VICENTE, MICAH F.

BSA 5A

FALL OF CORREGIDOR

Fast Facts: Battle of Corregidor (1942)

Conflict: World War II (1939-1945)

Dates: May 5-6, 1942

Armies & Commanders:

Allies

 Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright

 Brigadier General Charles F. Moore
 Colonel Samuel Howard
 13,000 men

Japan

 Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma

 Major General Kureo Tanaguchi
 Major General Kizon Mikami
 75,000 men

Casualties:

Allies: 800 killed, 1,000 wounded, and 11,000 captured

Japanese: 900 killed, 1,200 wounded

Corregidor (Fort Mills)

 Fought May 5-6 1942

 Peak of Japanese Campaign for Conquering the Commonwealth of the Philippines
during World War II
 Served as the headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur until he was ordered
to leave for Australia in March
 Remaining obstacle to the 14th Japanese Imperial Army of Lieutenant General
Masaharu Homma.
 Commanded access to Manila Bay- the finest natural harbor in the Far East

Background

 Located in Manila Bay (South of Bataan Peninsula)

 Officially designated as Fort Mills.
 Shaped like a Tadpole
 Western part is called the Topside- contained most of the island's guns
 Eastern part is called the Middleside - located on a plateau, contained barracks
and support facilities.
 Further east part is called the bottomside – contained the town of San Jose and
docking facilities
 Within the bottomside area lies the Malinta Hill - houses an array of fortified
tunnels.
 The main shaft ran east-west for 826 feet and possessed 25 lateral tunnels. These
housed the offices for General Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters and storage
areas
 North tunnels which contained a 1,000-bed hospital and medical facilities for the
garrison (military/defenders)
 The Navy tunnel system, which lay opposite the hospital, under the south side of
Malinta was connected to the main tunnel by a partially completed low passageway
through the quartermaster storage lateral.
 The Malinta Tunnel furnished bombproof shelters for the hospital, headquarters,
and shops, as well as a maze of underground storehouses.
 Due the perceived strength of Corregidor's defenses, it was dubbed the "Gibraltar
of the East."
 Supporting Corregidor, were three of four fortified islands around Manila Bay:
Fort Drum, Fort Frank, and Fort Hughes
 All four forts in Manila Bay—as well as Fort Wint in Subic Bay—had been
formed before the war into an organization called the Harbor Defenses of Manila
and Subic Bays, which by August 1941 became a part of the Philippine Coast
Artillery Command.
Preparing the Corregidor

 December 29, 1941, the defenders got their first taste of aerial bombardment on
Corregidor. The attack lasted for two hours as the Japanese destroyed or
damaged the hospital, Topside and Bottomside barracks, the Navy fuel depot and
the officers club.
 January 1, 1941, three days from the first aerial bombardment, the island garrison
was bombed for more than three hours.
 Periodic bombing continued over the next four days, but with only two more raids
for the rest of January, the defenders had a chance to improve their positions
considerably.
 March 12, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur turned over the command in the
Philippines to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright.
 From December 29 to the end of April 1942, despite incessant Japanese aerial,
naval and artillery bombardment, the garrison on Corregidor, which consisted of
the 4th Marine Regiment and combined units from the United States Army, the US
Navy, and locally recruited Filipino soldiers, resisted valiantly, inflicting heavy
enemy losses in men and aircraft.
 The defenders were living on about 30 ounces of food per day. Drinking water was
distributed only twice a day
 Constant bombing and shelling often interrupted the distribution of rations.
Thus, efforts to resupply Corregidor largely failed as ships were intercepted by the
Japanese.
 Only one vessel, the MV Princessa, successfully eluded the Japanese and
reached the island with provisions.
 As the position on Bataan neared collapse, around 1,200 men were shifted to
Corregidor from the peninsula
 Major General Edward King was forced to surrender Bataan on April 9, 1942
 On April 28, 1942 Major General Kizon Mikami's 22nd Air Brigade began an aerial
offensive against the island.
Fall of Corregidor

 On May 5, Japanese forces led by Maj. Gen. Kureo Taniguchi boarded landing
craft and barges and headed for the final assault on Corregidor.
 The initial landing of 790 Japanese soldiers quickly bogged down due to
surprisingly fierce resistance from the American and Filipino defenders

Japanese landings on Corregidor, 5–6 May 1942

 The second battalion of 785 Japanese soldiers was not as successful. They landed
east of North Point, where the defensive positions held by the 4th Marines
Regiment were stronger.
 Nevertheless, some of the landing managed to unite with the first invasion force,
and together they moved inland and had captured the Denver Battery by 01:30 on
May 6.
 By 04:30, Colonel Howard had committed his last reserves, consisting of about
500 Marines, a few sailors, and the soldiers of the 4th Battalion.
 To make matters worse, another 880 Japanese reinforcements arrived at 05:30.
  The defenders' final blow came at 09:30, when three Japanese tanks were landed
and immediately went into action.

Aftermath

 The Japanese losses from January 1 – April 30 and from the initial assault landings
on May 5/6, were about 900 dead and 1,200 wounded, while the defenders
suffered 800 dead and 1,000 wounded.
 Corregidor's defeat marked the fall of the Philippines and Asia
 Wainright radioing Roosevelt, "There is a limit of human endurance, and that point
has long been passed."
 Wainwright sent emissaries to discuss terms with Homma. Wainwright only wished
to surrender the men on Corregidor, Homma insisted that he surrender all
remaining US and Filipino forces in the Philippines.
 4,000 of the 11,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Corregidor were
marched through the streets of Manila to incarceration at Fort Santiago and Bilibid
Prison.
 US Army and Navy nurses (the "Angels of Bataan and Corregidor") continued to
work on Corregidor for several weeks, and were then sent to Santo Tomas
 The rest were sent off in trains to various Japanese prison camps
 General Wainwright was incarcerated in Manchuria
 Over the course of the war, thousands were shipped to the Japanese home islands
as slave labor
 Some were eventually freed at the Raid at Cabanatuan and during the battle for
Manila's liberation
 While most of the Allied forces on Corregidor surrendered, many individuals
continued fighting as guerrillas.
 General Masaharu Homma, who conquered the Philippines in five months instead
of the projected two, ended up being relieved of his command.