WWII History

[Scien]

Hi Folks,

I\'m going to be moving to RP in a few months.
Although my Pacific knowledge wouldn\'t be as good as my European theatre knowledge, I still have a huge interest in anything WWII.

I\'m just wondering what WWII sights are a must see - museums, ships, battlegrounds etc?

Thanks.

[Edit - Just saw there was a Philippine History forum, apologies]

[c_a_p_t_a_i_n_r_o_n]

Well Scien

In Manila environs there\'s

Corregidor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Corregidor/blog-2085.html

& Intramuros and Fort Santiago where battle of Manila was centred

[Scien]

Fantastic. Cheers for those links...

Cant wait to visit these historic places.

[c_a_p_t_a_i_n_r_o_n]

Saw a BBC/PBS documentary about \"Battle of Manila\" and was appalled at the hammering it took, I\'m sure most have seen what the Russians did to Berlin......Manila looked to be similarly hammered.

Google Youtube Battle of Manila video to get an idea

What the BBC/PBS showed was the effect on Filipinos trapped between the Japanese and American armies

[RUFUS]

Ask and ye shall receive...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March

And some info on Bataan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan

Just for starters...

[chowur02]

Mr Holmes(John?),
Here\'s a contact for you in Bataan who was instrumental in organising Crosses placed for every mile(or km) of the death march up the Bataan Peninsula.
She is an astute businesswoman who owns a \"resort\" in Limay, Bataan. Also, she has written a book based on a WW2 Mata Hari type character in the Philippines.
She used to be involved in Travel agent type business-maybe she is ideal to contact:

Edna Binkowski
Email: endbink@mozcom.com 
 
Use Yahoo Messenger: Start a chat

Postal: P.O. Box 6345; Limay, Bataan 2103 P.I. 

Mobile: 09172752486 
Home Phone: 047 244 4348 
 
use my name: Victor Fowler and give her my kind regards if you meet up.
PS I think her resort would be an ideal inexpensive place to set up base to visit other areas of Bataan.
chowur
see how you are?

[uk]

here\'s a link for sun cruise to corregidor island.
http://www.corregidorphilippines.com/

i believe they are the only company that do day tour and overnight stays to the island.

[uk]

Is there anything built to give notice the the Bataan Death March? I\'m also a WW2 junkie, and remember a lot of what my teachers told me about the role the Philippines played in WW2 and Gen. MacArthur\'s love for the Filipino people.  Am planning to hit leyte where the troops returned to and Corrigedor to see the remaining battle implacements.  But am just wondering about the death march and anything still related to that or if its just kept in memory.

there is a ww2 shrine (90ft cross) on the top of mt samat in bataan it also has a small museum

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[wfox11]

I visited the MacArthur landing site on Leyte a few years back. I still wonder why he picked that spot. It's a couple hundred yards of gentle slope and then nothing but easily defended steep terrain. The resort there was a bad experience, but it was the day after the 60th anniversary celebration and the staff was probably severely hung over.

Some old Japanese tunnels on Cebu will be made into tourist traps for the Japanese. They will need some cleanup- they're being used as septic tanks by the residents.

[coleman2347]

This is an old topic but since I live in Leyte very close to most of the landing sites I thought I would add some stuff that might be interesting to those of us who are astute WW2 guys. 
If you go to the Leyte park, you are not at the landing site, Red beach was at Dulag, also Hill 101 was there but the memorial is on another hill because the original hill is now a gravel pit which can be seen from atop the Hill 101 memorial. 

There was a large jap airfield in Dulag that the Americans took over after the landing, its gone now also, but if you talk to some of the locals there is a memorial there, though its hard to find. 
I was fortunate to hook up with some Phil college students who knew where it was and got to visit there.

There are also a couple of Jap airfields off to the right on road going from Dulag to Buraeun.  Walk or motorcycle only, they are back in the midst of a coconut grove.  On one of them you will see a bridge built by the Japs to connect what was a dock to get aviation gas and parts to the airfield. On the other you can find a memorial to the Americans and Japanese that fought there.  The memorial is taken care of by one of the lcl women on her own, If you ever get there, give her a few peso to help with the maintenance.
There are many memorials built by the Japanese in the area though most are poorly maintained. 

