The Battle of Manila: American Glory, Civilian Apocalypse 

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I was a guard at the US embassy in Manila a few years back. There's still places where you can see bullet holes dating from this battle. It was always kinda sobering.

I was researching the Far Eastern Championship when I came across a Filipino baseball player by the name of Adelano Rivera. Rivera was so good against Team Japan, he was invited to play for the Tokyo Giants in Japan’s professional league. He hit the first ever grand slam in Giants' history. It was a Japanese golden era when foreign people and cultures were welcomed. There was also an ethnic Russian, Victor Starffin, and a Taiwanese player, Go Shosei, on the Giants' roster along with Rivera. When WW2 broke out, Rivera joined the guerrillas to fight against the Japanese. During the Battle of Manila, Rivera sneaked back home, near Manila's Rizal Stadium to spend time with his daughter, since it was her birthday. Japanese soldiers came to their home and requested Rivera to go with them. His family then heard gun shots soon after they've departed. When they came to see what had happened, they found Rivera shot and bayoneted in the stomach on the street. That was the death of a legendary Filipino baseball player and patriot. Till this day, Rivera remains the only Filipino to have ever played in the NPB.

My grandfather was part of the island hopping campaign. He was an optometrist by trade so the army made him a medic. He lived through the campaign but once home refused to ever talk about what he'd seen to my mother & her brothers & sister

Thank you for the second half of that video. The things that Imperial Japan did to their subjugated people get overshadowed by the Holocaust, but they were just as unspeakably evil. I'd love to see you tackle Unit 731 in a Warographics or Biographics... if you've got the stomach to get through it 😣

The island of Corregidor in Manila Bay has been left largely untouched since the devastation of WWII. If you want an impression of what Manila went through, the ruins of Corregidor are a sobering reminder.

As a Filipino, this is a very welcome video on how the Japanese occupation and the fight for Manila went. Sadly, many of my generation or younger than my generation (I'm currently 30 btw) are not aware nor even remotely know how these historical events and take for granted these historical events and how it have impacted their lives. I'm really just aware of these to be honest because I'm one of the few who takes interests in Historical events, particularly world war II. Anyway, fighting in the city never really turned well for civilians. It just always end up in a massacre. And I think since I work nearby the said city, I can say that unlike Warsaw, Berlin, Hiroshima, or any other devastated capitals in World War II, Manila was never really able to fully recover. I don't mean to say there are still marks and wounds of the war, I mean yes, it has that too. But Manila is considered as an empovrished and slum majority area with poor urban planning, poor systems of transport, and high levels of crime rate.

This is one of those battles that many in the US are unaware of. My friend's Filipino neighbor had family that witnessed the atrocities of the Japanese during the occupation of The Philippines. How many stories have now faded away because of time and the passing of that generation?

1:20 - Chapter 1 - Prelude to battle 5:05 - Mid roll ads 6:45 - Chapter 2 - The battle 17:55 - Chapter 3 - The devastation 22:50 - Chapter 4 - Aftermath

Yo, Simmon, when you were explaining how horrible the rape of Manila was props for holding it together. Also, the slight lilting of your voice as you choked back the tears, made me cry too brother. It is nice to see that you feel so passionately about mutual things. You are a good man, and I wish many blessings upon you and your family.... Respect 🙏 🫡😔 🐺❤️‍🔥

One of my friends' grandpa was a Philippine paramilitary during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. He heard all of the shooting, thinking it was the Americans liberating the city. To his horror, he saw the aftermath of all this horror. He moved to the U.S.A. due to losing what remained of his extended family.

My Great Uncle was a Marine in the WW2, he took part in the Battle for Iwo Jima. He was Second wave, from what I was told first wave was nearly wiped out, the Japanese had been digging in for years and we learned alot in short amount of time about the scale it would take to continue. He a was a Mortician to so he had to identify bodies for them, he was a great man always kind to me and teaching. He made some Great Prailines too❤🇺🇲

Manila and Warsaw were both most devastated cities during the war because most of the fierce uprising and battles took place in the heart of the cities. Both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had strict orders from their military leaders, to raze and destroy the cities where the civilian population launched any form of uprising against the occupying enemy force as a form of punishment or if they Axis Units were retreating from the invading Allied Forces units. Generally, the Axis powers never cares if they destroy the civilian infrastructure belonging to the occupying civilians of the city.

a friend of my fathers was at fort Corregidor and survived the "death march". my father fought in the marshals and solomon island campaigns.

