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:

https://twitter.com/indiohistorian/status/1185829929998372864?s=20

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.

https://twitter.com/indiohistorian/status/1233659473748561922?s=20

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.

https://twitter.com/indiohistorian/status/1272096550215233537?s=20

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.

https://twitter.com/indiohistorian/status/1277193455467245568?s=20

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…)