Corregidor: Siege and Liberation, 1941-1945

During World War II, Corregidor, a small island fortress in the Philippines, held out against Imperial Japanese forces for three months. Despite being surrounded and cut off from supplies, the US troops and Filipino defenders refused to surrender. General Douglas MacArthur led the defense and became a national hero for his determination. However, the island eventually fell to the Japanese in May 1942. After MacArthur's return in 1945, the US launched a massive assault on Corregidor, culminating in the island's recapture. This collection of images showcases the bravery and resilience of the defenders and the destruction caused by the war.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 216 pages
\n Publication date: 28 February 2021
\n Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd
\n

Singapore and Hong Kong had fallen to the forces of Imperial Japan, Thailand and Burma had been invaded, and islands across the Pacific had been captured. But one place, one tiny island fortress garrisoned by a few thousand hungry and exhausted men, refused to be beaten. That island fortress was Corregidor, which guarded the entrance to Manila Bay and controlled all sea-borne access to Manila Harbour. At a time when every news bulletin was one of Japanese success, Corregidor shone as the only beacon of hope in the darkness of defeat. The Japanese 14th Army of Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, threw everything it had at Corregidor, officially named Fort Mills. But deep within the island's rocky heart, a tunnel had been excavated into Malinta Hill, and there the US troops, marine, naval, and army, endured the terrible onslaught. At their head was General Douglas MacArthur, who became a national hero with his resolute determination never to surrender, until ordered to evacuate to Australia to avoid such a senior officer being captured by the enemy. But with his departure, the rest of the garrison knew that there was no possibility of relief. They would have to fight on until the bitter end, whatever form that might take. That end came in May 1942. The defenders were reduced to virtually starvation rations, with many of them wounded. Consequently, when, on 5 May, the Japanese mounted a powerful amphibious assault, the weakened garrison could defy the enemy no longer. Corregidor, the "Gibraltar of the East," finally fell to the invaders. Those invaders were to become the invaded when MacArthur returned in January 1945. For three weeks, US aircraft, warships, and artillery hammered the Japanese positions on Corregidor. Then, on 16 February, the Americans landed on the island. It took MacArthur's men three weeks to capture Corregidor, but the island was a strategic victory for the United States and a major turning point in World War II. The fall of Corregidor marked the beginning of the Allied invasion of the Philippines and the eventual liberation of the country from Japanese rule. It also demonstrated the resilience and determination of the US military and the importance of never giving up in the face of adversity.

\n Weight: 614g\n
Dimension: 189 x 246 x 17 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781526799753\n \n