My grandfather fought at this battle. When I was out visiting my grandfather before he passed away my aunt wanted me to ask him about his time in the service. He never talked about it except his time in Hawaii. What he said to me I still haven't told my family

My great uncle Dan was stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded. After his unit surrendered some of his buddies escaped into the jungle. Him and one other guy lived out the rest of the occupation by eating lizards, bugs, rats and anything else they could catch. He lost over 100 pounds and his hair turned white even though he was in his early twenties at the time.

Such a shame Manila was so thoroughly destroyed by the fighting. Perhaps I could recommend another beautiful city that was absolutely destroyed in WW2, Warsaw. A video about the Warsaw uprising would be very informative, because I believe it was the most destroyed allied city from the war, mainly from the German retaliation.

Thank you Simon and your team for making a video about the battle that shaped my home city. My deceased aunt that lived during the battle told me that life during the occupation is unbearable. The occupational government issued money is virtually unusable, rice, which is our staple crop, is almost non existent, and the Kempeitai is ruthless. But the Battle of Manila has reduced their survival from worst to deplorable. They remained hidden underground from the japanese until the entire city was liberated. No water, no electricity, no food remaining. It's just a miracle that they survived. They once lived in the Malate district, same area where Maria Orosa, one of our country's war hero and also the inventor of banana ketchup, was killed.

This video pretty much sums up what my grandfather used to tell us when we were children. My grandfather was a soldier and part of the remnants of the USAFFE who took to the mountains to fight the Japanese via guerilla warfare after the Philippines was overun and occupied. I am thankful he survived.

The aim of the Japanese in Manila was to inflict the maximum price on the Allies. They believed this would discourage the enemy from invading the Home Islands and result in a negotiated peace leaving Japan in control of much of its empire. The Japanese homeland would indeed have been a tough nut to crack by conventional means. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sense in this light and arguably saved many millions of lives, both allied and Japanese.

This is a dark episode that I'm glad you did. My grandfather liberated a consecration camp during WW2 and even though it was very difficult for him to talk about it if someone asked and truly wanted to know he would tell them. He always said that he would do it because he didn't want people to forget the horror we can inflict on each other in a hope that if we don't forget it would not be repeated. The horrors that Japan committed are often overshadowed by stuff like the holocaust. I would recommend another topic which would be a hard and dark episode but needs to be done because so few know anything about it is the "comfort women" the japans army took. They did horrible things to those poor women and hardly anyone knows it even happened.

Hope you’ll cover the Warsaw Uprising at one point

My late father took part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf operating a bulldozer for the Air Force. He saw MacArthur after he landed.

Videos and topics like this one are where Simon is at his absolute best. He uses an appropriately respectful tone, and doesn't waste time with irrelevant anecdotes or jokes.

I have been to the Philippines four times. Took a tour of Corregidor Island. It's a time capsule from 1945. Massive artillery craters and bombed out barracks. The 12" coastal guns and huge mortars are still in place.

Manila became one of the most devastated capital cities during the entire war, alongside Berlin and Warsaw. To date, it is the last of the many battles fought within Manila's history. On 18 February 1995, the Memorare-Manila 1945 Foundation dedicated a memorial called the Shrine of Freedom to honor the memory of the over 100,000 civilians killed in the battle. It is also known as the Memorare Manila Monument and is located at Plaza de Santa Isabel in Intramuros.

wow. this might've been the most gruesome video i've ever seen from your team over the years, but i am certainly glad you went along with it... i'd never known much of the details about this campaign, and never thought it was remotely this horrific.

This was the greatest tragedy in Philippine history, bar none. Eviscerating the cultural, architectural and artistic heart of the nascent country set up an ever-growing disregard for these pursuits that continues today. I know of no one in my age group who cares about history, they walk the streets of Manila without a care; people pollute its environs not knowing that every inch of it was paid for in blood just 80 odd years ago. When Manila was destroyed Filipinos lost a part of themselves that's still missing today. All that beauty and renown, replaced by slums and callousness.

I highly doubt any American who participated in or knows the details of the Battle of Manilla thinks it a glorious affair.

I still recall all the stories my parents told us about the Japanese occupation. It was a horror they said that seemed that there was no god

Another great team effort. Thanks people.

