Corregidor

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Corregidor, fortified island situated 3.2 km. (2 mi.) off the Bataan peninsula, part of the Philippines island of Luzon. After elements of Lt-General Homma's Fourteenth Army had landed on Luzon in December 1941 (see Philippines campaigns), and had established themselves there, the US Army commander, Lt-General MacArthur, declared Manila an open city, ordered his army to withdraw into the Bataan peninsula, and then withdrew his HQ to Corregidor. On 11 March he handed over command to Lt-General Wainwright and left for Australia.

Corregidor, only 5.6 km. (3.5 mi.) long and 2.4 km. (1.5 mi.) wide, was the Gibraltar of the east. It was stocked to feed 10,000 men for a six-month siege, was heavily fortified, and had an intricate tunnel system which protected vulnerable elements such as the hospital from air attack. Along with three other, smaller, fortified islands nearby, its position in Manila Bay denied to the Japanese the use of the finest harbour in the Orient.

Heavy Japanese air raids and artillery fire damaged Corregidor's surface installations, but caused no critical damage or excessive casualties. But after Bataan fell, on 9 April 1942, Japanese artillery massed there, and almost constant air raids destroyed beach defences and all but three of the guns. So intense was the bombardment that the island's topography was altered: cliffs collapsed, woods were obliterated, and the shore road was blown into the sea. The island lay ‘scorched, gaunt, and leafless’, when men of Homma's 4th Division landed there on the night of 5 May. In fact the assault miscarried and only about 800 men out of 2,000 reached the shore, but these established a beachhead, tanks and artillery were landed, and the 11,000-strong garrison suffered heavy casualties. By morning the Japanese were almost into the tunnel system, which held 1,000 wounded, and Wainwright surrendered.

Corregidor , historic fortified island (c.2 sq mi/5 sq km), at the entrance to Manila Bay, just off Bataan peninsula of Luzon island, the Philippines. From the days of the Spanish, Corregidor and its tiny neighboring islets—El Fraile, Caballo, and Carabao—guarded the entrance to Manila Bay, serving as an outpost for the defense of Manila. The Spanish also maintained a penal colony on Corregidor. When the Americans acquired the Philippine Islands after the Spanish-American War (1898), they elaborately strengthened those defenses. Corregidor was honeycombed with tunnels to serve as ammunition depots, and Fort Mills and Kindley Field were established. Fort Drum was built on El Fraile, Fort Hughes on Caballo, and Fort Frank on Carabao. The new fortifications were deemed so formidable that Corregidor became known as the Gibraltar of the East, or "the Rock." In the early phase of World War II, Corregidor's batteries guarded the entrance to Manila Bay—denying that splendid harbor to the Japanese for five months—and protected the flank of the large U.S.-Filipino army concentrated on Bataan peninsula. During those months Corregidor was subjected to one of the most intense continuous bombardments of the entire war. Its surface was churned to rubble, and the garrison was forced into the caves and tunnels. After the fall of Bataan, about 10,000 U.S. and Filipino troops under Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright fought gallantly on for a month. They were hopelessly cut off from all supplies and aid. Corregidor was finally invaded early in May, 1942, and the garrison was forced to surrender. The island was recaptured in Mar., 1945, by U.S. paratroopers and shore landing parties. It is now a national shrine.

Bibliography: See J. and W. Belote, Corregidor: The Saga of a Fortress (1967).

Corregidor, Battle of a battle for the island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay in early 1942, between the Japanese and forces under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Dangerously short of food, medicine, and ammunition after some questionable tactical gambits, the Americans eventually surrendered. See also Bataan, Battle of.