In the early months of 1942, the Empire of Japan executed a swift and successful invasion, conquering the entirety of the Philippines and dealing a significant blow to Allied morale in the Pacific. For over two years, the archipelago remained under Japanese occupation. The strategic tide began to shift dramatically on October 20, 1944, when Allied forces, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, launched a daring amphibious assault on the island of Leyte. This operation marked the beginning of a concerted campaign to liberate the Philippines, involving immense strategic planning and the coordination of multinational troops, ships, and aircraft. The resulting Allied victory at Leyte set the stage for the next, and arguably most crucial, phase of the campaign: the battle for Luzon. 

Right: A line of Coast Guard landing barges, sweeping through the waters of Lingayen Gulf, carries the first wave of invaders to the beaches of Luzon, after a terrific naval bombardment of Japanese shore positions on Jan. 9, 1945.

The Battle of Luzon, waged from January 9 to August 15, 1945, was a monumental military undertaking by the Allied forces—primarily the United States and its Philippine commonwealth—against the entrenched forces of Imperial Japan. The campaign would ultimately result in a decisive Allied victory, serving as another major turning point in the Pacific Theater of Operations and paving the way for the final assault on the Japanese home islands. 

The Opposing Forces: Commanders and Strategy

The Allied campaign was orchestrated by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area. Fulfilling his famous promise, "I shall return," MacArthur's leadership was characterized by audacity and a clear strategic vision. His primary objective was the capture of Luzon, particularly the capital city of Manila with its vital port and airbases, which were essential for supporting future military operations. 

Under MacArthur's overall command, the ground invasion was spearheaded by the U.S. Sixth Army, led by the methodical and cautious General Walter Krueger. The Sixth Army comprised two main corps: the I Corps under General Innis P. Swift, and the XIV Corps under General Oscar Griswold. These corps encompassed several battle-hardened divisions, including the 1st Cavalry Division, the 37th Infantry Division, and the 11th Airborne Division, each destined to play a pivotal role. This massive ground force was supported by an equally formidable naval and air contingent. Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's U.S. Seventh Fleet provided the naval power, a flotilla of nearly 800 ships ranging from battleships and cruisers to destroyers and landing craft. In the skies, the Far East Air Forces, commanded by General George Kenney, were tasked with neutralizing Japanese airfields, disrupting enemy supply lines, and providing close air support for the advancing ground troops. 

Facing this Allied juggernaut was the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army, commanded by General Tomoyuki Yamashita, a formidable strategist known as the "Tiger of Malaya." Recognizing the overwhelming superiority of the Allied forces in firepower and numbers, Yamashita devised a strategy of protracted defense. His plan was not to defeat the Americans on the beaches but to draw them into the rugged, mountainous interior of Luzon, particularly in the north, and engage them in a costly war of attrition to delay the Allied timetable. 

To execute this strategy, Yamashita divided his approximately 262,000 troops into three main defensive groups:

1. Shobu Group: The largest force, numbering around 152,000 men, was commanded by Yamashita himself. This group was tasked with the primary defense of the mountainous terrain of northern Luzon.

1. Kembu Group: A force of about 30,000 troops positioned in central Luzon, responsible for defending key installations, including the critical Clark Air Base and its surrounding airfields.

1. Shimbu Group: Comprising roughly 80,000 soldiers, this group was stationed in southern Luzon, assigned to defend Manila and its environs.

A critical deviation from Yamashita's strategic plan would prove catastrophic. He had ordered his forces to abandon Manila, deeming the flat, urban terrain indefensible and wishing to spare the civilian population from the ravages of a pitched battle. However, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, commander of the naval forces in Manila, defied this order. With approximately 16,000 sailors and marines under his command, Iwabuchi resolved to defend Manila to the death, turning the "Pearl of the Orient" into a fortified deathtrap. 

The Invasion of Lingayen Gulf

The Battle of Luzon commenced on January 9, 1945, with Operation Mike I: the amphibious landing of the U.S. Sixth Army on the shores of Lingayen Gulf. The sheer scale of the invasion force was staggering. The Allied armada transported approximately 175,000 troops who would land across a 20-mile beachhead. As the fleet approached, it was met with ferocious opposition, not from coastal batteries, but from the air. Japanese kamikaze aircraft mounted a desperate and deadly assault on the Allied ships. 

Right: The battleships Pennsylvania and Colorado lead three cruisers into Lingayen Gulf for the pre-assault bombardment of Japanese shore positions.

The "divine wind" attacks inflicted significant losses. In the days leading up to and during the initial landings, these suicide attacks damaged or sank over 47 ships. A particularly devastating blow was the destruction of the escort carrier USS Ommaney Bay, which was hit by a twin-engine kamikaze and consumed by fire, eventually being scuttled by an American destroyer. Despite these heavy losses at sea, the landings themselves proceeded with less resistance on the ground than anticipated. By the end of S-Day, General Krueger’s Sixth Army had successfully established a deep and secure beachhead, with 68,000 troops ashore. 

Following Yamashita's strategy, the bulk of Japanese forces had withdrawn from the coast, allowing the Americans to land but preparing to engage them further inland. The Allied forces immediately began their two-pronged advance. General Griswold's XIV Corps was ordered to push south towards Manila, while General Swift's I Corps moved eastward to secure the flank of the advance and block Japanese forces from moving down from the northern mountains.

