The Pittsburgh Press (February 9, 1945)
Manila battle in bloodiest and last stage
Yanks storm Japs south of river
MANILA, Philippines (UP) – The Battle of Manila entered its last and bloodiest phase today as U.S. infantrymen swarmed across the Pasig River to root out and destroy the Japs trapped in the southern half of the city.
Doughboys of the 37th “Buckeye” Infantry Division crossed the Pasig in amphibious tanks and on pontoon bridges late Wednesday and quickly established a wide bridgehead on the south bank opposite the Malacanang Palace.
The Japs put up only weak resistance along the river bank, but they stiffened later Wednesday night and fought back savagely with mortar artillery and rifle fire.
Jap position disintegrating
Their position was disintegrating rapidly however and it was believed that all organized opposition would be crushed within a very few days at most. the advancing 37th Infantry Division was deep into the southern half of the capital early today and herding the Jap survivors back slowly into the waiting guns of the 11th Airborne Division moving up from the south.
Radio Tokyo said today that a third column of Americans was grouping troops and tanks at Quezon, 12 miles northeast of the Philippines capital, “in an attempt to make a detour around east to cut off the Japanese garrisons from the main forces in the ridge positions.”
The main body of the 11th Airborne Division was reported slightly north of Nichols Field Wednesday night, but forward elements apparently were well north of the enemy-held air base and cutting into the rear of the Manila garrison.
Flames rage
The desperate street battle was going ahead under a great pall of smoke and flame that blanketed the entire southern half of Manila. The Japs were still burning and wrecking wantonly inside their narrowing pocket and it was feared that the port and a vast area of the central city would be burned to the ground before the last enemy has been killed.
Tokyo broadcasts said Japs have evacuated all but a skeleton force from Manila and indicated that the Philippine presidential palace was among the buildings destroyed by their demolition squads.
The main business section of the city was reduced to blackened ruins, although most of the fires in the northern half had been brought under control and life in that American-held area was returning to normal.
Supplies pour in
Troops, supplies and ammunition were pouring into the city at a terrific rate following the repair of the bridges north of Manila, and there was little likelihood the remaining Japs could hold out for long.
Meanwhile, other U.S. troops practically completed the job of cutting Luzon in two along a line running southeastward from the Lingayen Gulf beachheads 110 miles north of Manila.
Units of the 25th and 6th Infantry Divisions wiped out the last Jap resistance in Munoz, Rizal and Lupao, 75 to 85 miles above the capital, after one of the bitterest fights of the campaign.
Blast 42 Jap tanks
In Munoz alone, the victorious Americans counted 1,242 enemy dead, along with 42 knocked-out tanks, 62 armored cars and 22 guns. The armored losses raised to more than 200 the number of Jap tanks destroyed on Luzon amounting to about two-thirds of the tank strength of the Jap 2nd Armored Division.
That was the only armored division the Japs had on the island, and Gen. MacArthur’s communiqué asserted that its remaining elements are now so scattered that they are no longer an effective fighting force.
Corregidor was bombed again by U.S. heavies on Tuesday, while other raiders hit enemy supply dumps at Divilacan Bay, on the northeast coast of Luzon.
Strong formations struck heavily at the Jap Fabrica Air Base on Negros Island in the central Philippines, causing widespread damage and starting fires that raged out of control for seven hours. Fabrice Airfield was believed to have been the source of repeated Jap raids on U.S. positions on Leyte Island.