On this day May 6, 1942: The fall of Corregidor

Good evening everybody, I'm back today with a short post on an auspicious event in Second World War history: the fall of Corregidor.

Corregidor Island in 1942. Credit: Corregidor.org

Corregidor Island lies at the entrance to Manila Bay on the Philippines' largest island of Luzon. For centuries, the island has been fortified with coastal batteries to protect the seaborne approaches to Manila, and the city itself. Remanants of the Spanish and American colonial eras are everywhere here, alongside those of the Philippine military. The island is one of the Philippines busiest tourist attractions.

On May 5 and 6th 1942, Allied soldiers who had fallen back to the island during the Bataan Campaign and the fall of Manila finally capitulated to the Japanese, who had been bombarding the island with artillery and airstrikes from 9th April. Their commander, General Douglas MacArthur, had been ordered by President Roosevelt to evacuate via seaplane to Mindanao and then Australia on the 12th April. 11,500 Allied men and women were evacuated from Corregidor to prison camps on the mainland. The island was retaken in February 1945.

Corregidor is one of many locations listed on the Pacific History Guide Philippines page, and the PHG google map has more than two dozen sites marked out. If you're traveling to the Philippines, add this to your list, you won't be disappointed.

Japanese map of Corregidor, indicating their landings and operations there, on 6-7 May 1942. Numbers indicate day and hour. Inset shows army bombers over the island before its surrender. Copied from the Japanese book: "Philippine Expeditionary Force," published in 1943. Credit: Naval History and Heritage Command