Battle of Corregidor (1945)

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Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor

Date	16 February 1945 – 26 February 1945
Location	Corregidor Island, Philippines
Result	Allied victory

Combatants

United States

Japan

Commanders

George M. Jones
Edward M. Postlethwait

Rikichi Tsukada

Strength

7,000 U.S. troops

6,700 Japanese troops

Casualties

207 killed
684 wounded

6,600 killed
50 wounded
19 prisoners

Philippines campaign (1944–45)
Leyte – Leyte Gulf – Ormoc Bay – Mindoro – Lingayen Gulf – Luzon – Cabanatuan – Bataan – Manila – Corregidor – Los Baños – Palawan – Visayas – Mindanao

The Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor, from 16 February to 26 February 1945, by American liberation forces against the defending Japanese garrison on the island fortress used by the USAFFE, which was the last bastion to surrender to invading Japanese forces in 1942.

The retaking of the island officially named Fort Mills, along with the bloody battle to liberate Manila and the earlier recapture of the Bataan Peninsula, by invading U.S. forces from the occupying Japanese, marked the redemption of the American surrender on 6 May 1942 and the subsequent fall of the Philippines.

1 The Fall: In Retrospect
2 To Retake A Symbol
3 The Bombardment
4 Touchdown on Topside
5 Battle of Banzai Point
6 Seizure of Malinta Hill
7 Aftermath
8 Historical Significance
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

[edit] The Fall: In Retrospect

The Japanese opened their attack on Corregidor with an aerial bombardment on 29 December 1941, several days after Gen. Douglas MacArthur moved his headquarters there, but the heaviest attacks throughout the siege were from artillery based on nearby Cavite and later, on Bataan. When the last American and Filipino troops on the peninsula surrendered on 9 April 1942, the enemy was able to mass his artillery for an all-out shelling of the Rock and its antiquated batteries.

The tunnel network that ran through the island's hills afforded protection to the defending garrison, but much of the defense activity had to be carried out in the open. By 4 May, many of the guns had been knocked out, the water supply was low, amid mounting casualties. Heavy shellfire preceded Japanese attempts to land the next night and the enemy later admitted their amazement at the savage resistance, which accounted for the sinking of two-thirds of their landing craft and the horrible losses amounting to 900 killed and 1,200 wounded, against U.S. losses of 800 dead and 1,000 wounded. (See also the Battle of Corregidor.)

[edit] To Retake A Symbol

Corregidor in 1945, though it lacked in importance to the defensive strategy of the Japanese than it previously had held for the Americans in early 1942, remained a formidable sentinel to the entrance of Manila Bay. Consequently, American planners thought it merited a separate attack.

Gen. MacArthur's strategy was to make a combined amphibious and airborne assault: among the most difficult of all modern military maneuvers, to retake the island. Though this particular plan of action had been used to good effect during the Luzon landings, the airborne phase was obviously risky. As small as it was, at just over five square miles, the tadpole-shaped island made a difficult target for a parachute drop.

Complicating the strategy, however, was that the paratroopers were required to land on a hill known as Topside, the island's foremost dominant terrain feature. MacArthur's staff balked at the proposals, but on the other hand, there was little choice. From Topside, the enemy could dominate all possible amphibious landing sites. Their premise was that the Japanese would certainly not expect an airborne landing on such an unlikely target.

The honors for recapturing the Rock went to the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team of Lt. Col. George M. Jones and elements of Maj. Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff's 24th Infantry Division, the same units which undertook the capture of Mindoro island.

[edit] The Bombardment

Warships provide fire support during Corregidor landings

On 23 January 1945, the aerial bombings to soften up the defenses on Corregidor commenced. Daily strikes by heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Forces continued until 16 February, with five hundred ninety five tons of bombs dropped. Estimated figures since the bombing campaign started up to 24 February, showed 2,028 effective sorties, with 3,163 tons of bombs dropped on Corregidor.

On 13 February the United States Navy added to the bombardment, with cruisers and destroyers shelling from close to shore and braving sporadic Japanese artillery counterfire, with minesweepers operating around the island by the next day. The softening up, or gloucesterizing — from gloucesterize — a new verb coined for intense pre-invasion bombings, after the same procedures were made prior to the Marine landings on Cape Gloucester, New Britain in December 1943 of the island of Corregidor lasted for three more days.

