Fall of Coregidor

On December 24, 1941, President Manuel L Quezon transferred the seat of the Commonwealth Government to Corregidor following the invasion by the Japanese in the Philippines Corregidor's strategic location (between Cavite and Bataan and near Manila Bay), its network of underground tunnels, array of defensive armament and strong fortifications made the island a very vital control center for both American and Japanese forces (The Kahimyang Project., 2011). Officially named Fort Mills, Corregidor served as a key point of allied defensive plans in the Philippines in the years following the first World War. In May of 1942, Corregidor stood as the one of the final remaining allied strongholds in the Philippines following the Japanese victory at Bataan (Britannica, 2022).

From December 29, 1941 to the end of April 1942, the allied forces stationed in Corregidor were able to hold off the siege by Japanese troops, although as the siege was ongoing, Japanese forces were growing in confidence due to the weakening allied resistance During this period, many local Filipino troops were recruited to further fortify the defenses on the island Following Major General Edward King’s surrender of Bataan on April 9, Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma turned his attention to capturing Corregidor to eliminate any remaining enemy resistance around Manila Having secured Bataan, On April 28, Japanese troops began an aerial offensive against the island (Britannica, 2022) On May 6, 1942 U S Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered all remaining U S troops in the Philippines to the Japanese Wainwright was given little choice due to the poor condition of his troops, at that point they had suffered around 800 casualties and 1,000 wounded, with a further 11,000 troops captured While Wainwright wished to only surrender the troops on Corregidor, Japanese Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma insisted that he surrender all remaining U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippines. The fall of Corregidor signified the fall of the Philippines and Asia to Japanese control. Although this was instrumental in the Japanese taking control of Asia, the multiple battles in Bataan and Corregidor severely delayed the projected timetable of the Japanese invasion (ASOMF, 2022).