I think one of the most moving memorials I have seen here is on the Hwy. from Tacloban to Ormoc,  Its fairly obvious coming down the west side of the first mountain you drive over going west.  It was called the battle of Breakneck ridge and from the top of the mountain you can see just how difficult it was for the Americans to take it.  There is a Jap memorial about a third of the way up the mountain, sorry you gota walk, and if you go to the top a Filipino family lives there, I took the time to climb it and found them very hospitable having a strange Kano climb up to their house. 

There is a hill (small mountain?) in Palo that is used for the Catholic 14 stages of the cross, about halfway up you will find a Jap bunker and again be able to see just how difficult it must have been to take.
I think you could spent a lifetime, just in Leyte and never see all there is to see.  I was stationed in Okinawa for some time and spent a year trying to find all the notable emplacements, bunkers etc.  I never got close even though I am sure I found more than most.  Its the same here.

  I have been lucky to find and get to know some of the older Filipino's that lived through the war and have interviewed a lot of them as to how it really was here.  My wife usually goes with me to translate.  The ones that actually lived through the war are dieing off so I think its important to actually find out what it was like, books usually don't tell the whole story.  Unfortunately it seems the present generation of Filipino's really don't care about that part of their history. 

I will add to this as I find things, for now I'm kinda house bound as Maline will be having a baby in July...Lee

[Frosty]

Lee have you thought about putting the places you found on a map and a brief description of what you found out about the place, and post it online? I know if I'm on Leyte I would like to check out some of the places you have found.

[Big Jim]

Japanese were all over Leyte. And then Americans later were there trying to take it from them.
 
In Palompon, where I rent, only half of the church was left standing after the Americans bombed it taking it back from the Japanese. There is nothing to actually see in Palompon that I am aware of. Except if you can find any of the gold left behind by the Japanese. I know of several families who have found gold. You may also get some artifacts. My ex wife's grandfather used to have a sword taken from a Japanese officer in hand to hand combat. However, what you can get in Palompon is stories. If you can find some elderly Filipinos to talk to, you can get stories of their lives under Japanese rule and some battle stories too.
 
There are bat caves on a small island near Biliran used by the Japanese during the second world war.
 
The MacArthur monument in Palo has already been mentioned.
 
What was glossed over was the fact that the Battle off Leyte Gulf also took place within sight of the MacArthur landing spot.

[coleman2347]

Ive got a lot of maps, probably more than I can post here but here are some that might be of interest.  If there is something specific you are looking for let me know.  Most of my stuff is about Leyte, I am sure some here in other areas have stuff about their area.

[coleman2347]

sorry, I left out this one...its the one I used to find the other airfields in the previous post..

[Palawan Aussie]

Ive got a lot of maps ..  most of my stuff is about Leyte ..

Thanks for these maps and photos fella 

Of interest, world historians say that today, June 19th in 1944, was the turning point of the WWII war against Japan. That is, the Pacific Theater.

For example, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-scores-major-victory-against-japanese-in-battle-of-the-philippine-sea (snip)


"United States scores major victory against Japanese in Battle of the Philippine Sea"
   
(Quote)  On this day in 1944, in what would become known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," U.S. carrier-based fighters decimated the Japanese Fleet ,with only a minimum of losses, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The security of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific, were vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.

U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. attack. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands as backup for the invasion of Saipan and the rest of the Marianas.

But Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo decided to challenge the American fleet, ordering 430 of his planes, launched from aircraft carriers, to attack.

In what became the greatest carrier battle of the war, the United States, having already picked up the Japanese craft on radar, proceeded to shoot down more than 300 aircraft and sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, losing only 29 of their own planes in the process.

It was described in the aftermath as a "turkey shoot."

Admiral Ozawa, believing his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, maintained his position in the Philippine Sea, allowing for a second attack of U.S. carrier-based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, to shoot down an additional 65 Japanese planes and sink another carrier. In total, the Japanese lost 480 aircraft, three-quarters of its total, not to mention most of its crews.

American domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion ..

The Japanese government of Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace at this stunning defeat, in what many have described as the turning point of the war in the Pacific. (/Quote)