Battle of Manila (1945)
On the 9th of January 1945, the Sixth U.S. Army under Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger made an amphibious landing at Lingayen Gulf. This move began a rapid drive south as part of the Battle of Luzon. On the 12th of January, General Douglas MacArthur ordered Krueger to advance swiftly to Manila. The 37th Infantry Division, commanded by Major Gen. Robert S. Beightler, spearheaded this American push southward.
After landing at San Fabian on the 27th of January, the 1st Cavalry Division received orders from MacArthur. They were told to get to Manila and free internees at Santo Tomas. They also had to take Malacanang Palace and the Legislative Building. On the 31st of January, the Eighth United States Army landed unopposed at Nasugbu in southern Luzon. Their forces included the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments led by Col. Robert H. Soule.
Components of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division under Maj. Gen. Joseph Swing moved north toward Manila. The 511th Regimental Combat Team, commanded by Col. Orin D. Haugen, parachuted onto Tagaytay Ridge on the 3rd of February. By the 5th of February, Swing's forces reached the outskirts of Manila. He was joined by Hunters ROTC Filipino guerrillas under Lt. Col. Emmanuel V. de Ocampo.
Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi decided to fight a last-ditch battle in Manila despite General Tomoyuki Yamashita's withdrawal orders. Yamashita planned to engage American forces in northern Luzon to buy time for defenses against an Allied invasion. He did not intend to seriously defend Manila itself because he could not feed its one million residents. He also doubted his forces' ability to defend vast tracts of flammable wooden buildings.
Iwabuchi had 12,500 men under his command designated as the Manila Naval Defense Force. These units were augmented by 4,500 Imperial Japanese Army personnel under Col. Katsuzo Noguchi and Capt. Saburo Abe. They built extensive defensive positions inside the 16th-century fortress of Intramuros. The naval staff in Japan agreed to Iwabuchi's scheme and subverted Yamashita's attempts at unified defense.
Before the battle began, Iwabuchi issued an address to his men stating they would daringly engage the enemy with what strength remained. He declared their determination to fight to the last man. This stance was influenced by his survival when the battleship he commanded was sunk off Guadalcanal in 1942. That event was perceived as a stain on his honor as an officer.
On the 3rd of February, elements of the 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila. They seized a vital bridge across the Tullahan River separating them from the city proper. A squadron of Brig. Gen. William C. Chase's 8th Cavalry drove toward the sprawling campus of the University of Santo Tomas. The university had been converted by the Japanese into the Santo Tomas Internment Camp since the 4th of January 1942.
For 37 months, the main building held civilians including Filipinos and American nurses known as the Angels of Bataan. Out of 4,255 prisoners, 466 died in captivity. Three were killed while attempting escape on the 15th of February 1942. Capt. Manuel Colayco guided the American First Cavalry to the front gate of Santo Tomas but was hit by small arms fire. He died seven days later in Legarda Elementary School which served as a field hospital.
At 9 PM on the 5th of February, five tanks of the 44th Tank Battalion breached the compound. The Japanese garrison under Lt. Col. Toshio Hayashi gathered remaining internees in the Education Building as hostages. They negotiated a truce allowing them to rejoin troops south of the city carrying only individual small arms. They exited safely but walked into American occupied Malacañang Palace where they were fired upon.
Early on the 6th of February, General MacArthur announced that Manila had fallen even though the battle barely began. As MacArthur declared victory, American divisions reported stiffening resistance further into the city. By the afternoon of the 8th of February, residential districts were damaged extensively by fighting. Filipino forces under Colonel Marcos V. Agustin cleared San Nicolas and arrested former President Emilio Aguinaldo for collaboration with the Japanese.
Japanese units engaged in violent mutilations, rapes, and large-scale massacres of civilians as their positions became untenable. Massacres occurred in schools, hospitals, and convents including San Juan de Dios Hospital and Santa Rosa College. Dr Antonio Gisbert recounted the murder of his father and brother at the Palacio del Gobernador. He stated he was one of fewer than 50 survivors out of more than 3,000 men herded into Fort Santiago.
