Image description: "Leaving Borneo for Philippines." (Personal collection of Norman Nigh.)
Norman and others of Company C boarded the Liberty Ship Richard Yates on October 30, 1945 and headed east towards the Philippines, where they arrived on November 4, 1945.
Japan's surrender having taken place the previous month, Norman and the rest of the 593rd's Company C boarded the Liberty Ship Richard Yates on October 30 to leave Labuan Island, Borneo. The ship sailed east to Batangas, a province and city on the Philippine island of Luzon, where it arrived on November 4, 1945. (Batangas was where Norman and the 593rd would have prepared for their role in a Japanese invasion had Japan not surrendered.)
Image description: Map of Northern Philippines, 1941-1945, from U.S. Army Special Operations in World War II, by David W. Hogan, Jr., Center for Military History Publication 70-42 Department of the Army Washington, D.C., 1992. Luzon is the large island on the map. Norman was based in Batangas (on the lower West part of the island) and visited Manila, which is about 60 miles to the north.
When World War II began, the Philippines was technically a United States territory. The Japanese began bombing the Philippines in December 1941 just hours after the Pearl Harbor attack. By May of 1942, U.S. and Filipino troops had surrendered, and Japan had control of the islands. In late 1944, while Norman was still based in Madang, New Guinea, General MacArthur made good on his promise to return to the Philippines. On October 20, 1944, MacArthur led the Allied invasion of the islands at Leyte Gulf. The Leyte campaign, which took place on the central-eastern area of the Philippine archipelago, lasted over two grueling and bloody months, but resulted in a victory for the Allies. (Incidentally, the Battle of Leyte was the first time Japan made use of Kamikaze pilots. Japan had lost many of its skilled pilots in the war, and in order to replace them quickly, young men were drafted and trained to fly their planes, but not to land them.)
Image description: "General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial landing at Leyte, Philippine Islands." (Source: U.S. National Archives)
Next, after neutralizing the island of Mindoro, situated to the west of Leyte, MacArthur led Allied forces in the invasion of the island of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945. Luzon is the largest, most populous island in the Philippines and contains the capital city of Manila. The U.S. Sixth Army marched south to Manila after landing. Unfortunately, the Japanese did not leave Manila an open city as the American and Filipino forces had done three years prior, and they refused to surrender. Over the course of February, the Japanese proceeded to not only wreak havoc upon the city's civilians- more than 100,000 of whom were killed- but used the city's grand buildings, as well as the ancient walled city, as bunkers, which the incoming U.S. Army had no choice but to destroy in order to access the enemy. As a result, at the end of February, 1945, enemy troops were vanquished from the city, but Manila, the once-beautiful "Pearl of the Orient," was completely destroyed.
Norman visited Manila during his time in the Philippines, as the city is only about 60 miles north of Batangas. Although he was there nine months after the Battle of Manila, the city was still in ruins. I recall seeing Norman's photos of Manila as a younger person when looking through his albums with my grandmother. However, they were missing from the stack my uncle recovered after my grandmother's death (which I am currently borrowing). Below are some examples of the devastation he would have seen:
Image description: "Like many other buildings in Manila, the Legislative Building was not spared from heavy shelling and bombing." (Source: U.S. National Archives)
Image description: "Destruction at the Walled City (Intramuros District) of Manila in May 1945 after the Battle of Manila." source: www.wikicommons.com
On November 30, 1945, Norman and other members of the 3rd Engineer Special Brigade boarded the USS Geneva, PA 86 at Batangas and headed towards San Francisco, where they arrived on December 19, 1945.
Image description: "USS Geneva in San Francisco Bay circa 1945-1946" (source: US Naval Historical Center). It's possible this photo was taken during Norman's voyage home. Perhaps he is one of those tiny humans pictured.
References:
Dormarier, Alfred E., "Brief History of Company C," Army War College, Historical Records Branch, 1945
Paquette, Ernest W., Our Business is Beachheads: The 3rd ESB and 593rd EB&SR (Self-Published, 1993)
Scott, James M., Rampage: MacArther, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila (New York: Norton, 2018)
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