Full Description
A detailed and fascinating exploration of the 1945 US combined land, naval and air operation to retake Corregidor and the other Japanese-held islands in Manila Bay from a determined and well-entrenched enemy.
The islands guarding the entrance to Manila Bay, Luzon, had been seized by the Japanese in May 1942. In February 1945, US forces were back, and closed in on Manila from the north and south against heavy Japanese resistance. A joint US parachute and amphibious assault was planned to capture the largest island Corregidor, using the much-reinforced 503rd PRCT and elements of the 24th Infantry Division and 2nd Engineer Special Brigade. Facing them were over 6,000 Japanese troops recently evacuated from Bataan, where they had been cut off by advancing US forces. General MacArthur desired the island, once a symbol of American defiance, to be liberated with a flourish.
This superbly illustrated work examines the ambitious US assault on Corregidor, which witnessed the most dangerous and risky parachute drop in airborne history, and vicious, desperate fighting by the defenders as they sought to prevent American troops from taking the island. It also covers the recapture of other islands defending Manila Bay: El Fraile/Fort Drum, Caballo, and Carabao.
Contents
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN
CHRONOLOGY
OPPOSING COMMANDERS
United States
Japan
OPPOSING FORCES
United States
Japan
Orders of Battle
OPPOSING PLANS
United States
Japan
THE CAMPAIGN
Preliminary operations: January 23-February 15, 1945
L-Day on Corregidor: February 16, 1945
Consolidation on Corregidor: February 17-20, 1945
Mop-up on Corregidor: February 21-28, 1945
Taking the outlying islands: March 3-April 16, 1945
AFTERMATH
THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY
FURTHER READING
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
INDEX
