On 16 February 1945 American paratroopers jumped onto Corregidor, the island fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, while an infantry battalion came ashore on its beaches below. The island had fallen to Japan in May 1942, and for the Americans its return carried a heavy symbolic weight. The drop onto the cramped high ground called Topside took the defenders by surprise, but the garrison proved many times larger than American planners had believed. Ten days of fighting in ruins, ravines and tunnels followed before organized resistance ended on 26 February.
Back to the Rock
Corregidor, nicknamed the Rock, had been the last American stronghold in the Philippines in 1942. Its garrison surrendered on 6 May 1942, four weeks after the fall of Bataan, a story told in our article on the 1942 Battle of Corregidor. The fight for Manila itself in February 1945 is described in our article on the Battle of Manila. As long as the Japanese held Corregidor they could harass Allied shipping in Manila Bay, and the Americans had to take it to secure the bay.1
Planners chose a combined attack. The 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team, commanded by George M. Jones, would drop onto Topside, the high western part of the island, while the reinforced 3rd Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment landed by boat at Bottomside, the low waist in the middle. The only open ground on Topside was a small parade ground and a golf course among ruined barracks, and planners bet that the Japanese would never expect a parachute drop there. According to the U.S. Army's official history, intelligence estimated the garrison at only 850 men.2
The jump onto Topside
After weeks of air attacks and a naval bombardment, the C-47 transports of the 317th Troop Carrier Group came over the island on the morning of 16 February. The first paratrooper landed at 08:33, three minutes behind schedule. The wind was stronger than planned, and many men drifted away from the drop zones, onto ruins, trees and the cliffs; others barely reached the narrow beaches below the bluffs. A second lift jumped in the early afternoon.3
The amphibious force landed later that morning. Mines hit vehicles on the beach and Japanese guns fired on the later waves, but companies of the 34th Infantry quickly seized the top of Malinta Hill. The defenders had prepared for a landing from the sea, not from the air, and the double blow caught them off balance. The official history says the Japanese commander, Navy Captain Akira Itagaki, was killed that morning near an observation post.4
Fighting for the tunnels
The garrison was far larger than expected: the official history counts over 5,000 men, all but 500 of them naval troops. In the night of 18 to 19 February several hundred Japanese charged the paratroopers' positions near Wheeler Point and were driven back with heavy losses.5
Much of the fighting was a slow clearing of caves, bunkers and tunnels. On the night of 21 February a huge explosion shook Malinta Hill as ammunition stored in the tunnels went up, and Japanese troops attacked under cover of the blast. On 26 February the defenders blew up an underground arsenal at Monkey Point, causing heavy casualties on both sides, and organized resistance came to an end that day.6
Losses and the return of MacArthur
The official history puts American losses up to 2 March, including jump injuries, at over 1,000 killed, wounded, injured and missing, and reports about 4,500 Japanese dead counted and 20 captured. A further 200 Japanese were thought to have been killed trying to swim away, and at least 500 more may have been sealed in caves and tunnels.7
On 2 March 1945 General Douglas MacArthur returned to Corregidor, nearly three years after he had left it, and watched the American flag raised again over the island. His long road back to the Philippines is told in our portrait of Douglas MacArthur.8
