Recapturing Corregidor Island | The Philippines Campaign (WW2)

Back in May 1942, after an incredibly successful campaign in the Pacific Theatre, the Japanese captured the last bastion of US resistance against them. Corregidor, officially named Fort Mills, was an island bastion situated in the Bay of Manilla in the Philippines. The capture of the island fortress marked the fall of the entire Philippines and US resistance in Asia. Now… nearly 3 years later, the United States planned to recapture the Philippines as the table had turned on the Japanese.

A vital part of the retaking of the Philippines was the retaking of the island fortress of Corregidor. What followed was a spectacular airborne assault and invasion of the island where close to 7000 Japanese troops were dug in, and ready to fight to the death.

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Now, the history and strategic importance of Corregidor to the Americans goes way back. Already back in 1898 in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, the island guarding the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines had been heavily fortified. The headquarters on the island was known as Fort Mills, the largest seacoast fortress of the Philippines. The island became known as ‘the Rock’, with its network of underground tunnels, fortifications and abundance of natural defences.

After the Japanese launched their attack on the Philippines in December 1941, the Americans and Filipinos managed to hold out for several months against the invaders. General Douglas MacArthur, the US commander in the Far East, left the Philippines in February 1942. He left the Corregidor island in a PT boat escaping to Australia. I’ve created a previous video about those PT boats if that interests you. Considering the US commander had left, it’s pretty safe to say the Americans were in a very dire situation although the last remaining forces were still holding on.

The Americans had surrendered the Bataan Peninsula in April that year. Basically surrounded, Fort Mills under the command of General Jonathan Wainwright, was besieged by the Japanese. After a month of aerial and artillery bombardments, the Americans clung on to the defence. Although admittedly, not much was left of the fortresses above-ground structures.

On May 5th over 2000 Japanese infantry troops landed on Corregidor. It was a hopeless case, and General Wainwright surrendered the next day. The last US stronghold of the Philippines, Corregidor, had fallen. From then on, the Japanese occupied the Philippines. Now, when Douglas MacArthur had left the Philippines in February, he is said to have said “I shall return” - and he would, but not until autumn 1944.

It took much convincing to persuade the American Joint Chiefs of Staff that the reconquest of the Philippines was a crucial step in defeating Japan. On October 20 1944, Douglas MacArthur returned, he landed on Leyte island on the eastern side of the Philippines. The Americans now embarked on their reconquest of the Philippines - and by December that year, US troops were moving onto Manilla and Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines.

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Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons

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