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American servicemen called it “The Rock.” An island fortress at the mouth of Manila Harbor, Corregidor guarded the entrance.

And if the Japanese wanted to take full control of Luzon (the Philippine island where Manila city resides) during World War 2, they HAD to take Corregidor.

Image 1. Positioned directly in the middle of Manila Harbor’s entrance, Corregidor was key to control of the harbor and Luzon island.

But the small island–just 4 miles long and roughly 1 mile wide (at its widest point)–wasn’t an easy conquest. Corregidor was home to Fort Mills, a heavily fortified military base. And, at the outbreak of WW2, it housed some 13,000 American and Filipino servicemen and women.

Image 2. Aerial view of Corregidor with the Bataan peninsula 2 miles away in the background, 2005. Courtesy Storm Crypt.
Map of Corregidor island during WW2
Image 3. Tadpole-shaped Corregidor island housed some 13,000 military personnel when WWII began.

Topside’s above-ground military base

Corregidor’s “Topside” and “Middleside” areas included officers’ quarters and enlisted barracks, a movie theater, a couple of schools, numerous gun batteries, underground Army headquarters, a fortified communications center (also underground), and a golf course…for the officers.

Fort Mills on Corregidor island, The Philippines, in 1941
Image 4. Fort Mills on the “Topside” of Corregidor island, about 1941. On the left is the Corregidor movie theater. Officer barracks are on the right. Courtesy Corregidor Historic Foundation.
Movie theater ruins on Corregidor Island, The Philippines, after Japanese WW2 bombings
Image 5. Ruins of the Corregidor movie theater, 2017. Gone with the Wind was the last movie to be shown here. US Coast Guard photo.
Barrack ruins on Corregidor Island, The Philippines, after Japanese WW2 bombings
Image 6. Ruins of barracks on Corregidor, 2017. Buildings in the “Topside” and “Middleside” areas were bombed and destroyed by the Japanese in spring 1942. US Coast Guard image.

Down to bottomside

The island dips down to “Bottomside,” where Navy and other ships docked on both the north and the south sides. The island slopes up again to Malinta Hill.

Image 7. Aerial view of “Bottomside” Corregidor, 1982. “Middleside” is to the left; Malinta Hill rises to the right. Bataan Peninsula is in the background across Manila Harbor. US Army photo.

Malinta Hill’s tunnel-maze military base

Within Malinta Hill is the Malinta Tunnel–a labyrinth-like system of tunnels that cuts, east to west, through the hill. As Japanese bombing of Corregidor island increased in spring 1942, Fort Mills’ headquarters was moved from Topside in to Malinta Tunnel.

Interior of Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor island, The Philippines
Image 8. The main Malinta Tunnel, 2019. The 24′ wide and 18′ high tunnel runs east-to-west through more than 825′ of Malinta Hill. 24 lateral tunnels branch off the main tunnel, although some have caved in. The entrance to the hospital lateral appears on the right. Photo by Lawrence Ruiz.
Map of the Malinta Tunnel system on Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 9. Malinta Tunnel system. The main tunnel runs through Malinta Hill, with several tunnels branching off. The series of tunnels on the upper right makes up the hospital wing. US Army diagram.
East entrance to the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor island, The Philippines
Image 10. Eastern entrance to Malinta Tunnel, 2017. US Coast Guard photo.
American troops on the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 11. American servicemen in Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor island, May 3, 1942. US Army photograph.
Hospital in the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 12. Nurses and other hospital staff in the Malinta Tunnel hospital wing, about 1942. 1,000 Allied troops were in the tunnel’s hospital when the Japanese invaded. US Army Signal Corps photo.

The Japanese invade

Japanese troops landed on Corregidor the night of May 5-6, 1942.

They had laid siege to the island for 4 months, increasing their bombardment in early April once they had taken the Bataan Peninsula. Taking Corregidor was key to the Japanese taking full control of The Philippines in WW2.

Japanese troops land on Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 13. Japanese forces land on Corregidor, 1942. This photo may have been staged after the invasion to be used as Japanese propaganda.

The American and Filipino defenders resisted well. Corregidor was well fortified with numerous batteries equipped with coastal guns, mortars, and anti-aircraft guns. But food and water for the island’s 13,000 personnel were running out. And few American relief ships were able to land.

800 Japanese soldiers made up the first invasion landing, coming ashore between Cavalry Point and North Point (see map above). Rough seas, beaches slick with oil from bombed ships, and intense resistance from Americans and Filipinos, especially the 4th Marines Regiment, led to heavy casualties from the first Japanese troop landings.

Japanese troops invade Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 14. Japanese troops with a flamethrower set fire to a US pillbox on Corregidor, 1942.

Lack of ammunition on both sides led to hand-to-hand fighting. But despite the Allies fierce resistance, the Japanese advanced–south to Monkey Point and west toward Malinta Tunnel.

Japanese tank on Corregidor island, Philippines, during WW2
Image 15. Around 9:30 am on May 6, three Japanese tanks landed on Corregidor. This marked the end of the defenders resistance. The Allies surrendered that afternoon.

The US surrenders

In early afternoon on May 6, 1942, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright sent out the surrender message. He knew the Allies could not hold the island much longer and hoped to spare as many lives as possible. “There is a limit of human endurance,” he radioed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “and that point has long been passed.”

Japanese stage removing US flag on Corregidor island, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 16. In this Japanese propaganda image, Japanese troops stage removing the US flag from Malinta Hill on Corregidor. The Americans actually removed and burned the US flag before surrendering.

