Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror

13. The Battle

✦ 13 The Battle in a convoy that stretched over more than forty miles of ocean,Gen.Douglas MacArthur, aboard the light cruiser Boise, was finally on his way to liberate Manila. The ships were laden with troops from all over the South Pacific as the vast convoy carried Gen. Walter Krueger’s 6th Army for a landing on Luzon. Altogether, four army divisions made up the invasion force. In the early hours of Tuesday, January 9, 1945, the troops hit the beaches of Lingayen Gulf, 110 miles north of Manila, in a replay, but on a much larger scale, of the Japanese invasion at the same place three years earlier. Now the Japanese army was on the defensive. Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita followed his latest strategy—a major delaying operation to slow down American forces, which he knew were going to use Luzon to stage an assault on the home islands—Japan.He had decided earlier—in December 1944—to abandon Manila, believing the city could not be defended.1 This led to two conflicting Japanese tactics,the first of which saw the withdrawal of Japanese army units from Manila. Watching the apparent exodus of the Japanese army heartened Manila civilians because it indicated that an “open city” status similar to what had been declared three years before would prevail.As American forces closed in on Manila, mile-long columns of requisitioned wooden civilian carts loaded with supplies lined the streets,slowly pushed by bands of Japanese soldiers Gen. Luna St. T a f t A v e . S a n M a r c e l i n o S t . A y a l a B l v d . Isaac Peral St. Padre Faura St. ERMITA Herran St. A . M a b i n i S t . C o l o r a d o S t . P e n n S t . Vermont St. Remedios St. W r i g h t S t . G e o r g i a S t . N e b r a s k a S t . M . H . d e l P i l a r S t . D e w e y B l v d . San Andras St. C a r o l i n a S t . H a r r i s o n B l v d . Vito Cruz St. Manila City Limits MALATE B u r n h a m G r e e n L u n e t a Pier 7 Port Area Fort Santiago 14 3 B Paco Cem. 13 37th Inf. Div. C F G A 11 1 D a k o t a S t . 10 D E 8 6 9 12 INTRAMUROS 1st Cav. Div. MANILA 1945 0 1/4 1/2 MILES 1 3/4 A B C D E F G FAMILIES Holzer John Lewy Juliusburger Ephraim Pick Rabbi Schwarz Welisch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Temple Emil Philippine General Hosp. Red Cross Bldg. University of the Philippines Malate Circle Rizal Stadium La Salle College Sta. Scholastica Manila Hotel Remedios Hosp. Masonic Temple Rizal Monument Santo Tomás Internment Camp Legislative Bldg. PASIG RIVER MANILA BAY Harrison Park 2 4 5 7 5 Vito Cruz St. Antipolo St. Manila City Limits Balagtas St. D 4 Porvenir St. C B Lourdes St. 1 A San Juan St. Sta. Monica Villaruel St. 3 Libertad Ave. F . B . H a r r is o n S t. T a ft A v e . E x t. 2 MANILA BAY 11th Airborne Div. 1st Cav. Div. 1 2 3 4 5 Boulevard Gdns. Polo Club Netzorg House Pax Court Rizal Stadium A B C D FAMILIES Eichholz Loewenstein Süsskind and Schwester Anna Dr. Fraenkel and Dr. Lührse PASAY 1945 Southern Suburb of Manila 0 1/4 1/2 MILES Progreso St. toward the outlying eastern defense positions.Meanwhile,another unexpected move occurred: Japanese naval troops marched into the city. There had never been close coordination between Japanese army and navy commands,and this situation led to a drastic change of Japanese plans. Ordered to defend Japanese naval installations in and around Manila, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi was given command of the Manila Naval Defense Force, and he had a radically different view about the defense possibilities The Battle 143 of Manila.To him the city...