban fighting in the Pacific theatre of operations. It was an American victory, which put an end to three years of Japanese military occupation in the Philippines (19421945).

Significance of the Topic The Battle of Manila was the first and fiercest urban fighting in the entire Pacific War. It was unbelievable that the few battles in the closing months of World War II had exceeded the destruction and the brutality of the massacres and savagery of the Battle of Manila. The Filipinos had lost an irreplaceable cultural and historical treasure. Countless government buildings, universities and colleges, convents, churches were ruined. The cultures were also wiped out. It was a really sad part of history wherein other people would be in their right mind to kill numerous people for their own sake. It seems that

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what had happened in the past is also remembered by the Americans. What I would like to iterate is that Americans still look at us with less respect than other nationalities. It is very sad that they were one of the reasons why the Filipinos is having a hard time to keep up with other countries. If they had not destroyed Manila, I am sure that we can be hailed with a beautiful city in the world. It is also sad to think that a lot of Filipinos go to America are willing to work there for a living when they should be in the country serving the people.

Contents On October 20, 1944, American forces had landed on the beaches of Leyte, which initiated the Battle of Leyte and the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines. On January 9, 1945, the US 6th Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger had landed on the beaches of Luzon island. Having successfully landed and capturing their first objectives, half of the American forces had turned right and begun to advance south towards Manila. On January 31, the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments, under the command of Col. Robert H. Soule, components of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing, had landed at Nasugbu in southern Luzon and began moving northward in the direction of Manila. On February 4, the 11th A/B Divisions 511th Regimental Combat Team of Col. Orin D. Haugen had landed by parachute into Tagaytay Ridge, spearheading the northern advance. By February 3, the American forces had begun to converge on Manila from different directions. With help of intelligence supplied by Filipino guerrillas, the US elements had

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been able to find the bridges which had not been blown up by the Japanese during their retreat towards Manila.

The Battle of Manila began on February 3, when the US 1st Cavalry Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Verne D. Mudge, advanced into the northern outskirts of Manila, capturing an important bridge across the Tullahan River, which separated the American troops from the city proper. In the early afternoon, a squadron of 8th Cavalry, started to push towards the campus of the University of Santo Tomas which had been converted by the Japanese into an internment camp for civilians. As the American forces fought their way through the main gates, the Japanese, commanded by Lt. Col. Toshio Hayashi, gathered part of the internees together in the Education Building, as hostages, exchanging pot shots with the Americans and Filipinos. On February 4, they negotiated with the Americans to allow them to rejoin Japanese troops to the south of the city in exchange for the liberation of the hostages. The Filipinos and Americans agreed but only allowed them to carry their rifles, pistols and swords. On February 5, forty-seven Japanese were escorted out of the university to the part of town they had requested. But the Japanese were unaware the area they had requested was near the American-occupied Malacaang Palace and soon afterwards were fired upon and several were killed including Hayashi. After the first American breakthrough on February 4, savage and ferocious fighting broke out throughout the city and lasted almost a month. The Battle of Manila soon became a series of vicious street-to-street and house-to-house combats. In the north, elements of the XIV Corps pushed south from Santo Tomas University toward the Pasig River. The 5th

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Cavalry made an attempt to capture the Quezon Bridge, which was the only crossing over the Pasig that the Japanese had not destroyed. As the first squadron approached the bridge, Japanese heavy machine guns opened fire from Quezon Boulevard and forced the cavalry to stop its advance, withdrawing until nightfall. But as the American and Filipino forces pulled back, the Japanese blew up the bridge. When the US 37th Infantry Division began to advance into Manila, Grisworld divided the northern section into two sectors. By February 8, elements of the 37th Division had cleared most of the Japanese pockets from their sector. The Japanese blew up buildings and military installations as they withdrew.

Japanese marines and army units, under the command of Iwabuchi Sanji, at first resisted American infantrymen, but later faced direct fire from tanks, tank destroyers, and 105mm howitzers, who attacked one building after another and killed the Japanese troops concealed inside them. The fighting for Intramuros, where Iwabuchi held 4,000 civilians as hostages, raged on until February 28. After decimating the Japanese forces by aircraft bombing, American forces used artillery pieces to flush out the Japanese defenders. Nevertheless, the Sta. Lucia Barracks and Fort Santiago walls provided excellent cover. Less than 3,000 civilians escaped the assault, mostly women and children who had been released on February 23. Colonel Noguchis soldiers and sailors had shot 1000 men and women, while the others hostages died during the American bombing. The last pocket of Japanese resistance, which was at the Finance Building, was snuffed out by heavy artillery on March 3, 1944.

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Conclusion The Battle for Manila was compared to a Greek tragedy, with the main actors drawn inevitably toward a bloody climax by forces largely outside their control. Indeed, neither MacArthur nor General Yamashita, the Japanese commander in the Philippines, wanted to fight there. But each made decisions which made the battle inevitable: MacArthur by racing madly toward Manila without leaving the Japanese a way out, Yamashita by failing to force the commander of his Naval Defense Force to evacuate the city when he had the chance. Although greatly outnumbered, the Japanese improvised effective defenses which forced the Americans to reluctantly use major artillery to dislodge them. In fact, the American bombardment may have killed more people than the Japanese did, and certainly caused more physical damage. But whatever the factors which conspired to cause it, the destruction of Manila stands as one of the great tragedies of the Second World War.

Reference Huber, T. M. (2001). Battle of Manila. Retrieved on March 12,2011 at http://corregidor.org/bom/drtmhuber_b.html. Frankel, S.T. (1992). Frankel-y Speaking About World War in the South Pacific. NY: American Stratford Graphic Services. Ohl, J.K. (2001). Minuteman: The Military Career of General Robert S. Beightler. CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

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