At day’s end, 800 Allies had been killed and 1,000 wounded. Alma Salm and some 11,000 other Americans and Filipinos were taken as POWs.

Sadly, these individuals’ test of endurance was just beginning. They would be sent to various prisoner of war camps throughout The Philippines and Asia. Some would spend the next three years in brutal captivity before being liberated. Many, however, would never see freedom again.

Staged surrender of American troops at Corregidor, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 17. Staged Japanese photo of American and Filipino forces surrendering at Malinta Tunnel, 1942.
Staged surrender of American troops at Corregidor, The Philippines, during WW2
Image 18. Captured Japanese photograph of U.S. and Filipino servicemen reenacting their surrender to Japanese forces on Corregidor, 1942. National Archives and Records Administration photo.

What do you think?

I’ve honestly been astounded by the photos I’ve been able to find about the Corregidor military base and invasion. It’s just amazing to me how much WW2 was photographed. And how real these photos make the places and events that Alma Salm described in his memoir.

I’d love to know what you think of these photos. Are you geeking out over them as much as I am? Write a comment below and let me know!

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Sources

  • “Battle of Corregidor,” Wikipedia, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corregidor, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • “Corregidor,” Wikipedia, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor, accessed 1 June 2019.
  • “Fort Mills,” Wikipedia, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Mills, accessed 1 June 2019.
  • “Malinta Tunnel,” Wikipedia, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinta_Tunnel, accessed 1 June 2019.
  • Morton, Louis, “Japanese Plans and American Defenses,” in The War in the Pacific: The Fall of the Philippines (Washington, DC: Center for Military History, 1953), found online at https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/5-2/5-2_29.htm, accessed 2 June 1942.

Images

  • Images 1 and 3: Maps created by Anastasia Harman, 2019.
  • Image 2: Aerial view of Corregidor. Taken by Storm Crypt, October 2005, found online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/storm-crypt/459962586/in/photostream/, accessed 20 May 2019.
  • Image 4: Fort Mills, ca 1941. Courtesy Corregidor Historic Foundation, public domain. Found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3587745/corregidor-fort-mills. Accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 5: Corregidor theater ruins. US Coast Guard Photo, taken by CPO Sarah Muir, public domain, Photo ID: 3587871, VIRIN: 170510-G-IA651-1006, found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3587871/cine-corregidor, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 6: Barracks ruins. US Coast Guard Photo, taken by CPO Sarah Muir, public domain, Photo ID: 3587765, VIRIN: 170510-G-IA651-1003, found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3587765/corregidor-barracks, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 7: Aerial view of Bottomside. US Army photo, public domain, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor#/media/File:Rock_Middleside.jpg, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 8: Interior of Malinta Tunnel. Photographed by Lawrence Ruiz, March 2019. Original image. Found online at Wikipedia Creative Commons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinta_Tunnel#/media/File:Malinta_Tunnel_2019.jpg, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 9: Malinta Tunnel diagram, US Army creation, public domain, found online at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malinta_tunnel_diagram.jpg, access 1 June 2019.
  • Image 10: Eastern entrance to Malinta Tunnel. US Coast Guard Photo, taken by CPO Sarah Muir, public domain, Photo ID: 3588089, VIRIN: 170510-G-IA651-1012, found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3588089/malinta-tunnel, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 11: US troops in Malinta tunnel. US Army photograph, public domain, Photo ID: 3587779, VIRIN: 410000-G-GO214-1005, found online at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3587779/troops-malinta-tunnel, accessed 19 May 2019.
  • Image 12: Malinta Tunnel hospital wing, US Army Signal Corps, public domain, found online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_of_Bataan#/media/File:Malinta_Tunnel_Hospital.jpg, accessed 1 June 2019.
  • Image 13: Japanese landing on Corregidor. Public domain, found online at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Correg-japanese-landing.jpg, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 14: Japanese flame thrower on Corregidor. National Archives and Records Administration image. Found online at https://www.army.mil/article/179370/after_pearl_harbor_soldiers_held_out_for_months_against_japanese_invasion_of_philippines, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 15: Japanese tank on Corregidor. Post by ChadHill, 13 October 2012, Japanese Tanks message board, Corregidor Then and Now, found online at http://corregidor.proboards.com/thread/429/japanese-tanks, accessed 2 June 2019.
  • Image 16: Japanese stage removing American flag on Corregidor, found online at “World War II, 1942-43,” History Hub, https://sites.austincc.edu/caddis/world-war-ii-1942-43/, accessed 20 May 2019.
  • Image 17: Staged surrender of Americans on Corregidor. NARA (National Archives) Record Group 208: Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 – 1951 (ARC identifier: 535). Series: Photographs of the Allies and Axis, compiled 1942 – 1945 (ARC identifier: 535523). NAIL Control Number: NWDNS-208-AA-80B-1. Select List Identifier: WWII #129  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surrender_of_American_troops_at_Corregidor,_Philippine_Islands,_05-1942_-_NARA_-_535553.jpg
  • Image 18: Americans surrender, with Japanese writing on side. National Archives and Records Administration image, found online at https://www.army.mil/article/179370/after_pearl_harbor_soldiers_held_out_for_months_against_japanese_invasion_of_philippines.

2 Comments

  1. Monty
    Reply

    These are remarkable images and stories. It is so fascinating to read about and understand through pictures what these valiant soldiers went through in defense of this country and our freedoms.

    1. Anastasia
      Reply

      Yes, it’s so true. And we live in a time when so much is now available online. When Alma wrote his memoir, he didn’t have access to any of these images to show to his family. He probably couldn’t have guessed some of these photos even existed!

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