Lieutenant General Masaharu Homa Summary

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, Commander of the Japanese, began an unrelenting attack of the island on May 1st. Japanese troops boarded a landing craft to assault Corregidor on May 5th, under the command of Major General Kureo Tanaguchi. The first wave of Japanese infantry met brutal resistance and was hindered by oil which coated the beaches of Corregidor. The Japanese began to make advances and by May 6th they had captured Battery Denver. The marines quickly moved to recover the battery, but the Japanese overwhelmed the marines as more of their infantry arrived from mainland. Corregidor was suffering from ammunition shortages as the Japanese continued to press. Late morning the Japanese managed to land three tanks on the island. These tanks drove the defenders to the trenches near the Malinta Tunnel. The tunnel housed over 1,000 wounded, in the meantime, they began to contemplate surrender.
He sent messengers to discuss terms with Homma. General Wainwright only wanted to give up the remaining Soldiers on Corregidor but the Japanese wanted all remaining U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippines. The U.S. saw no other choice but to comply with the Japanese demands. Many of the men continued to battle the Japanese as guerillas. The U.S. lost around 800 Soldiers, 1,000 were wounded and 11,000 captured. The Japanese lost 900 and 1,200 were wounded. Some of the men were taken to camps around the Philippines and others were used for slave labor in parts of the Japanese Empire. Corregidor was under Japanese control until 1945, when Allied forces freed the