My grandparents lived in Manila during the entire war. During the battles in Manila, they used to hide underground in some sort of basement or actual tunnels and only going out to get some food occasionally. Also all my grandparents and great grandparents used to say that it wasn't the Japanese they were afraid of. They were afraid of the Koreans as they do all the torturing and "sporting" of the locals. They say most of the Japanese back then were alright and some are even kind to them. At least this was in the areas in and around Manila. Another fun fact, they actually had lots of Japanese professionals working around Manila before the war as mechanics, doctors, or such and then when the Japanese arrived these originally working Japanese professionals were actually Japanese military (or probably intelligence) officers all along. I remember they personally knew at least 1 Captain and another being a Major equivalent if I remember correctly. Sadly all my grandparents are gone now and I can no longer ask about their stories of WW2. The youngest among them passed away a few years ago at nearly 100 years old

Thank you for covering this battle Simon. As a Filipino American, I only ever learned about things like Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March, and Midway during the Pacific Theatre in WW2. My Lola (grandmother) lived in the Visayas archipelago during the Japanese occupation and mentioned that she and her siblings frequently had to hide due to beheadings taking place. I remember seeing a lot of ruined Spanish style buildings in the Philippines when I visited 9 years ago, and it is only now that I realize that those were likely some of the scars left from WW2.

I've heard accounts of the psychological effects on German soldiers who participated in the mass killings of civilians. But I often wondered about the toll it took on Japanese soldiers. It's some something I haven't heard much about.

Would like to see a warographics on the Philippines resistance.

Very difficult episode to watch. But all the more reason to watch. Thank you!

I had an uncle who fought in the Pacific from the start of the war until the end. He couldn't stand MacArthur, who he called "Dugout Doug".

It's difficult for me to reconcile the knowledge I have of Japan and the atrocities their forces committed in WWII, and the knowledge I have of the Japanese people today. It just seems unfathomable that the kind, accommodating, and polite people of Japan did these things. I guess 80 years makes a big difference.

Thanks for the educational breakdown of a fraction of the horrors of war on the Philippine peoples of the allied and the axis. I enjoyed listening and learning!

One notable survivor of the Manila Massacre is film legend Corazon Noble, mother of the late actor Jay Ilagan. She was bayoneted nine times and shot by the Imperial Japanese Army. But her ten-month child wasn't lucky. He was bayoneted thrice and died in her arms Corazon Noble later testified against war criminal General Tomoyuki Yamashita in the Allied tribunal. The Tiger of Malaya was sentenced to death and hanged in Los Baños, Laguna

Infants were thrown in the air then stabbed by bayonets. Systematic rape started immediately after occupation. Such monstrosity were done.

My Grandfather was one of many Australian Airmen attached to American Bomber crews in the Pacific late 44 through beyond VJ day. He flew missions over Manila, leyte etc. At wars end he flew POWs from Okinawa to Manila. In December 1945 when the 307th Bomb Group was sent back to the United States he was returned to the RAAF and then finally sent home to Australia late in 1946. I'm very Proud of his service during the war. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 77. I was only 11 years old and gee I wish I had more time with him.

This could have been an into the shadows episode. Those poor people.

Thank you as a filipino american, even growing up in the philippines i was very educated on this subject to. Especially the 2nd part that touched on the human and civilian component

The US/Philippine War Memorial is a sobering place. To see the pillars covered with endless names is just so hard to comprehend.

I'm gonna go ahead and say Simon and his channels are my main watching on RU-vid. There are a couple others I watch but all his channels are quality content

My family in the Philippines has so many stories and mementos from the war. My grandpa was in the death March and almost died just when they were being liberated. He helped to save a fellow interned American soldier from being bayoneted by a Japanese soldier, only for the soldier to stab him. Him and the American soldier fought him down and killed him with his own gun. My family still has that gun. A grand uncle in a southern city was a mayor just as the Japanese attacked. He and his family escaped the initial bombings and attack by swimming across the river that had turned red with blood. Him, his wife and 6 children lived in the jungle for years. Only him and one child survived. The rest perished. He even said he had to contemplate having to cannibalize his wife and children because food was hard to come by. We still have coins and other trinkets from when the Japanese occupied. An incredibly horrific time in a land that has endured brutal oppression for hundreds of years. It makes me sad and terrified how easily we are falling back now into those dark times.

I'd seen some folks doing a kind of re-enactment of the final phase of this battle; a table top war-gaming thing, I think Command Decision might've been the name, but the point being - this enormous table was set up, showing Intramuros and the parts of the city nearest to it, at a specific scale. All the information of what things looked like on the day they were starting from - it was very detailed...and there were so MANY fires, even just in the area around the citadel, that the guys setting up ran out of their normal tokens for fires. At the time I knew absolutely NOTHING about this battle, I didn't know what I was seeing, not really. I started out giggling a little as they ransacked their snacks to use their "Flaming Hot Cheetos" as additional fire tokens... but by the time they were done, even knowing nothing...it was appalling. I never learned more about the battle on that particular occasion, I was involved in other events at that gaming convention. But I never forgot. And now. No, I don't think I will go digging for more details on this. Ever. What a nightmare. :(

My wife is a filipina. Shes Still living in manila.(sadly). I just sent her this video. You'd be surprised how much she doesn't know about her own city. Makes me quite sad sometimes. Beautiful city too. So much history.