The Japanese forced Filipino women and children to act as human shields placing them on front lines. Those who survived were often murdered by the Japanese. The Japanese also killed most of the men in a group of about 3,000 hostages released from Intramuros on the 23rd of February.
The American assault on Intramuros began at 7:30 AM on the 23rd of February with a 140-gun artillery barrage. Infantry from the 148th Regiment attacked through breaches made in walls between the Quezon and Parian Gates. Elements of the 129th Regiment crossed the Pasig River and engaged troops near the Government Mint location. Intense fighting continued until the 26th of February.
Army Historian Robert R. Smith noted that commanders planned a massive artillery preparation lasting from the 17th to the 23rd of February. They employed indirect fire at ranges up to 8,000 yards and direct point-blank fire from as short as 250 yards. All available corps and division artillery ranging from 240mm howitzers down were used. The net result was that Intramuros would be practically razed.
According to one estimate, American military operations caused 40 percent of total non-combatant Filipino deaths during the battle. Before fighting ended, MacArthur summoned a provisional assembly of prominent Filipinos to Malacañang Palace. He declared the Commonwealth of the Philippines permanently reestablished.
Iwabuchi and his officers committed suicide at dawn on the 26th of February. The 5th Cavalry Regiment took the Agricultural Building by the 1st of March. The 148th Regiment captured the Legislative Building on the 28th of February and the Finance Building by the 3rd of March. Army forces suffered 1,010 dead and 5,565 wounded during the entire battle.
At least 100,000 Filipino civilians had been killed both deliberately by Japanese massacres and from American or Japanese bombardment. In Intramuros alone, 16,665 Japanese military dead were counted. For the remainder of March 1945, American forces mopped up resistance throughout the city. Manila was officially liberated on the 4th of March when Intramuros was secured.
In the following months, the 6th Army shifted operations east of Manila to confront the Shimbu Group in mountain warfare. They focused on securing Manila's water sources including the Battle of Wawa Dam. General Yamashita was executed for war crimes committed by Japanese forces under his command during the battle in 1946.
The people of the Philippines lost an irreplaceable cultural and historical treasure during the battle of Manila. Hundreds of government buildings, universities, convents, monasteries, and churches dating to the founding of the city were ruined or lost. European style architecture from the Spanish and early American era was replaced with modern American style architecture after the war. Only a few old buildings remain intact today.
On the 18th of February 1995, the Memorare-Manila 1945 Foundation dedicated a memorial called the Shrine of Freedom. It honors the memory of over 100,000 civilians killed in the battle. The monument is located at Plazuela de Santa Isabel in Intramuros. National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin penned the inscription for the memorial.
The inscription reads that the monument serves as a gravestone for each man woman child and infant killed in Manila between the 3rd of February and the 3rd of March 1945. A steel flagpole still stands at the entrance of the old U.S. Embassy building in Ermita pockmarked by bullets and shrapnel. This structure remains a testament to the intense bitter fighting for Manila.
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Common questions
When did the Battle of Manila 1945 begin and end?
The Battle of Manila began on the 3rd of February 1945 when American forces entered the northern outskirts. The city was officially liberated on the 4th of March 1945 after Intramuros was secured.
Who commanded the Japanese forces during the Battle of Manila 1945?
Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi commanded the Manila Naval Defense Force with 12,500 men. He committed suicide at dawn on the 26th of February 1945 along with his officers.
How many Filipino civilians died in the Battle of Manila 1945?
At least 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed through deliberate massacres or bombardment by American and Japanese forces. The Shrine of Freedom memorial honors these over 100,000 victims who died between the 3rd of February and the 3rd of March 1945.
What happened to the University of Santo Tomas during the Battle of Manila 1945?
The University of Santo Tomas served as an internment camp since the 4th of January 1942 holding 4,255 prisoners including Filipinos and American nurses. Five tanks from the 44th Tank Battalion breached the compound at 9 PM on the 5th of February to free the internees.
Why did Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi fight a last-ditch battle in Manila instead of retreating?
Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi decided to fight despite orders from General Tomoyuki Yamashita because he viewed survival after being sunk off Guadalcanal in 1942 as a stain on his honor. He declared his determination to fight to the last man rather than abandon the city.