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Post by The Phantom on Feb 4, 2014 6:22:30 GMT 8
From "Return To The Philippines"
Reading and wondering...........
" Kruger's toughest job was to destroy Yamashita's SHOBU Group in the north. But a smaller group, the SHIMBA presented a more immediate threat. It's forward line lay just 15 miles east of Manila. They could counterattack or make a long range artillery barrage on the capital. More important the SHIMBU group which controlled the vital dams and aqueducts, had cut off much of manila's water supply. Leaving the capital vulnerable to epidemics.
Where........
"The WAWA Dam blocked the twisting Marikina River in the Sierra Madre, a mountain range approximately 12 miles northeast of Manila.( First attacked by Kruger, but not the Dam supplying Manila's main water supply, that was IPO.)
The IPO Dam lies on the winding Angat river in the rugged Sierra Madre, about 7 miles east of Luzon's central plain. The Japanese defense line swung in a rough arc, through hills southwest of the dam. The strongest fortifications straddled highway 52, the main road northeast of Manila to IPO, which twisted along an easily defended corridor in the rocky hills."
The area is said to be honeycombed still with caves in the solid rock. Has anyone, Karl, John etc. been to this hard fought and often overlooked in importance area of battle for the Philippines?
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Post by fots2 on Feb 4, 2014 13:49:13 GMT 8
I know nothing about this area but "remaining caves" sure piques my interest. Perhaps Karl will bite.
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Post by The Phantom on Feb 7, 2014 7:05:03 GMT 8
Sounds like a possible road trip, not far from Manila for either dam, in an area to rocky, rough, and steep to be as heavily populated as most other WWII sites in the P.I.
Possible highways to the dams listed in the email previously. Should be passable as the dams are Manila's main water source still.
If you get to the WaWa on the Marikina river, smack the guy in charge for EXO. He's flooded him at least twice now, once to the second floor!
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Post by The Phantom on Feb 13, 2014 3:20:14 GMT 8
Some more information about the fighting to secure Manila's water supply.
.................The fight jumped off at 10:00 pm on May 6th, 1945. They made good progress through the night and the next day. Only a few Japanese scattered and surprised outposts offered any resistance and they were quickly overrun. By dusk of May 7th the men of the 2 regiments found themselves advancing over a strange and seemingly uninhabited landscape. 'Even on the brightest days, the history relates, the entire region bore an oppressive and weird aspect. Wildly tossed rock outcroppings were the pervading feature. Some stretching horizontally across the land, some pyramiding dizzily to sudden, jumbled height, these dark grayish outcroppings and sharp pinnacles looked like the product of a fantastic nightmare."
The Japanese were caught off-guard by the attack. General Yokoyama was trying to mount a counter attack in the Wawa dam area, and some of the troops in the Ipo vicinity were on their way south to join this assault when the 43 division struck toward the Ipo.
Meanwhile Marking's guerrillas had swiftly trans versed 7 miles of mountains on the north of the Angat to come within 2 miles of the dam. The Japanese main defensive line--and the beginning of the monsoon season---slowed the advance somewhat, but by May 11 the 103rd was also within 2 miles of the dam.
At this point General Wing suddenly took note of the guerrillas progress. As the Army history put it:"What had started out as a feint, from which no significant results were expected, now bid fair to become as much of the main effort as the 103rd drive north. The attack on the Ipo dam had developed into a full fledged double envelopment.Indeed, a race to the Ipo was on between the Marking regiment and the 103d infantry.
On May 12th for the first time, General Wing assigned a normal measure of Artillery support to the guerrillas. The guerrillas, less hampered by the torrential rains than the more heavily laden and mechanized American's promptly broke through the Japanese defense line north of the river and reached a hill just one mile north of the dam. That itself would not have decided the battle, but on the same day Major General Osama Kawashima, the local commander at the Ipo, received a set of disastrous orders from Yokoyama.
Owing to poor communications, general Yokoyama did not know that a reinforced U.S. division was attacking Ipo. and when his counterattack in the vicinity of the Wawa against the 38 division collapsed on may 12th, he ordered Kawashima to send a battalion south. the general tried to get the commander to change his mind, but he refused. Reluctantly Kawashima ordered a battalion to withdraw from the front and move east. The redeployment of the battalion proved to be just as disastrous as General Kawashima feared. He tried to redeploy the battalion on his front but it was to late, the 103rd had swept over the battalions positions and occupied a hill just 3/4 of a mile from the Ipo.