Thank you for tackling this with a video (and Simon: that was correct pronunciation of place names). This remains a very traumatic episode of the War and many students don’t know what this really was all about. The Japanese Occupation was so brutal that survivors called it “the three years without God”.

Manila has never fully recovered even now.

Yes you guys are finally covering the Asian Stalingrad!

Excellent presentation!

A lot of the old universities based in metro manila mention it. Ateneo used to be situated there before ww2 but then because of the destruction of ww2 they moved to a neighbor city elsewhere that was less destroyed, Philippine Women's University has a mural somewhere inside that shows the campus building burning presumably because of the war, University of Santo Tomas moved a few of its structures, all off the top of my head and there's this thing called the university belt where there are a lot of universities situated all along a part of so there are even more universities neighboring those ones i mentioned.

You can literally see the pain in Simon as he struggles to narrate the horror of the battle.

This is horrific to write, and I do not write it lightly or with any intention of inciting any more controversy than already exists, but to my soul observation the Allies had one of two choices: liberate and save as many lives as possible by what means were absolutely, although tragically necessary, or do nothing that would prevent more casualties but still allow *all* of the innocent to continue to suffer and likely die horrific deaths at the hands of an already known to be vile, sadistic, malevolent faction of war criminals.

I had heard there was a tank battle & was hoping for more info on that

This has been incredibly heartwrenching, being born, raised and living in Manila.

It is amazing to me, given the historical evidence on video, for the generation that does not read books covering the subject ( assuming they have access to them, which most in the west have ) that more people don't realize that freedom is cheaper to maintain than to regain.

I can't believe I've never heard about this one. Now you've gotta do Okinawa and iwo jima

Either the Battle of Leyte Gulf or Marawi will be best suited now since this video, finally, another highlighting the Philippines' history by a big, great channel.

Manila went from the Pearl of the Orient to the urban nightmare it became today cause no money was put back into rebuilding it. The big slums are situated into the bombed out areas of yesteryear. One of the great tragedies of history, and I hope future architects, designers and planners can at least attempt to restore that former architectural and cultural beauty.

Can you do the Battle of Berlin? I’d like to know if the rumors of beds being put on the backs of tanks was true or not.

They are still repairing Fort Santiago but Corregidor island ant fort drum are my favorite places to visit when I go to the Philippines in fact I got married in Manila city hall one of the few buildings that were still standing at the end of the battle.

Thank you for covering our capital, Simon and team.

i've never understood why people don't just surround cities, entrench, and ware down the enemy until they run out of ammo and equippment. blasting entire cities apart just seems like an act of terror, done by inhuman armies with no care for anyone.

After all Japan did in Asia, it puts the A bombings in perspective.

Real men despise war but never run from it.-General Washington.

This guy is such a good narrator

Glad the Army told my GPa, Marine Sgt. Herbert Schultz, despite being a 2nd gen German/American and having 2 MLB contracts from Cleveland and Boston he was to "German" looking for them. He dropped Arty with the 10th Marine Regiment from Tarawa, Saipan, Eniwetok, Theya Jima, Okinawa & spent 2 months in Nagasaki. Became a LA Fireman after the War he passed when I was only 10 but I remember watching MASH with him and getting up early to eat breakfast & workout. He never said much but he never had to, he'd pass me the comics and my oatmeal with cinnamon & we'd just enjoy the time b4 anyone else got up. Best Gen

The American-Japanese war in the Pacific is one of the ugliest conflicts in human history.

Sheath underwear is actually GREAT! Thank you for sponsoring cuz I love this channel and I would have never heard of it without watching this video! Definitely a game changer! Also I pray the Philippines 🇵🇭 and USA 🇺🇸 continue these close relations as we together have spilled blood for sake of democracy and rules based international order and our historical roots are deep similar to the USA and United Kingdom as the American story comes full circle as an empire when it took control of the Philippines. This being so, it’s very obvious to see how USA influenced the Philippines especially in government where documents are written in ENGLISH and this is a game changer in Asia and I hope the Philippines is the next nation to rise in next 10-20 years just as South Korea, Japan, and even Taiwan had done since end of WW2. Americans, If you’re looking to invest in a foreign market, choose the Philippines, an English speaking developing country where the digital age is making a positive impact and strategically is beneficial for American influence in Asia! Avenge the lost souls of battle of Manila by making a positive future.

