The Battle of Manila: 7 February, 1945 — I Like to Hear Myself Talk History

Crossing the Pasig

**Refugees trudge past Bilibid Prison as they flee the blazing city center**
*US National Archives*

After the events of February 5, the only Japanese holdout on the north side of the Pasig was their strongpoint on the campus of the Far Eastern University near Bilibid Prison. The intense fighting around the college, however, had worn down the defenders, and with the end of major resistance elsewhere north of the Pasig, the Americans increased the pressure further. The fighting would continue through the day.

An aerial view of the devastated city, with Bilibid Prison in the bottom center, and smoke rising from the port and Intramuros. Note also the barricade on Quezon Boulevard (the large street running past the prison to the river)
*US National Archives*

With the burnt ruins of Escolta mostly secured, the Americans turned their attention to the other side of the Pasig. General Griswold, commander of the XIV Corps, issued orders this morning for the 37th Infantry to cross the Pasig and secure the power plant on Provisor Island, in keeping with his hope of preventing the Japanese from destroying the water and power supplies to the city. Correspondingly, the 1st Cavalry was ordered to move to the east and secure the reservoirs.

**US infantry board their assault boats to cross the Pasig from Malacañang Palace**
*US National Archives*

At 1515 in the afternoon GIs of the 148th Infantry Regiment boarded assault boats at Malacañang Palace and began to paddle across the Pasig, encountering no resistance. The first wave came ashore at the Malacañang Gardens, but their uneventful crossing would prove to be the exception today, as the 1st Naval Battalion of the MNDF rushed to counterattack, and quickly pinned down the Americans, forcing the remaining waves to cross the river under withering fire. According to witnesses, the men were forced to frantically paddle their sinking boats across the river, using the butts of their rifles after their paddles were shot away by the Japanese on the southern bank.

**Infantry move up with an LVT to join the crossing of the Pasig**
*US National Archives*

As the GIs attempted to push out of the Gardens, the Japanese began to engage them with rocket artillery. These were relatively inaccurate concussion weapons available in both 200mm and 447mm varieties. Despite the nerve wracking shriek of these weapons in use, they caused relatively few casualties. The Americans would take the rest of the day to slog their way out of the Malacañang Gardens to move on their objectives of securing the Paco area. This is considered a major step to attacking the power station on Provisor Island, now considered to be the most pressing objective of this stage of battle.

Elsewhere north of the river, the Japanese were intensifying their bombardment of the city, with a particular focus on the University of Santo Tomas, which has by now been turned into a makeshift hospital as well as staging area of the US assault on the city center. A total of twenty-two former inmates and medical staff are killed today by the shelling. In addition, the 29th Evacuation Hospital today was forced to relocate from the George Washington Elementary School to the Legarda Elementary School due to massive overcrowding with both wounded soldiers and civilians, as the tidal wave of refugees only increased as the onslaught intensified.

**The Ayala Bridge over the Pasig, reduced to a twisted wreck by the Japanese**
*US National Archives*

In the south, the 11th Airborne continued its assault on the Genko Line, slowly but surely pushing onto Nichols Field against heavy resistance, while elements of the division also slowly advanced to flank the field from the north, bogged down in heavy street fighting around the Manila Polo Club. The airbursting flak shells were a constant threat, and it seemed there was not a single roof that was not pocked by the shrapnel they caused, and they joined in with the scars of bullets on the walls of the buildings. Despite all this, today they reached Calle Libertad and began to move substantial forces eastward toward the heart of the Genko Line.

**The first Japanese soldiers captured in uniform are brought to Bilibid Prison**
*US National Archives*

Also today, General MacArthur and his ever-present press corps embarked on a tour of the city, beginning with the presentation to the general of his old Cadillac, captured by the Japanese in 1942 and now liberated by the 1st Cavalry. They then moved on to Bilibid Prison, where he came face to face with some of the men he had left behind on Bataan three years prior, the evacuated prisoners having been returned now the fires had subsided. The reunion was one of mixed emotions, with MacArthur visibly moved by the encounter, as were some of the POWs. Others, however, remained bitter about the events of 1942, and looked upon “Dugout Doug” with scorn and even contempt. Regardless, the effect on the man himself was notable, as he appeared visibly humbled when confronted with the sight of his men, and strode among them, tears in his eyes and his voice hoarse when he addressed them.