On the night of May 13th Marking and his guerrillas won the race to the Ipo. With the Japanese attention diverted to the south, a guerrilla patrol slipped down the mountain from the north and crossed the dam. they were to few to hold the dam so they returned to the hill above the dam.
For the next 3 days, while heavy rain grounded air strikes,and air supply missions for the American regiments, artillery took over the task of blasting the Japanese. Between may 15 and 17, more than 9500 shells slammed into the tightening circle of Japanese positions around Ipo dam.
On the 16th the weather cleared enough and the 5th airforce fighter bombers roared in over the jumbled hills in the biggest raid yey on the Shimbu positions. First 185 fighter bombers dropped 50 gallons of napalm on the Japanese lines overlooking highway 52. Then more planes bombed and strafed artillery positions farther up the highway and nearer the dam. On the following morning 240 bombers spread another 62,500 gallons of napalm on the approaches to the dam.
The devastating air strikes enabled the 169th Infantry to step up its diversionary attack into a full scale assault along the highway on May 17th. the 103rd and the 172nd and guerrillas also attacked, driving steadily through the mud past piles of Japanese corpses. General Kawashima, realizing that he could no longer hold the Ipo dam, ordered his troops to retreat to the east.
They left so quickly that they failed to set off the demolition charges that had been prepared at the dam.
In mid morning of May17th, a patrol of the 103rd slithered down the slopes to the southern end of the dam only to withdraw on finding no friendly forces in the area. A few hours later, from the other side ,guerrillas reached the dam for the second time, waded across the dam and raised an American flag above the power station. Manila's water crisis was finally ended.
In the meantime, the Japanese defenses were collapsing on the Wawa front.Engineers of the 38th devision managed at last to bulldoze new roads that enabled medium tanks, flamethrower tanks, and halftracks with mulyiple 50 caliber machine guns to join in the asualt. THE LARGE MOBILE FLAMTHROWERS BURNED OUT THE REMAINING JAPANESE CAVES
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Post by The Phantom on Feb 13, 2014 3:25:57 GMT 8
Some more information about the fighting to secure Manila's water supply.
.................The fight jumped off at 10:00 pm on May 6th, 1945. They made good progress through the night and the next day. Only a few Japanese scattered and surprised outposts offered any resistance and they were quickly overrun. By dusk of May 7th the men of the 2 regiments found themselves advancing over a strange and seemingly uninhabited landscape. 'Even on the brightest days, the history relates, the entire region bore an oppressive and weird aspect. Wildly tossed rock outcroppings were the pervading feature. Some stretching horizontally across the land, some pyramiding dizzily to sudden, jumbled height, these dark grayish outcroppings and sharp pinnacles looked like the product of a fantastic nightmare."
The Japanese were caught off-guard by the attack. General Yokoyama was trying to mount a counter attack in the Wawa dam area, and some of the troops in the Ipo vicinity were on their way south to join this assault when the 43 division struck toward the Ipo.
Meanwhile Marking's guerrillas had swiftly trans versed 7 miles of mountains on the north of the Angat to come within 2 miles of the dam. The Japanese main defensive line--and the beginning of the monsoon season---slowed the advance somewhat, but by May 11 the 103rd was also within 2 miles of the dam.
At this point General Wing suddenly took note of the guerrillas progress. As the Army history put it:"What had started out as a feint, from which no significant results were expected, now bid fair to become as much of the main effort as the 103rd drive north. The attack on the Ipo dam had developed into a full fledged double envelopment.Indeed, a race to the Ipo was on between the Marking regiment and the 103d infantry.
On May 12th for the first time, General Wing assigned a normal measure of Artillery support to the guerrillas. The guerrillas, less hampered by the torrential rains than the more heavily laden and mechanized American's promptly broke through the Japanese defense line north of the river and reached a hill just one mile north of the dam. That itself would not have decided the battle, but on the same day Major General Osama Kawashima, the local commander at the Ipo, received a set of disastrous orders from Yokoyama.
Owing to poor communications, general Yokoyama did not know that a reinforced U.S. division was attacking Ipo. and when his counterattack in the vicinity of the Wawa against the 38 division collapsed on may 12th, he ordered Kawashima to send a battalion south. the general tried to get the commander to change his mind, but he refused. Reluctantly Kawashima ordered a battalion to withdraw from the front and move east. The redeployment of the battalion proved to be just as disastrous as General Kawashima feared. He tried to redeploy the battalion on his front but it was to late, the 103rd had swept over the battalions positions and occupied a hill just 3/4 of a mile from the Ipo.
