Thursday, 22 February
The Way is Open to the Intramuros
American wounded are evacuated to jeeps after securing the City Hall, which stands in ruins in the background
US National Archives
The barrage on the Manila City Hall continued today as the building was pummeled at point blank range, including 145 direct hits from the 155mm long toms. US infantry were able to enter the building for a third time at 0900, and this time the Japanese were not able to push them back out. After a long fight with flamethrowers and close quarters weapons the building was secured by 1500, save for a small group of Japanese sailors who had locked themselves in a small room and refused to surrender. The Americans drilled holes in the roof large enough for flamethrower nozzles and ended that quickly, ending the battle for the city hall leaving 206 Japanese dead.
Shifting to the north, the Americans were finally able to enter the Central Post Office, having been held up there for the past three days.
The blasted ruin of the Central Post Office
US National Archives
The concrete building was segmented within by more concrete walls, and had proven extremely resilient even against the heaviest of American guns, with the Japanese having further fortified it with sandbags and machine guns in the windows, stringing barbed wire through the main hall, and even hoisting a field gun onto the second floor to engage the approaching US troops. Despite these strong defenses, however, the Japanese had been worn down by the last few days, and when the Americans entered the building they were quickly either killed or driven into the basement. Although it would not be secure until tomorrow, the strongpoint in the building had been effectively reduced.
The two main obstacles to an assault on the eastern wall of Intramuros overland had now been overcome, and the shelling that had continued for days against the Walled City shifted in accordance with a new order for the guns north of the Pasig, assigning specific sections of the wall for precision barrages intended to open routes for troops to enter the stronghold. The planned assault on the Intramuros, with troops attacking from the City Hall and Post Office joined by more crossing the Pasig in assault boats, was scheduled for tomorrow.
The Intramuros is obscured by smoke from the American barrage
US National Archives
To the south, the battle for the University of the Philippines continued. As the fight for Rizal Hall wore on, the Americans also encountered MNDF troops in the University Hall, where a series of caves had been dug from the basements and proved impossible to overcome, even with flamethrowers. The Americans responded by pouring gasoline into the tunnels and igniting it, burning out the defenders. In Rizal Hall, the room by room fighting continued through the day, with the Japanese even mounting a counterattack inside at 2200.
In a darker incident, cavalryman Sergeant Henry Clark was captured by the Japanese during the fighting, and after prolonged torture his body was mutilated and left for his comrades to find.
The blasted wreck of the Manila Hotel’s grand staircase
US National Archives
At the southern corner of Intramuros, the fighting continued to rage in the Manila Hotel. The Americans had secured part of the building the day before, but the Japanese fought as hard for the rest as they did everywhere else in the city. A brutal scene of hand to hand combat was moving through the hallways and once opulent suits of the hotel, as the Japanese had made fortified positions inside the building. As the fighting took place, General MacArthur’s penthouse on the top floor burst into flame, and was gutted. The General’s pre-war home, with all his possessions, had been completely destroyed.
Smoke issues from the mouth of the Malinta Tunnel
US National Archives
On Corregidor a massive explosion had rocked Malinta Hill in the night, sending fire and debris blasting from the Malinta Tunnel mouth and opening fissures in the hill above. Several GIs were buried alive in rockslides that occurred around the hill as well from the earth shaking blasts. Some Japanese troops attempted to fight their way out of the tunnel and move to join the other Japanese forces on Wheeler Point, but most were killed by the Americans in the ensuing fight during the day.
The stage was set now for the final stage of the Battle of Manila. The Americans had overcome three of the last strongpoints the Japanese controlled, and corralled Admiral Iwabuchi’s Manila Naval Defense Force into an area of approximately one square mile. To quote Triumph in the Philippines, the admiral had made his bed, and now he would die in it.
Manila: 22 February, 1045
Estero de Binondo - 37th Infantry Divison troops are massing here with assault boats for an attack on Intramuros across the Pasig tomorrow
Central Post Office - The massive edifice along the Pasig finally fell today to the Americans
City Hall - This structure, with its commanding tower, likewise was taken by US troops today
University of the Philippines - Even as the Japanese here show signs of weakening, they remainin control of parts of the campus
Manila Hotel - Today as the fighting continues for the building the Japanese set fire to MacArthur’s penthouse, in full view of the General watching from Luneta.