The naval bombardment on Corregidor, however, was not without incident. Watertender First Class Elmer Charles Bigelow averted tragedy on board the USS Fletcher during action on 14 February 1945 when an enemy shell struck the ship. He acted instantly as the deadly projectile exploded into fragments which penetrated the No. 1 gun magazine and set afire several powder cases, then picked up a pair of fire extinguishers and rushed below in a resolute attempt to quell the raging flames. Refusing to waste the precious time required to don rescue-breathing apparatus, Bigelow plunged through the blinding smoke billowing out of the magazine hatch and dropped into the blazing compartment. Despite the acrid, burning powder smoke which seared his lungs with every agonizing breath, he worked rapidly and with instinctive sureness and succeeded in quickly extinguishing the fires and in cooling the cases and bulkheads, thereby preventing further damage to the stricken ship. Bigelow succumbed to his injuries the following day. His valor and personal sacrifice awarded him the Medal of Honor.

At sunrise of 16 February, attacks by B-24's and an hour of low-altitude bombings and strafing runs by A-20's preceded the landings.

[edit] Touchdown on Topside

By 0700 that morning, coming up on a hard landing against a 16-18 knot updraft, the 503rd PRCT based at Mindoro, began dropping out of C-47 troop carriers of the U.S. Thirteenth Air Force and floated down on the surprised Japanese defenders, remnants of Maj. Gen. Rikichi Tsukada's Kembu Group at the two tiny go-point areas of Topside's western heights. However, some paratroopers missed their drop zones and landed on rocky ground or tumbled into the sea.

Despite the grueling air and naval bombardment that left the defending enemy troops dazed and scattered, they vigorously rallied and fierce fighting erupted almost immediately. At one point that same morning, they threatened to drive a salient into the paratroopers' tenuous foothold on Topside.

Paratroopers and infantrymen waged a tenacious battle with the well dug-in and determined enemy. Private Lloyd G. McCarter, a scout attached to the 503rd, during the initial landing on 16 February, crossed 30 yards of open ground under intense enemy fire, and at pointblank range silenced a machinegun with hand grenades. On the afternoon of 18 February he killed six enemy snipers. That evening, when a large force attempted to bypass his company, he voluntarily moved to an exposed area and opened fire. The enemy attacked his position repeatedly throughout the night and was each time repulsed. By 2 o'clock in the morning, all the men about him had been wounded; but shouting encouragement to his comrades and defiance at the enemy, he continued to bear the brunt of the attack, fearlessly exposing himself to locate enemy soldiers and then pouring heavy fire on them. He repeatedly crawled back to his lines to secure more ammunition. When his submachine gun would no longer operate, he seized an automatic rifle and continued to inflict heavy casualties. This weapon, in turn, became too hot to use and, discarding it, he continued with an M-l rifle. At dawn the enemy attacked with renewed intensity. Completely exposing himself to hostile fire, he stood erect to locate the most dangerous enemy positions. He was seriously wounded; but, though he had already killed more than thirty of the enemy, he refused to evacuate until he had pointed out immediate objectives for attack. Through his sustained and outstanding heroism in the face of grave and obvious danger, Pvt. McCarter was awarded the Medal of Honor.

[edit] Battle of Banzai Point

The most ferocious battle to regain Corregidor occurred at Wheeler Point on the night of 18 February and early morning of 19 February, when D and F Companies, 2nd Battalion, 503rd PRCT, settled down for defensive positions near Battery Hearn and Cheney Trail, when at 2230 hrs. under a black, moonless night, 500 suicidal Japanese marines came out of the Battery Smith armory and charged the American positions. This was also the night Pvt. Lloyd McCarter earned his Medal of Honor. F Company stopped frenzied attack after attack in wave after wave by the Japanese trying to break through to the south. Any minor breakthrough by the enemy charge would be cut short by the rear echelons.

Aside for flares fired throughout the night by warships laying offshore, the three-hour battle was decided only with only rifles, automatic weapons and the indomitable courage of the fifty paratroopers ranged against the Japanese Special Landing Force, the best among the empire's fighting men. Somehow, not all men of the company were involved in the fighting due to the ensuing confusion. The savage encounter ended in failure with more than 250 enemy corpses strewn along a 200-yard stretch of Cheney Trail. F Company suffered 14 dead and 15 wounded. This would be the last attack of any significance by the Japanese on Corregidor. From then on, official historians of the 503rd always referred to Wheeler Point as Banzai Point.

[edit] Seizure of Malinta Hill

34th Infantry lands at San Jose Point

At the same time the 503rd paratroopers touched down at Topside, the first wave of 3rd Battalion under Lt. Col. Edward M. Postlethwait of the 24th Infantry Division's 34th Infantry Regiment under Col. Aubrey "Red" S. Newman waded ashore and established a beachhead at San Jose Point on the eastern end of Corregidor named Black Beach. The succeeding waves were to take the brunt of the hastily organized Japanese defense and several landing craft and infantrymen became victims of landmines. The battalion pushed inland against sporadic enemy resistance, mostly from groups coming out of the subterranean passages of the inland to waylay the advancing American troops.