On the night of May 13th Marking and his guerrillas won the race to the Ipo. With the Japanese attention diverted to the south, a guerrilla patrol slipped down the mountain from the north and crossed the dam. they were to few to hold the dam so they returned to the hill above the dam.
For the next 3 days, while heavy rain grounded air strikes,and air supply missions for the American regiments, artillery took over the task of blasting the Japanese. Between may 15 and 17, more than 9500 shells slammed into the tightening circle of Japanese positions around Ipo dam.
On the 16th the weather cleared enough and the 5th air-force fighter bombers roared in over the jumbled hills in the biggest raid yey on the Shimbu positions. First 185 fighter bombers dropped 50 gallons of napalm on the Japanese lines overlooking highway 52. Then more planes bombed and strafed artillery positions farther up the highway and nearer the dam. On the following morning 240 bombers spread another 62,500 gallons of napalm on the approaches to the dam.
The devastating air strikes enabled the 169th Infantry to step up its diversionary attack into a full scale assault along the highway on May 17th. the 103rd and the 172nd and guerrillas also attacked, driving steadily through the mud past piles of Japanese corpses. General Kawashima, realizing that he could no longer hold the Ipo dam, ordered his troops to retreat to the east.
They left so quickly that they failed to set off the demolition charges that had been prepared at the dam.
In mid morning of May17th, a patrol of the 103rd slithered down the slopes to the southern end of the dam only to withdraw on finding no friendly forces in the area. A few hours later, from the other side ,guerrillas reached the dam for the second time, waded across the dam and raised an American flag above the power station. Manila's water crisis was finally ended.
In the meantime, the Japanese defenses were collapsing on the Wawa front.Engineers of the 38th division managed at last to bulldoze new roads that enabled medium tanks, flamethrower tanks, and half-tracks with multiple 50 caliber machine guns to join in the assault. THE LARGE MOBILE FLAMETHROWERS BURNED OUT THE REMAINING JAPANESE CAVES. By May 27th General Yokoyama realized that with the Ipo dam captured he could not hold the Wawa either so he ordered the remnants of his Shimbu force to melt into the mountains to the east."
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Post by The Phantom on Feb 14, 2014 6:18:35 GMT 8
Not sure how the same information got duplicated, I was typing and it just vanished and then reappeared.
A couple of things that were interesting from this text. The Guerrillas had a major part in the recovery of the Ipo damn and were only in the fight to cause a diversion, some diversion!
The amount of napalm used seems high, 62,500 gallons around the dam, dropped by 240 bombers. If you note that this battle happened about the same time as Corregidor's recaptured, it makes you wonder how much napalm was used on Corregidor?
I had not heard or read anything much about this phase of the recapture of the Philippines.
Anyone been to this old battle area? Seen the caves talked about? It should be a short trip from Manila, once you get out of Manila of course.............
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Post by The Phantom on Mar 26, 2014 6:06:23 GMT 8
A description of the extensive Japanese cave systems near the Apo and Wawa dams...... covered by a different author and a different book than above. From "Mac Arthur in the Pacific"
"The enemy defense consisted almost entirely of caves in the hillsides closely spaces for interlocking fire.
A cave normally consisted of a 10 ft. shaft large enough for a man to climb up or down a rope ladder. At the foot of the shaft a small tunnel leads to compartment some 20 by 30 ft. 4 or 5 lateral tunnels lead from the compartment. Just before a lateral reaches the surface slope of the hill it makes a sharp bend to prevent shelling from entering the tunnel." (I saw this in the Japanese caves above Cebu City).
" Against frontal assault methods the fire power developed from these miniature forts is deadly.
One method of attack consists of preliminary saturated bombardment by the air, artillery, and all infantry weapons calculated to confine the enemy in the tunnels. When this has been accomplished a small demolition group from the infantry moves in with white phosphorus grenades, flame throwers and demolition charges.
Several hundred lbs. of explosives are placed in the entrance of a lateral and blown to close the opening. In this manner the 4 or 5 entrances are sealed off, and the vertical shaft then blown from the top.
Each cave with it's laterals can hold about 25 men. When trapped in this way the enemy is suffocated to death and destroyed without taking any compensating toil from the troops.
As an example, a Brigade of the 1st Calvary Division in 48 hours in the attack now developed took 137 caves and blew up 446 of the outlets to these caves with practically no loss to themselves, while the enemies loss is estimated at several thousand men."
Oh, this is an official communique from Mac Arthur's staff.
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