The Manila Massacre: Remembering the Civilian Tragedy of 1945

by ​Joaquin Carvajal

Between February 3 and March 3, 1945, a massacre took place that fundamentally shaped the legacy of the Pacific War. The Manila Massacre saw Japanese soldiers kill an estimated 100,000 Filipino civilians during the brutal Battle of Manila, one of the most destructive urban battles of World War II. The scale of the atrocities led to the prosecution and execution of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander in the Philippines. The massacre remains a tragic chapter in history, transforming a city once considered safe from war’s destruction into a scene of unparalleled urban combat in the Pacific Theater. Yet, questions persist about whether the Allied Powers appropriately punished the perpetrators for these heinous acts.

During the early campaigns of the Pacific War, Japan captured the Philippines in 1942, establishing an empire rivaling Western colonial powers. However, after Allied victories in 1942 and 1943, the focus shifted to recapturing the Philippines. The campaign began in earnest in October 1944, with U.S. forces landing on Leyte. By early 1945, the U.S. 6th Army, supported by elements of the 8th Army, advanced toward Manila. General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army, initially planned to withdraw his forces from Manila to avoid defending a city with flammable wooden buildings and a large civilian population, which could complicate military operations (Phocas). He intended to retreat to more defensible positions in the Luzon highlands. However, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, commander of the Manila Naval Defense Force, defied Yamashita’s orders. Motivated by a desire to restore his honor after a perceived failure in the 1942 Battle of Midway, Iwabuchi chose to defend Manila to the death (Toll, 451). Leading a force of approximately 16,000 naval troops and assorted army units, Iwabuchi fortified the city.

The Battle of Manila began on February 3, 1945, as U.S. forces surrounded the city, isolating Iwabuchi’s troops. For a month, savage fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces reduced Manila to rubble. As the battle raged, Japanese troops, cut off and increasingly desperate, unleashed horrific violence on Filipino civilians. According to historian Benito Legarda, “Women were raped and sliced with bayonets from groin to throat and left to bleed to death in the hot sun… Children were seized by the legs and had their heads bashed against walls. Babies were tossed into the air and caught on bayonets. Unborn fetuses were gouged out with bayonets from pregnant women” (Felton, 175-176). Japanese soldiers, viewing occupied peoples as inferior, showed no mercy. At De La Salle College, Japanese troops massacred civilians, including women and children, in a brutal and indiscriminate manner, with reports noting attempts to violate even wounded and dead victims (Nakano, 9-10). Rapes were widespread, often organized, with Filipino women gang-raped and killed afterward. Japanese forces also targeted Spanish nationals, despite their neutrality, and Filipinos with “Caucasian appearance” (Nakano, 10)

Filipino children killed by the Japanese, 1945. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Wiki Commons.

Heavy artillery fire from both sides exacerbated the civilian toll. U.S. commanders, prioritizing American lives, employed artillery barrages, which caused significant civilian casualties (Glenn, 20). Japanese forces used Filipino civilians as human shields, exploiting U.S. hesitation to fire on non-combatants. Additionally, Japanese troops deliberately set fire to neighborhoods, implementing scorched-earth tactics (Glenn, 21). By March 3, 1945, Manila, once a vibrant cultural hub, lay in ruins. An estimated 100,000 Filipino civilians perished due to Japanese atrocities and the battle’s destruction.

Destruction at the Walled City (Intramuros district) of old Manila in May 1945, after the Battle of Manila. Surgery in World War II: Activities of Surgical Consultants, Vol II. Wiki Commons.

The man that the U.S. would eventually find responsible for the Manila Massacre was General Yamashita, the leader of the Japanese forces in the Philippines. According to Professor Satoshi Nakano, “Yamashita was accused of ‘willful disregard and failure to discharge his duty’ to take control as commander in preventing his subordinates from committing the war crimes” (Nakano, 11). The trial of Yamashita took place from October 29 to December 7, 1945, with Yamashita being found guilty. Yamashita would appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, but it was refused in a 5-2 decision and was eventually executed by hanging (Nakano, 11). The decision to execute Yamashita remains controversial to this day. 

After the war, the U.S. investigated these atrocities, holding General Yamashita accountable. From October 29 to December 7, 1945, Yamashita was tried for war crimes, accused of failing to control his subordinates despite his orders to withdraw from Manila (Nakano, 11). Found guilty, he was executed by hanging in February 1946 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the verdict in a 5-2 decision. The trial remains controversial. Critics, including Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, argued that Yamashita was prosecuted for his subordinates’ actions rather than direct orders, noting a lack of precedent in international law (Nakano, 11). The “Yamashita Standard” established a precedent for command responsibility, influencing post-war war crimes prosecutions (Eastman).
The Manila Massacre’s legacy endures in Philippines-Japan relations, with post-war trials fostering reconciliation. However, the battle, comparable to Stalingrad in destruction and the Rape of Nanking in cruelty, has faded from global memory. Its significance—not only for the loss of life and destruction of Manila but also for shaping international war crimes law—demands remembrance.

General Tomoyuki Yamashita at the Japanese War Crimes Trials in Manila, 1945. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Wiki Commons.

Filipino survivors of the assault on the walled city area, after their liberation by U.S. troops, 23 February 1945, 23 February 1945. Naval History and Heritage Command. Wiki Commons.

Citations
Eastman, Michael. “Manila: The Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita.” Virtual Tribunals. https://exhibits.stanford.edu/virtual-tribunals/feature/manila-the-trial-of-general-tomoyuki-yamashita
Felton, Mark. “Slaughter At Sea: The Story of Japan’s Naval War Crimes.” Internet Archive. 2007. 
Glenn, Russell. “Urban Disaster Wrought by Man: The Battle for Manila, 1945.” Journal of Strategic Security 16 (3). https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.16.3.2103.
Nakano Satoshi. “The ‘Death of Manila’ in the Second World War and Its Postwar Commemoration.” In Authenticity and Victimhood after the Second World War. Edited by Andreas Wirsching, Randall Hansen, Achim Saupe, and Daqing Yang. University of Toronto Press, 2021. 
Phocas, Benjamin. “Fighting for the Pearl of the Orient: Lessons from the Battle of Manila.” Modern War Institute. August 1, 2023. https://mwi.westpoint.edu/fighting-for-the-pearl-of-the-orient-lessons-from-the-battle-of-manila/.
Toll, Ian W. Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945. W.W. Norton, 2020.

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