THE WALLS OF HELL (1964)

The entry of American forces into Manila in February 1945 marked the culmination of the campaign to liberate the Philippines. Little or no resistance was expected from the Japanese occupation troops, since their commander-in-chief, General Yamashita, had agreed to consider Manila an open city. But the hopes of the liberating army and its much-trodden 03 Filipino allies were cruelly dashed: 16,000 Japanese marines, convinced that if they were captured they would be shot, disobeyed Yamashita's orders and entrenched themselves inside the centuries-old walls of the city of Intramuros. They removed the largest artillery from their ships, placed it behind the solid walls of the old Spanish fort, and, knowing that they would be defeated anyway, vowed to succumb by making the enemy pay the highest price in blood. Trapped with them, within the ramparts of Intramuros, were 20,000 Filipino civilians, many thousands of whom perished in the tragic days that followed. Unleashed by the Americans, it is the most powerful bombardment in the history of artillery that is recounted here.