Battle of Manila (1945)

Battle of Manila
	Part of the 1944–1945 Philippine Campaign and the Pacific Theater of World War II
	; An aerial view of the destroyed walled city of Intramuros taken in May 1945
Date	3 February – 3 March 1945
Location	Manila, Philippines14°35′N 120°58′E / 14.583°N 120.967°E
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
United States Commonwealth of the Philippines;	Japan Republic of the Philippines (Second Republic);
Commanders and leaders
Douglas MacArthur; Oscar Griswold; Robert S. Beightler; Joseph M. Swing; Emmanuel Ocampo; Marcos V. Agustin	Tomoyuki Yamashita; Akira Muto; Sanji Iwabuchi †
Strength
35,000 US troops; 3,000 Filipino guerrillas	12,500 sailors and marines; 4,500 soldiers
Casualties and losses
1,010 killed; 5,565 wounded	16,665 killed (counted dead in Intramuros alone)
	Civilians:; 100,000+ killed; 250,000 total casualties

The Battle of Manila (Filipino: Labanan sa Maynila; Japanese: マニラの戦い, romanized: Manira no Tatakai; Spanish: Batalla de Manila; 3 February – 3 March 1945) was a major battle of the Philippine campaign of 1944–45, during the Second World War. It was fought by forces from both the United States and the Philippines against Japanese troops in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The month-long battle, which resulted in the death of at least 100,000 civilians and the complete devastation of the city, was the scene of the worst urban fighting fought by American forces in the Pacific theater. During the battle, Japanese forces committed mass murder against Filipino civilians, while American firepower killed many people. The resistance of the Japanese and American artillery also destroyed much of Manila's architectural and cultural heritage dating back to the city's founding. The battle is widely considered to be one of the most intense and worst urban battles ever fought, with it being the single largest urban battle ever fought by American forces.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Manila became one of the most devastated capital cities during the entire war, alongside Berlin and Warsaw. The battle ended the almost three years of Japanese military occupation in the Philippines (1942–1945). The city's capture was marked as General Douglas MacArthur's key to victory in the campaign of reconquest. It is, to date, the last battle fought within Manila.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference Connaughton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Intrec Inc (1974). "Weapons Effects in Cities. Volume 1". Technical Report – via DTIC.
^ Hartle, Anthony E. (1975). Breaching Walls in Urban Warfare (Master's thesis). United States Army Command and General Staff College. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
^ Ling, Caleb M. (2019). The Smart City: Achieving Positions of Relative Advantage During Urban Large-Scale Combat Operations (Master's thesis). United States Army Command and General Staff College. Retrieved 4 March 2024.

[Connaughton-1] Cite error: The named reference Connaughton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Intrec Inc (1974). "Weapons Effects in Cities. Volume 1". Technical Report – via DTIC.

[:162-3] Hartle, Anthony E. (1975). Breaching Walls in Urban Warfare (Master's thesis). United States Army Command and General Staff College. Retrieved 4 March 2024.

[4] Ling, Caleb M. (2019). The Smart City: Achieving Positions of Relative Advantage During Urban Large-Scale Combat Operations (Master's thesis). United States Army Command and General Staff College. Retrieved 4 March 2024.

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