Thursday, February 8
The Americans Push Toward the City Center
General Eichelberger of the 8th Army observes Manila from across the bay - US National Archives
Today the Americans continued to expand the foothold they had on the south side of the Pasig, with the 148th having been able to break out of the Malacañang Gardens and begin their advance on the Paco train station, encountering increasingly stiff Japanese resistance along the way. The 129th Infantry Regiment also landed in the morning, and began to move west toward the all-important power station on Provisor Island, mainly hampered by the flood of refugees desperately fleeing the murderous Japanese.
A partially destroyed bridge on the 11th Airborne’s line of advance - US National Archives
In the south, the battle for Nichols Field wore on. The paratroopers had managed over the last few days to push as far north as Calle Libertad and subsequently began to flank the northern edge of the airbase, as other units assaulted the center from the west. The Japanese defenses remained defiant throughout the day, although the paratroopers made slow but steady progress.
“The Japs defended Nichols Field as though the Emperor’s Palace itself were sitting on the center runway.”
The paratroopers lacked the heavy artillery and armor support of the American forces advancing from the north, but this was somewhat compensated for by the presence of air support. General MacArthur had prohibited the use of aircraft by the 37th Infantry and the 1st Cavalry, fearful of causing excessive collateral damage. This was not the case in the south, at least in the heavily militarized area of the Genko Line. In addition to the light artillery of the 11th Airborne, the Army Air Force and Marine attack planes and fighter-bombers were flying almost constant sorties in support of the paratroopers as they forced their way through the teeth of the Japanese defenses. This was cited by the official history of the division as being responsible in large part for keeping casualties low despite the ferocity of the fighting.
Civilians que up for distribution of rations - US National Archives
The humanitarian crisis continued to escalate as the battle itself did. The floods of refugees continued to overwhelm the American field hospitals as well as what little infrastructure remained in the secured areas of the city. The capture of the Malacañang Gardens led to the additional problem of getting refugees across the Pasig to the relative safety of the American controlled north bank, and crude bridges were already under construction.
The blasted ruins of a side street - US National Archives
Another issue was becoming apparent as well, already flagrantly disregarding most of the rules of war, the Japanese continued to descend into depravity. One incident was reported by a Private Pahr of the 37th Infantry, who saw a civilian walking down the street with a rifle. He disregarded it, as seeing civilians armed for self defense was not unheard of, and of course guerillas were ubiquitous in the fighting for the city. This complacency almost cost him his life when a bullet barely missed him, the “civilian” being in actuality a Japanese soldier. Another American was able to quickly dispatch him, but this would not be the only time an incident of this nature occurs during the Battle of Manila.
GIs guard Japanese soldiers captured in civilian clothes - US National Archives
In the Japanese controlled city center, the carnage continued. At La Concordia College, just ahead of the advancing Americans in Paco, almost 2,000 refugees had sought shelter in the strong buildings. The Japanese in turn began to direct artillery fire from their batteries at the Paco Parish Church against the college at 1430, in one of many instances of taking resources away from the military objective of shelling the American troops to deliberately target civilians. By nightfall the college was little more than a ruin, killing some 600.
At Admiral Iwabuchi’s headquarters in Fort Santiago, the carnage started yesterday continued. Prisoners, packed into cells so tightly that they could not even fall when they lost consciousness or expired, were burned alive with gasoline in some cases, and in others the Japanese rolled grenades into the packed mass with sadistic pleasure.
Even the diplomats of Japan’s allies were not safe. Today the Japanese entered the embassy of Franco’s Spain and captured the ambassador, who had even draped himself in the Spanish flag to emphasize his status. The protesting diplomat was dragged into the street and shot, his body left in the gutter, still clad in his nation’s colors. A similar fate awaited the Vichy French legation, with their ambassador tortured by Iwabuchi’s men before being executed in his office.
Filipino guerillas carry a captured Japanese soldier to American lines tied to a pole - US National Archives
US Flags - Represent US and Filipino positions, division emblems added as needed.
IJN Flags - Represent known Major Japanese positions
White Dots - Represent notable civilian interactions with Japanese today
Black “X” - Represent major war crimes committed today