The Battle of Corregidor. Although the Japanese had gotten a hold of the Bataan Peninsula, they hadn't gotten their hands on the southern areas of the Philippines to include her in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In order to do that, they had to destroy the main defense of the Philippines which is Corregidor.
For the estimated 2,000 men who had escaped from the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor was a ticket to a more safer place than the one's they had been before since it was heavily fortified. The Rock's Malinta Tunnel Complex had made the garrison felt at ease since the underground tunnel remained unscathed despite of the artillery fire and air raids . In addition, the garrison still received two reasonable meals per day. Corregidor's troops, also, hadn't had much problems with sanitation and hygiene since they had access to clean water, laundry facilities, and showers. Corregidor was truly a safe place for troops to stay for a while. However, Corregidor's troops' relaxation had ended when the Japanese had begun a relentless bombardment in Corregidor on May 1. This bombardment continued on May 5 when the Japanese troops under Major General Kureo Tanaguchi landed to assault the island. On May 6 at 1:30 AM, the Japanese had captured the Battery Denver Tunnel. The 4th Marines tried to recover the tunnel. Eager to fight back out of desperation, Colonel Samuel L. Howard committed his reserves around 4:00 AM. Unfortunately, approximately 500 marines were slowed down by the Japanese snipers which were able to infiltrate the lines. In spite of ammunition shortages, the Japanese soldiers took advantage of their superior numbers and passed through the defenders. Around 9:30 AM, the Japanese had successfully managed to land three tanks on the island which had driven back to the trenches near the entrance to the Malinta Tunnel. With over a 1,000 wounded in the tunnel's hospital, Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright began to contemplate surrender. Wainwright sent emissaries to discuss terms with Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma. Despite planning to surrender only the troops in Corregidor, Homma insisted that he surrender all the remaining Filipino and American forces in the Philippines. Wainwright complied with Homma's orders out of worry for the other soldiers that had already been captured by the Japanese. Although Major General William Sharp complied with Wainwright's order to surrender, some of his men continued to fight as guerrillas. Wainwright was taken into prison in Manchuria and Formosa throughout the war while his men were taken into prison camps as well as used for slave labor in the Japanese Empire. Corregidor remained under the Japanese control until the allied forces freed the island on February 1945. |