**General MacArthur enters Bilibid Prison**
*US National Archives*

After leaving Bilibid, MacArthur and his group moved on to Santo Tomas, where the welcome was one of universal jubilation. The internees cheered and wept, as the general whose promise of return had been their only hope during the dark years of imprisonment finally appeared in their midst. They charged out of the buildings, swarming him in their excitement. Here he encountered many he knew from the happier days of Manila’s social life before the war, although he sometimes had difficulty recognizing their wasted forms. After a tour of the camp, his group continued on, even as the shells continued to land in and around the campus.

**MacArthur visits Santo Tomas, barely visible in the crowd**
*US National Archives*

MacArthur’s last stop was the Malacañang Palace, and after a dangerous journey down streets under Japanese shellfire and not entirely cleared of snipers, he arrived, pulling through the gates past a wrecked truck filled with dead Japanese soldiers. He was greeted by troops in formation, before going up to the office of the late President Manuel Quezon, where he stopped for a moment of reflection. Afterward he went to the balcony overlooking the Pasig, which the troops were to cross later that afternoon. Even now, he believed that the battle was essentially over, taking the relative quiet this morning as a sign that the battle north of the river represented all the Japanese could muster.

South of the river, the Japanese showed no signs of relenting in their campaign of terror against the civilian population. They moved some troops from their strongpoint in the University of the Philippines into the adjacent Philippine General Hospital, where they set about fortifying it while intending to use the patients and refugees there as human shields. A few blocks to the south they also entered San Juan de Dios Hospital, ostentatiously to find a guerilla that was spotting American artillery, with the 11th Airborne only a few blocks away. They find nothing, but seal off the entrances and post guards, trapping the staff and their patients inside. Later in the day, they order the hospital evacuated as they set fire to the building, the patients in too poor condition to be quickly moved condemned to burn with the building.

Also in the south, refugees had been gathering inside the De La Salle College campus near Rizal Stadium, and today the Japanese came and took two of the Catholic brothers there away. They also order the remaining refugees to keep back from the windows and not to venture out of the building. The brothers were never seen again.

**The massive plume of smoke rising from Manila, as seen from several miles outside the city**
*US National Archives*

In the Intramuros, the Japanese come to the San Agustin Church to repeat the collection of males over 14 they had performed the day before, marching them off to Fort Santiago. They also set fire to the San Agustin Convent for good measure, along with several other structures. As darkness falls, the remaining women and children in the Manila Cathedral and San Augustin Church are released into the blazing streets, and the Cathedral is demolished by Japanese troops shortly afterward. In Fort Santiago, the Japanese set about murdering their captives, flooding one of the cellblocks with gasoline and igniting it, a report callously reporting 150 killed in this first night of terror in the old fort.

“The Americans who have penetrated into Manila have about 1,000 troops, and there are several thousand Filipino guerrillas. Even women and children have become guerrillas. All people on the battlefield with the exception of Japanese military personnel, Japanese civilians, Special Construction Units, will be put to death.”

— General Order issued by Admiral Iwabuchi (Connaughton, p.108)

Today also, the Americans were moving through the secured areas north of the river, and disturbing reports were coming in. Some US troops had entered the deserted Dy Pac lumberyard and discovered the grisly remains of the massacre that had transpired there days prior, and as the Japanese strongpoint in the Chinese Cemetery was finally reduced today documents were recovered from a Japanese command post, including the order from Admiral Iwabuchi quoted above. The evil intent of the Japanese in their operations in Manila were becoming increasingly clear.

Wednesday, 7 February

Crossing the Pasig

Thursday, 8 February

Tuesday, 6 February

I Like to Hear Myself Talk History