Battle of Corregidor ( 1945 ) " For the Japanese capture of Corregidor in 1942 , see Battle of Corregidor " The Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor , 16 – 26 February 1945 , pitted American liberation forces against the defending Japanese garrison on the island fortress . Prior to the Japanese invasion in 1942 , the USAFFE had held the bastion until they surrendered in 1942 . The retaking of the island , officially named Fort Mills , along with the bloody battle to liberate Manila and the earlier recapture of the Bataan Peninsula , by invading US forces from the occupying Japanese , marked the redemption of the American and Filipino surrender on 6 May 1942 and the subsequent fall of the Philippines . The surrender of Corregidor in 1942 and the ensuing grisly fate of its 11 , 000 American and Filipino defenders led to a particular sense of moral purpose in General Douglas MacArthur , and as shown in the subsequent campaigns for the liberation of the Philippine archipelago , he showed no hesitation in committing the bulk of US and Philippine forces under his command . To the American soldier , Corregidor was more than a military objective ; long before the campaign to recapture it , the " Rock " had become an important symbol in United States history as the last Pacific outpost of any size to fall to the enemy in the early stages of the Pacific War . Background . Capture of Corregidor . The Japanese opened their attack on Corregidor with an aerial bombardment on 29 December 1941 , several days after MacArthur moved his headquarters there , but the heaviest attacks throughout the siege were from artillery based on nearby Cavite and later , on Bataan . When the last American and Filipino troops on the peninsula surrendered on 9 April 1942 , the Japanese were able to mass artillery for an all - out attack of the Rock and its antiquated batteries . The tunnel network that ran through the island ' s hills afforded protection to the defending garrison , but much of the defense activity had to be carried out in the open . By 4 May , many of the guns had been knocked out , the water supply was low , and casualties were mounting . Heavy shellfire preceded Japanese attempts to land the next night , the Japanese later admitted their amazement at the savage resistance , which accounted for the sinking of two thirds of their landing craft and losses amounting to 900 killed and 1 , 200 wounded , against US losses of 800 dead and 1 , 000 wounded . Strategy for recapture . Corregidor in 1945 — though it lacked in importance to the defensive strategy of the Japanese than it previously had held for the Americans in early 1942 — remained a formidable sentinel to the entrance to Manila Bay . Consequently , American planners thought it merited a separate attack . MacArthur ' s strategy was to make a combined amphibious and airborne assault — among the most difficult of all modern military maneuvers — to retake the island . Although this particular plan of action had been used to good effect during the Luzon landings , the airborne phase was risky . As small as it was , at just over five square miles , the tadpole - shaped island made a difficult target for a parachute drop . Complicating the strategy , was that the paratroopers were required to land on a hill known as ' Topside ' , the island ' s foremost dominant terrain feature . MacArthur ' s staff balked at the proposal , but on the other hand , there was little choice . From ' Topside ' , the Japanese could dominate all possible amphibious landing sites . The American premise was that the Japanese would certainly not expect an airborne landing on such an unlikely target . The honors for recapturing the Rock went to the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team of Lieutenant Colonel George M . Jones and elements of Major General Roscoe B . Woodruff ' s 24th Infantry Division , the same units which undertook the capture of Mindoro island . Battle . Bombardment . On 23 January 1945 , the aerial bombing to soften up the defenses on Corregidor commenced . Daily strikes by heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) continued until 16 February , with of bombs dropped . Estimated figures since the bombing campaign started up to 24 February showed 2 , 028 effective sorties , with of bombs dropped on Corregidor . On 13 February , the United States Navy added to the bombardment , with cruiser s and destroyer s shelling from close to shore and braving sporadic Japanese artillery counterfire , with minesweepers operating around the island by the next day . The softening up , or " gloucesterizing " ( so - called after an intense pre - invasion bombardment of Cape Gloucester the previous December ) , of the island of Corregidor lasted for three more days . The naval barrage on Corregidor , however , was not without incident . On 14 February , while assisting minesweeping operations prior to landings on Manila Bay ' s Corregidor Island , USS " Fletcher " was hit by an enemy shell and set afire . Watertender First Class Elmer Charles Bigelow fought the blaze , contributing greatly to saving his ship , but was badly injured and died the next day . For his valor and personal sacrifice he was awarded the Medal of Honor . At sunrise on 16 February , attacks by Consolidated B - 24 Liberator s and an hour of low - altitude bombing and strafing runs by Douglas A - 20s preceded the landings . Touchdown on Topside . At 08 : 33 on 16 February , barely three minutes late from their intended time , and facing 16 - 18 knot winds over the drop zones , the first of one thousand troopers of the 503rd PRCT based at Mindoro , began dropping out of C - 47 troop carriers of the US Thirteenth Air Force and to float down on the surprised Japanese defenders , remnants of Maj . Gen . Rikichi Tsukada ' s " Kembu Group " at the two tiny go - point areas of Topside ' s western heights . However , some paratroopers were blown back into Japanese held territory . Despite rumors to the contrary , no troopers drowned , although some who were unable to climb the cliffs through hostile territory , or had fallen close to the rocks , had to be rescued near Wheeler Point . Despite the grueling air and naval bombardment that left the defending troops dazed and scattered , they vigorously rallied , and fierce fighting erupted almost immediately . At one point that same morning , they threatened to drive a salient into the paratroopers ' tenuous foothold on ' Topside ' . Paratroopers and infantrymen waged a tenacious battle with the well dug - in and determined enemy . Private Lloyd G . McCarter , a scout attached to the 503rd , during the initial landing on 16 February , crossed of open ground under intense fire and at point - blank range silenced a machine gun with hand grenades . In the next few days , he inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese , but was seriously wounded . Pvt . McCarter was awarded the Medal of Honor . Battle of " Banzai " Point . The most ferocious battle to regain Corregidor occurred at Wheeler Point on the night of 18 February and early the next morning , when D and F Companies , 2nd Battalion , 503rd PRCT , settled down in defensive positions near Battery Hearn and Cheney Trail . At 22 : 30 under a black , moonless night , 500 suicidal Japanese marines came out of the Battery Smith armory and charged the American and the Philippine positions . ( This was also the night Pvt . McCarter earned his Medal of Honor ) . F Company stopped the frenzied attacks by the Japanese trying to break through to the south . Any minor breakthrough by the charge would have been cut short by the rear echelons . Aside from flares fired throughout the night by warships laying offshore , the three - hour battle was decided by the weapons of the 50 paratroopers ranged against the Japanese Special Landing Force , the best among the empire ' s fighting men . Not all men of the company were involved in the fighting because of the ensuing confusion . The savage encounter ended in failure with more than 250 Japanese corpses strewn along a stretch of Cheney Trail . F Company suffered 14 dead and 15 wounded . This was the first significant attack by the Japanese on Corregidor . Official historians of the 503rd refer to Wheeler Point as " " Banzai " Point " . Seizure of Malinta Hill . At the same time the 503rd paratroopers touched down at ' Topside ' , the first wave of 3rd Battalion under Lt . Col . Edward M . Postlethwait of the 24th Infantry Division ' s 34th Infantry Regiment under ( Col . Aubrey " Red " S . Newman ) waded ashore and established a beachhead at San Jose Point on the eastern end of Corregidor named ' Black Beach ' . The succeeding waves of troops took the brunt of the hastily - organized Japanese defense , and several landing craft and infantrymen became victims of landmines . The battalion pushed inland against sporadic resistance , mostly from groups coming out of the subterranean passages of the inland to waylay the advancing American troops . Two 3rd Battalion units — K and L Companies under Captains Frank Centanni and Lewis F . Stearns , respectively — managed to secure the road and both northern and southern entrances to Malinta Hill , while Capt . Gilbert Heaberlin ' s A Company stationed itself near the waterline . I Company — under 1st Lt . Paul Cain — occupied the North Dock and guarded the harbor . They intended to keep the Japanese troops inside the tunnel as other units moved inland , accompanied by tanks and flamethrower s ; weapons that devastated pillboxes and tunnels in the surrounding areas held by the Japanese . For eight straight days until 23 February , these units staved off successive " banzai " charges , mortar attacks , and even a suicide squad of soldiers with explosives strapped to their bodies , they killed over 300 Japanese . On 21 February at 21 : 30 , Malinta Hill reacted like a volcano when several detonations in quick succession tore it asunder . The Japanese trapped inside had blown themselves up , and after the explosions and rock falls ceased , some 50 Japanese exited the cave to attack , the Americans mowed them down . Two nights later , a similar attack happened . Finally , engineers went to work , poured large quantities of gasoline down the tunnels and set them afire , they then sealed the tunnels ' entrances . After some time , silence finally reigned inside Malinta Hill . There were no more organized Japanese attacks for the rest of the campaign . Only isolated pockets of resistance continued to fight on with a suicidal frenzy until 26 February , when Corregidor was finally declared secured . Aftermath . Large numbers of Japanese troops drowned while attempting to swim away from the Rock . Many of them , estimated in the thousands , sealed themselves in the numerous subterranean passages of the island . In compliance with the philosophy of Bushidō , the defenders , hiding in caves and tunnels like the ones at Malinta Hill , preferred to commit suicide rather than surrender . Corregidor reverberated with many underground explosions for days afterward . There were very few Japanese soldiers captured , but the victory was not without a price . An M4 Sherman tank fired a shell into a sealed tunnel suspected of harboring Japanese soldiers but which instead contained tons of stored ammunition . The subsequent tremendous explosion threw the tank several dozen feet , killing its four - man crew , it also killed 48 US soldiers nearby , and wounded more than 100 others in the immediate area . By 1 March , the devastated island bastion , with its harbor , the finest in the East , was officially opened to Allied shipping . Six days later , on 7 March , Gen . MacArthur returned to the island fortress he had been forced to leave three years before . " " I see that the old flagpole still stands . Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak and let no enemy ever again haul it down " " , he said , at the ceremonial raising of the Stars and Stripes . The perfectly coordinated triphibious American assault to recapture Corregidor left the 503rd PRCT with 169 dead and 531 wounded . The 34th Infantry Regiment suffered 38 killed and 153 wounded . Of the 2 , 065 men of both lifts by the 503rd PRCT , about 280 were killed or severely injured . Three men suffered parachute malfunctions , and two men who collided with buildings died . Eight men were killed either in the air or before they were able to get free of their chutes , a further 50 were wounded in the air or upon landing . Several men were missing in action at the drop . The total injuries ( not by wounding ) on the drop were 210 . For many recent years , Japanese sources have estimated that there were about 6 , 700 Japanese on the island when the 503rd PRCT and 34th Infantry landed , of which , only 50 survived . Another 19 were taken prisoner , but 20 Japanese stragglers surfaced after the war on 1 January 1946 . Corregidor today is a premium tourist destination in the Philippines . Over the years , most of the decrepit artillery pieces and significant battle sites on the island have been restored as important historical landmarks .