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Post by okla on Apr 4, 2012 23:40:02 GMT 8
Hey Tomasctt....Speaking of Yamashita, I used to drink beer at my neighborhood tavern with a guy who was assigned to the American unit who accepted the "Tiger of Malaya's" surrender in 1945. He was a Buck Sergeant at the time and was just a minor member of the group waiting for Yamashita to emerge from his stronghold in the Mountain to go into captivity. My friend made no extravagant claims of playing any role in the incident, but he said he was there to witness the event. He did say that the famous Japanese General didn't present a very imposing sight or image. Just a regular looking officer with a rumpled uniform. Of course, most Japanese uniforms looked rather shabby, methinks, but a very tenacious, fanatical fighter lurked therein, in most cases. Cheers.
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Post by dmether on Apr 5, 2012 14:11:56 GMT 8
If you are interested in what the pre-war houses in Manila looked like, one of the very few (maybe the only one left) is on the corner of Felipe Agoncillo st and Josefa Llanes Escoda (pre-war Colorado street and California street) near the Paco Cemetery. It is the former house of Walter Price, an American businessman whose son Joe Price was a guerilla leader on Leyte. In Feb 45 local residents took refuge at the house, however the Japanese came in and slaughtered between 100 and 200 of them. Today the house is used for the “Yakult Philippines Inc.” Address 1461 F Agoncillo Corner Pedro Gil. The house is in the center of this Google Earth image. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Apr 5, 2012 14:21:58 GMT 8
Here is the Price house in 1945, during the war crimes investigaion. Attachments:
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Post by dmether on Apr 5, 2012 15:05:04 GMT 8
Regarding the picture on page 1 of the wartime Bay View Hotel. The building on the left is the Luneta Hotel, which is still standing. Next to it is the Bay View, and behind the Bay View is the Boulevard-Alhambra (now the Bel-Air) Apartments, then the Miramar Hotel. It was in the Bay View, Boulevard-Alhambra, and Miramar (and the Manila Hotel) where the mass rapes in February 45 took place. The exact number of women and girls raped was never determined; however after the war 269 were found and interviewed. They were Filipino, American, Austrian, Spanish, German, British, Turkish, Russian, Panamanian, Formosan, and Estonian. I also included another shot of the place. Circled, foreground is the Luneta Hotel, directly behind is the Bay View, then Boulevard-Alhambra, then the shortest being the Miramar. Attachments:
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Post by tomasctt on Apr 5, 2012 19:45:00 GMT 8
okla, that sounds awesome. I wonder where your friend met Yamashita exactly. Another pre-WW2 house that still remains there in Manila is the old house of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and dad's. It is located at Piy Margal Street, Sampaloc, within walking distance of UST. Well, sorta remains. It was renovated several times, and the ground floor is now a parlor or internet cafe. Anyway, I reckon some/most sections of that house are still WW2 era. During WW2, my grandparents and their children (my dad and his siblings - my aunts and uncles) stayed there. It was one of the bigger and more comfortable houses at that time, and so the Japanese "took control" of it, serving as an officers' quarters IIRC. Family was treated well. When the Americans were coming, the Japanese left without any issue. IIRC, my aunts said when the Japanese who stayed at home left, the commanding officer turned around, bowed at them, and then left. Shortly after, the Americans arrived. It was fortunate that the house was near UST and north of the Pasig River. That spared the house from the shelling, also was one of the earlier places to be liberated by the Americans, and as it was north of the river, it did not witness the massacres that took place in other parts of Manila. I used to live there when I was newly born, and remember visiting grandparents and aunts well into the 1980s when my grandma and aunties sold the house and transferred south. Dad was born in that house, 1944. It was my aunts who had a clear recollection of life during the Japanese Occupation. Grandpa was a lawyer and AFAIK, during the occupation, he wasn't able to practice law that much. As my aunts recall, life was hard but somewhat manageable at that time. My auntie remembers when the Americans arrived to liberate the place, she received a chocolate bar from one of the soldiers.
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Post by okla on Apr 6, 2012 0:21:12 GMT 8
Hey Tomasctt....Sorry, but I don't know the exact location where Yamashita surrendered other than it was in the mountainous region of Northern Luzon. I remember my friend saying on numerous times how fortunate the Americans were at not having to "root" Yamashita's forces out of their formidable defensive positions in that rugged area. He said nobody wanted anymore of the type fightring that had gone on at Iwo Jima,etc.
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Post by darthdract on Apr 6, 2012 2:39:58 GMT 8
Here is the Price house in 1945, during the war crimes investigaion. oh my I know this place I recognized the walls
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