During the early months of World War II, Winston Churchill maneuvered to get the U.S. involved in the war to save his country from German invasion. Roosevelt, scheming to lure Hitler into a casus belli, ensnared Japan instead, resulting in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War that followed. When the doomed U.S. garrison in the Philippines soon capitulated to the Japanese, the atrocities inflicted on the Filipino and American units that surrendered were portents for the inhabitants of Manila.
The history chronicles the 1945 recapture of Manila largely from the perspective of the civilian population, which suffered horrific brutality from the Japanese, followed by destruction and heavy loss of life during the American assault. Individual stories are included of citizens caught in the crossfire between the tenacious Japanese defenders and American troops determined to seize the capital city while minimizing their own casualties, regardless of the cost in civilian lives. More than 175 photographs document the events described.

The late John A. Del Gallego was a history writer who lived in California.

John A. Del Gallego

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: 188 photos, 10 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7557-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3597-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
1. My Grandmother’s House 3
2. We Are All in the Same Boat Now 14
3. Harbingers of the Final Doom 19
4. Prelude to the Horrors 36
5. The Coming Ill Wind 66
6. The Battle for Manila Begins in Earnest 84
7. The Dance with Death Continues 135
8. “A panorama of physical and spiritual disaster” 205
Epilogue 247
Appendix A: Order of Battle on the Eve of the Liberation of Manila 255
Appendix B: Artillery in Support of the Assault  on Intramuros 258
Appendix C: Artillery Expended in Support of the Assault on Intramuros 259
Appendix D: U.S. Casualties in the Battle for Manila 259
Chapter Notes 261
Bibliography 273
Index 277