038 - An Open City

The Capture of Manila

War Plan Orange 3 called for a complete evacuation of Luzon back to Bataan. This left the citizens of Manila to fend for themselve. When General MacArthur relocated to Corregidor on Christmas Eve 1941, he declared Manila an “Open City”.

This meant the Army had abandoned the city and the city was declared “defenseless.” In return, the attacking troops were expected to march into the city without harming its buildings or the general population. MacArthur hoped this would spare the remaining Filipinos from further devastation.

However, the Japanese aerial assault continued as squadrons of Army planes from the Japanese Air Force Base in Formosa (now known as Taiwan) “carpet bombed” Manila, saturating the city with hundreds of bombs – in hopes of softening up the city’s defenses.

The IJAAF (Imperial Japanese Army Air Force) relied heavily on the Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” and Ki-38 “Sally” Medium Bombers, dropping massive payloads on key targets in and around the city. However, lighter Japanese Army fighter planes, such as the “Nate” and the “Oscar”, were refitted with bombs to inflict as much damage as possible.

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The Japanese Army didn’t formally invade Manila until January 2^nd. Without much resistance, tanks rolled along city streets as the Japanese Army claimed Manila as their latest possession.

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With the northern mainland of the Philippine Islands and its capital city overrun, the Japanese now had one final goal in mind: capturing the Filipino-American Headquarters at Corregidor.

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