Thread by @indiohistorian

#TodayinHistory in 1945, 75 years ago, General Douglas MacArthur announces publicly via a communiqué that the "entire Philippine Islands are now liberated and the Philippine Campaign can be regarded as virtually closed." (THREAD) #PH #WWII #WW2

Context: After the great retreat and crashing blow on the United States by the Japanese w/ Pearl Harbor attack, the invasion of the Philippines & entire Southeast Asia in 1941, the Allied forces slowly gained ground in the Pacific. In October 1944:

The Filipino guerrillas and the U.S. forces, together, engaged the thinning Japanese forces in #PH, as the Japanese were pushed to desperation. The Allied forces landed in Lingayen and in Batangas to converge in Manila to liberate it.

Lasting from 3 February to 3 March 1945, the #BattleofManila devastated the Philippine capital, making it the 2nd most destroyed Allied capital of #WWII, next only to Warsaw, Poland.

With Manila liberated, the scattered Japanese forces were pursued northward into the mountains of the Cordilleras, and in other parts of #PH. The last strategic battle that compromised the Japanese making them unable to mount an offensive was Bessang Pass.

On 28 June 1945, intel reports came in to MacArthur's HQ from across the archipelago that all hostilities have already ceased. Further sweep of terrains and potential Japanese holdouts were conducted.

Today in 1945, MacArthur's communiqué: "Some minor isolated action of a guerrilla nature in the practically uninhabited mountain ranges may occasionally persist, but this great land mass of 115,600 square miles with a population of 17,000,000 is now freed of the invader." #WWII

Credits:

- Photos from the Presidential Museum & Library 2010-2016
- Maps from the Historical Atlas of the Republic (2016) (archive.org/details/histor…)