Two 3rd Battalion units, K and L Companies under Captains Frank Centanni (later KIA) and Louis Stern managed to fight their way and secured the road and both northern and southern entrances to Malinta Hill, while Capt. Gilbert Heaberlin's A Company stationed itself near the waterline. I Company under 1Lt. Paul Cain, staged at North Dock guarded the harbor. They intended to keep the enemy troops inside the tunnel as other units moved inland, accompanied by tanks and flamethrower units that devastated pillboxes and tunnels in the surrounding areas held by the enemy. And for eight straight days until 23 February, these units staved off successive enemy banzai charges, mortar attacks, and even a suicide squad with explosives strapped to their bodies, killing over 300 Japanese.

On 21 February at 9:30 p.m., Malinta Hill reacted like a volcano when several detonations in quick succession tore it asunder. The Japanese trapped inside had blown themselves up and after the explosions and rock falls ceased, some 50 Japanese scurried from inside to attack and the Americans mowed them down. Two nights later, a similar attack happened. Finally, engineers went to work, poured large quantities of gasoline down the tunnels and set them afire, then sealed the tunnels' entrances. After some time, silence finally reigned inside Malinta Hill.

Except for the brutal struggles for Wheeler Point and Malinta Hill, no organized enemy attacks would be forthcoming for the rest of the campaign. Only isolated pockets of resistance continued to fight on with a suicidal frenzy until 26 February, when Corregidor was finally declared secured.

[edit] Aftermath

Large numbers of enemy troops drowned while swimming away from the Rock. Many Japanese, estimated in the thousands, sealed themselves in the numerous subterranean passages of the island. In compliance with the philosophy of Bushidō, the defenders cowering in caves and tunnels, like the ones at Malinta Hill, preferred to blow themselves over a surrender. Corregidor reverberated with many underground explosions for days afterward.

Very few Japanese were taken prisoner, but not without a price. An M4 Sherman tank fired a shell into a sealed tunnel suspected of harboring enemy soldiers, but which instead contained tons of stored ammunition. The subsequent tremendous explosion threw the sixty-eight thousand pound tank several dozen feet, killed four of its crew and forty-eight other U.S. soldiers and wounded more than a hundred.

By 1 March 1945, the devastated island bastion, with its harbor, the finest in the East, was officially opened to Allied shipping. Six days later, 7 March, Gen. MacArthur returned to the island fortress he had been forced to leave in disgrace three years before. "No enemy shall ever again take it down," he said, at the ceremonial raising of the Stars and Stripes.

The perfectly coordinated triphibious American assault to recapture Corregidor left the 503rd PRCT with 169 killed and 531 wounded. The 34th Infantry Regiment suffered 38 killed and 153 wounded. Of the 2,065 men of both lifts by the 503rd PRCT, about 280 were killed or severely injured. Three men suffered parachute malfunctions, and two men who collided with buildings were killed. Eight men were killed either in the air or before they were able to get free of their chutes, and a further 50 were wounded in the air or upon grounding. Several men were missing in action at the drop. The total injuries (not by wounding) on the drop were 210.

For many recent years, Japanese sources have estimated that there were about 6,700 Japanese on the island when the 503rd PRCT and 34th Infantry landed, of which, only 50 survived. Another nineteen were taken prisoner, but 20 Japanese stragglers surfaced after the war on 1 January 1946.

[edit] Historical Significance

The surrender of Corregidor in 1942 and the ensuing grisly fate of its 11,000 American and Filipino defenders led to a particular sense of moral purpose in Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and as shown in the next campaigns for liberation of the Philippine archipelago, he showed no hesitation to commit the bulk of U.S. forces under his command.

To the American soldier, Corregidor was more than a military objective, long before the campaign to recapture it. The Rock had become an important symbol in United States history as the last Pacific outpost of any size to fall to the enemy in the early stages of the Pacific War.

Corregidor today is a premium tourist destination in the Philippines. Over the years, most of the decrepit artillery pieces and significant battle sites on the island have been restored as important historical landmarks.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Retaking the Philippines: America's Return to Corregidor and Bataan, October 1944-March 1945 by William B. Breur (1986) St. Martin’s Press ISBN 0-312-67802-9
Back to Corregidor: America Retakes the Rock By Gerard M. Devlin (1992) St. Martins Press ISBN 0-312-07648-7
Corregidor: The Rock Force Assault, 1945 by Edward M. Flanagan (1988) Presidio Press ISBN 0-89141-319-7
World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia (Military History of the United States) by S. Sandler (2000) Routledge ISBN 0-8153-1883-9

[edit] External links

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Categories: South West Pacific theatre of World War II | Military history of the Philippines during World War II