 The Drive South: Clark Air Base and the Race to Manila

The initial advance of the XIV Corps southward from Lingayen Gulf encountered only sporadic resistance. However, the fight intensified dramatically as the Americans approached the heavily fortified Kembu Group defenses around Clark Air Base. The battle for this strategic complex began on January 23. Japanese forces, utilizing an extensive network of tunnels, caves, and fortified positions, mounted a fierce defense that lasted for the remainder of the month. The fighting was intense, but the superior firepower and coordination of the U.S. forces eventually prevailed, securing the vital airfield which would become a key staging area for subsequent operations.

While the XIV Corps was battling for Clark Field, MacArthur grew impatient with the measured pace of Krueger's advance. Eager to liberate Manila and the thousands of Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees held there, MacArthur took a calculated risk. He moved his advanced headquarters closer to the front lines than his own army commander, General Krueger, and personally ordered Major General Verne D. Mudge, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, to spearhead a "flying column" in a rapid, daring dash to Manila. 

Right: Luzon, Philippines, Luzon, Philippines, 1945. U.S. Army infantry squad advancing with Sherman tank armored support. Source: U.S. National Archives, Public Domain. Click to enlarge.

Simultaneously, MacArthur executed a series of maneuvers to encircle the capital. On January 15, a second amphibious landing was conducted at Nasugbu Bay, about 45 miles southwest of Manila, by elements of the Eighth Army. Then, on January 31, two regiments of Major General Joseph Swing's 11th Airborne Division executed a combined airborne and amphibious assault south of the city, capturing a key bridge and advancing northwards. These operations effectively created a pincer movement, cutting off Japanese escape routes from Manila and tightening the noose around the city. 

On the evening of February 3, 1945, the lead elements of the 1st Cavalry Division reached the northern outskirts of Manila. After capturing the crucial bridge across the Tullahan River, they drove into the city, liberating the 3,700 internees at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. The race to Manila was won, but the battle for the city had just begun. 

The Battle for Manila: Urban Warfare and Unspeakable Atrocities

The battle for Manila, which raged from February 3 to March 3, 1945, stands as one of the most brutal and destructive urban battles of the Second World War. Admiral Iwabuchi's decision to defy Yamashita and make a final stand turned the city into a killing field. His forces methodically transformed government buildings, schools, and residential blocks into fortified strongpoints. They destroyed bridges, erected barricades, and laid mines to impede the American advance. Japanese snipers hid in rubble, and suicide squads lurked in the city's extensive sewer system, ready to ambush advancing troops. 

The fighting devolved into a grim, house-by-house, street-by-street struggle. The 1st Cavalry Division advanced from the north, the 37th Infantry Division pushed in from the east, and the 11th Airborne Division fought its way up from the south. By February 11, the 11th Airborne had captured the last of the Japanese outer defenses, completing the encirclement of the city. 

MacArthur, acutely aware of the vast civilian population trapped in the city, placed significant restrictions on the use of air strikes and heavy artillery to minimize civilian casualties. He placed humanitarian concerns high on his list of priorities, even if it meant a slower, more dangerous fight for his soldiers. Despite these orders, the intensity of Japanese resistance, particularly from fortified concrete buildings, often necessitated the use of direct-fire artillery and tank destroyers to reduce enemy strongpoints. 

Right: Luzon, Philippines, 23 March 1945. A squad leader points out a suspected Japanese position at edge of Baleta Pass, near Baguio, Luzon, where troops of the 25th Infantry. Division were in fierce combat with the enemy. Source: Wikipedia. Public Domain. Click to enlarge.

The military struggle was horrifically compounded by the systematic brutality of the Japanese forces against the Filipino civilian population. As the battle turned against them, Iwabuchi's troops unleashed a wave of terror known as the Manila Massacre. Over the course of the month-long battle, Japanese soldiers murdered, tortured, and brutalized countless non-combatants. Men, women, and children were bayoneted, shot, and herded into buildings that were then set ablaze. The massacre resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 Filipino civilians, a staggering tragedy born from the desperation and fanaticism of the defenders. 

By March 3, after a month of relentless and savage fighting, the last pockets of Japanese resistance were eliminated. The Battle for Manila was over. The city was liberated, but it was a hollow victory. The "Pearl of the Orient" lay in ruins, a scene of almost indescribable destruction, second only to Warsaw in terms of devastation among Allied capitals during the war. 

Aftermath and Significance

While Manila was being liberated, the broader campaign for Luzon continued. General Swift's I Corps engaged in a long, grueling fight against Yamashita's Shobu Group in the mountains of northern Luzon. This difficult campaign lasted for months, a testament to the tenacity of the Japanese defenders and the harshness of the terrain. The fighting on Luzon would not officially cease until the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945. The Battle of Luzon was an overwhelming victory for the Allies, but it came at a high cost. The U.S. Sixth Army suffered over 38,000 casualties, including more than 8,000 killed. Japanese losses were catastrophic, with over 200,000 soldiers killed and only a small fraction taken prisoner. For the Filipino people, the cost was immeasurable, with the civilian death toll from the fighting and the Manila Massacre exceeding 100,000. 

Strategically, the liberation of Luzon was a decisive blow that effectively neutralized Japanese military power in the Philippines. It deprived Japan of a critical source of resources and a strategic foothold in Southeast Asia. The capture of Manila's port and the airfields on Luzon provided the Allies with a vital staging area for the planned invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall. The campaign was a showcase of effective combined arms operations, demonstrating the critical interplay of ground, naval, and air power in modern warfare. General MacArthur's leadership, blending strategic risk-taking with a genuine concern for the civilian population, was instrumental in the campaign's success and fulfilled his deeply personal commitment to the people of the Philippines. The hard-won victory in the Battle of Luzon broke the back of the Japanese occupation and marked a crucial step on the long road to final victory in the Pacific.

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