Jap bayonets slay civilians
Priest feigns death to survive in Manila
By Frank Hewlett, United Press staff writer
MANILA, Philippines – A thrice-bayonetted priest, who feigned death to escape, told from a hospital cot today how Jap soldiers slaughtered civilians at La Salle University February 12.
The story of Father Francis Cosgrave, superior of the Redemptorist Order in Manila, was one of many reported instances of mass slayings of civilians caught in Manila no-man’s-land in the last 10 days.
Father Cosgrave, several members of his order and a number of prominent Spanish residents of Manila had sought refuge at the university when they suddenly were visited by a Jap officer and 20 soldiers.
Survives three wounds
He said the soldiers wantonly began bayonetting the group. He survived despite three wounds, including one in which a bayonet was plunged into the left side of his chest and came out his back.
More than 170 persons in the room, including several Christian Fathers, met a worse fate, he said.
Father Cosgrave said:
The Japanese soldiers returned later in the afternoon. They laughed at the sight of bodies in a heap and kicked them. They tried to violate the wounded women – even young girls.
Father Cosgrave pretended death until the Japs finally went away.
Goes to chapel
Shortly before midnight, the priest decided that if he was going to die, he would die on his feet. He crawled and dragged himself upstairs to a chapel and there, one by one, about 10 other survivors joined him.
They watched fearfully as the Japs attempted to set fire to the building. Eventually American machine-guns and tanks forced the Japs to withdraw.
The next morning, the survivors heard the welcome voices of Americans and within a few hours they all were under treatment and recovering from their ordeal.