Monday, 19 February
The Americans are Stopped at the Edge of Luneta
A sherman tank burns after having its turret blasted off by Japanese fire during the assault on the High Commissioner’s Residence
US National Archives
Just before noon today the cavalry units in the city, now transferred temporarily to the 37th Infantry Division’s command, began their assault up Dewey Boulevard, their objective being the US High Commissioner’s Office at the intersection of Dewey and Isaac Peral Street. As they approach the building the lead tanks are stopped by a barrage of heavy fire from the building, including more emplaced anti-aircraft weapons, with the Japanese also positioned in the adjacent Elks Lodge and Army Navy Club. The fighting was fierce, and by dusk the Americans had only pushed as far as Padre Faura Street, still four blocks from the open area of Luneta.
An GI takes careful aim at Japanese near the Central Post Office
US National Archives
As this happened, the pincer of the 37th Infantry’s main force continued in their bitter fight to penetrate the government district. In the north the Police Station, City Hall and Post Office remained defiant, while to the south the fighting on the campus of the University of the Philippines continued as well. The battle there was a vicious room by room fight, interspersed with occasional banzai charges. Today American troops pushed toward Rizal Hall, the main building of the campus, but were unable to effect entry as the Japanese fortifications on the structure proved too much for the troops to crack so quickly. Even as this fight continued a gradual process of replacing the 37th Infantry at the university with the 1st Cavalry was underway, in order to free up the infantry for the attacks in the north.
The Japanese counterattacks, occurring intermittently for the last few nights, finally ran out of steam and withdrew today, after 650 of their men were killed. General Yokoyama had abandoned Manila to its fate, although he did again order Admiral Iwabuchi to exert every effort to withdraw from the city, even as the Americans squeezed him into a small pocket in Ermita and Intramuros. The proposal was for the MNDF to attempt send small units to exfiltrate the city under cover of darkness, a strategy that had worked to an extent at Fort McKinley, although that position was much closer to friendly lines.
A paratrooper aims a bazooka on Corregidor
US National Archives
On Corregidor, the battle for the western batteries was drawing down, the banzai charges of the previous night loosing momentum as the Japanese casualties mounted. In another area, as a concealed ammunition dump was overrun the Japanese destroyed it, killing several American paratroopers who were in the vicinity. Just after dawn another counterattack was launched by the Japanese troops in Cheney Ravine, pushing up the hill at 0600 and driving the paratroopers as far back as the abandoned barracks buildings where they had landed days prior, but by 0800 the counterattack was falling apart due to high casualties. The Americans drove them back into the ravine and engaged them from the high ground, destroying the bulk of the 400 man Japanese force. Following operations were intended to mop up the small pockets of fanatical resistance on the surface of the island, as the last major Japanese counterattack on the island had been subdued. Today the Americans had lost 30 men killed to approximately 500 Japanese.
An undertaker points to the air raid shelter under Plaza Roma during investigations after the battle - US National Archives
Inside the Intramuros, the Japanese knew it was only a matter of time before the Americans penetrated their final bastion of defense, and set about liquidating the last pockets of civilians in the Walled City. At the Palacio del Gobernador, the Japanese slaughtered 142 civilians in the basement of the razed building, and in the adjacent Plaza Roma, before the blasted ruin of the Manila Cathedral, another 125 were herded into the air raid shelter there. Among them are 37 priests, who attempted to comfort the rest as the Japanese shoveled dirt into the entrance, burying them alive. After completing this task, they commenced dropping hand grenades through the ventilation ducts, their laughter ringing through the metal ducts between the explosions.
Manila: 19 February, 1945
US troops are heavily engaged with Japanese troops dug in at the Central Post Office
The same is true of the City Hall
The Police Headquarters likewise remains defiant
Fighting continues in the numerous large buildings of the University of the Philippines
The next strongpoint engaged is the US High Commission building, which controls the approach to Luneta on Dewey Boulevard
Major War Crimes
267 civilians are murdred on Plaza McKinley (now Plaza Roma), either in the Palacio del Gobernador or after being buried alive in an air raid shelter