Tuesday, February 6
MacArthur Declares Manila Secure
GIs walk down Rizal Avenue - US National Archives
As the battle entered its fourth day, fighting continued north of the Pasig, but Japanese resistance there was beginning to crumble. US troops were pushing toward the river, and aside from the fortified edifice of the Far Eastern University, the brutal street battle was coming to a close in the districts north of the river. Regardless of this progress, the fires still raged, the destruction of the northern districts was substantial, and the Japanese remained firmly in control of the city beyond the Pasig.
US 37mm anti-tank guns in position in northern Manila - US National Archives
Despite the true state of affairs in the city, General MacArthur, ever the press hound, had reached the end of his tether. With the northern districts essentially secured, he gave a press conference, announcing the capture of manila.
“Our forces are rapidly clearing the enemy from Manila, their complete destruction is imminent. The fall of Manila was the end of one great phase of the Pacific struggle and set the stage for another. We shall not rest until our enemy is completely overthrown. With Australia saved, the Philippines liberated and the ultimate redemption of the East Indies and Malaya thereby made a certainty, our motto becomes ‘On to Tokyo’.”
The response to this statement was mixed. The press corps that trailed MacArthur eagerly sent the statement to their editors, running lines like the Newsweek’s “Manila fell to MacArthur like a ripened plum!” and the Washington Post’s report of how it was “a masterpiece of military planning and execution”, and “given the far reaching psychological and strategic importance of Manila, it is nothing less than astounding that the Japanese did not make more of a fight for it than they did”.
For those actually in the city, the news seemed like a slap in the face. As the city burned and the evidence of Japanese atrocities mounted, let alone the fact that the largest Japanese force remained in the city center, the praise seemed hollow. General Griswold, commanding the XIV Corps tasked with taking the city, reported later:
“Why does he do this? The man is publicity crazy! When soldiers are dying and being wounded, it doesn’t make for their morale to know that the thing they are doing has been officially announced as finished.”
US troops approach a barricade on a bridge - US National Archives
The plume of smoke rising from the city was by now visible from fifty miles away, as was the hellish red glow in the night. This was reported by General Eichelberger, whose 11th Airborne paratroopers were still fighting to break the Genko Line at Nichols Field. The paratroopers encounter great difficulty, as the huge revetments that housed aircraft in happier times have been turned into fortresses, and the Japanese were using the US 90mm AA guns left over from the fall of Manila in 1942 against them, with the airbursting flak shells being fired to detonate over the heads of the Americans, showering them with deadly shrapnel. The fighting here would continue through the night.
In one notable incident, 11th Airborne Private George Canales was involved in a bitter fight over a pair of houses near the Manila Polo Club, where he was able to hold his position almost single handedly by picking off charging Japanese with his M1 rifle, killing 22 before switching to his radio and directing artillery that broke a major Japanese counterattack. As a result, a planned flanking move north of Nichols Field was saved.
Looters strip the Central Hotel - US National Archives
For the civilians, the Japanese continued to escalate their campaign of terror against them. The inferno that raged in the city was spreading, and more and more civilians were meeting terrible fates at the hands of Admiral Iwabuchi’s troops. In the Intramuros, still sealed by the Japanese, civilians clustered in the Manila Cathedral had spent the night inside under guard, and today all males over the age of 14 are ordered to assemble before being marched out to Fort Santiago. Almost 1,000 disappear past the main gate to an uncertain fate, as the clouds of black smoke issuing from the dying city block the light of the sun.
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
Medal of Honor - Approximate location of CMH action