And people still ask why the Nukes were used?

What happened to the allied soldiers was horrible but more importantly what happened to the civilians is unforgivable and unforgettable it is something that shouldn’t be forgotten or repeated like many of the atrocities in WWII this should never happen to anyone again

Interestingly, Intramuros today is one of the best preserved parts of the city today. It is really beautiful and gives an idea of what 300+ years of Western and Eastern infrastructure development looks like.

Anyone know why the El Salvador video got taken down, plus a few of the other ones such as the Haiti analysis? I didnt get the opportunity to see it

Man Manila was such a beautiful city, a slice of Europe in the orient, its Spanish Baroque architecture combined with American Classical architecture sure was a sight to behold, sadly Japanese stubbornness and American propensity to bomb their enemies to smithereens regardless of the damage totally levelled the city, but the worst part is yet to come, unlike Dresden, Berlin, Stalingrad and other wrecked European cities, Manila under the locals did not rebuild it better or at least to its former glory but instead turned it to an unattractive ghetto, built cheaply and without planning in mind, a sad tale for our most important city, now if we want to bask in great architecture and culture, all we can do is to go to Europe or to the old US cities instead of enjoying beauty in our own shores.

Awesome video as always but what happened to your video on nagorno karabakh? I can't find it

Well that was a brutal watch.

I was researching the Battle of Manila and im surprised that no one heard of the war crimes the japanese committed… it looked like the nanjing of se asia…

I'll subscribe to any channel with Simon Whistler in it.He's a true Hallmark of quality.

My great uncle participated in this I think, idk much about his service record,only that he served in the Philippines

Some people have called this the Stalingrad of the Pacific.

This was awful. I am learning about Filipino history bit by bit, and I've been to Intramuros. Your video brought tears to my eyes. War is always hell, and it transforms people from civil minded humans to animals, be it the Germans, the Italians, the Spanish, Chileans or, in this case, the Japanese (or any other country you might like to mention, for that matter). That is why it is so important to listen to what history tells us and really LEARN from these brutal accounts. Thank you for the video, Simon.

Hey Simon, some of your videos like second iranian revolution, pax russian are gone, what happened to them???

It is very important to make clear the amount of war crimes perpetrated hi the imperial Japanese military you could speak for 3 Days Non-Stop and not say everything that needs to be said about their evil

The santo tomas camp is a university that founded by the dominican and when the war ended the soldiers find thousands of people that were killed. After the battle ended in manila the smell of the deceased was very strong that the smell of a sewage is like a normal smell because thousands of people that been killed by the japanese were so many even animals they were killed

You should really do a video about what’s going on in Sudan right now.

Just out of semi-random curiosity, did the Subic Bay Naval Base exist at this time?

My grandfather Edward Burst was in the 511th airborne and he was crucial to the Los Bianos rescue in the Philippines!!!...

This one was dark but necessary. Among other things it highlights the horrible decisions military commanders have to take. Knowing what the enemy has in store for your troops. You can either choose to send them into a slaughter knowing most will be sent to their loved ones in a box or systematically flattern the entire city, block by block. And in doing so cause countless innocent civilian deaths in the process. I don't envy the man who has to make that call. There is no right choice. And no matter what choice he makes, he will have those deaths hanging over him for the rest of his life.

My husband’s grandfather was a guerrilla fighter and the mayor of his town. Sadly my husband’s great grandfather was tortured to death by the Japanese because they wanted to know where his son was.

In highschool we were told it was an embarrassing moment. It also wasn't on the world war 2 history test

In war... it is the civilians that suffer the most...

The battles of Peleliu and Okinawa are equally brutal

What happened to your Haiti video from a few days ago?

It's amazing how Germany has rightfully been made to live with the shame of what they did in the 30's and 40's. But Japan? Having done things that would make the Nazi's be like "Yo, chill bro..." Well that seems to just get swept under the proverbial rug, especially by the Japanese. Crazy isn't it?

Why all the video takedowns???

And this was one of the many reasons that Japan got 2 bombs. Not just 1, but 2.

People who dont know how truly evil Japan was during WW2 are the one who say the Atomic bombs were not necessary. Manila and the rape of Nanjing are just two examples. The Japanese army was simply beyond evil. When you read up on the things they did...its hard to believe. The Bombs were a must!