Chapter 4- The Japanese-American War in Dayhagan, Carles, Iloilo

The Municipal Mayor of Carles, Mayor Engton Bartolome a cousin of my grandmother, was lost during the war. He was a mayor loved by the people of Carles. He disappeared. No one knew what happened to him. He tried to protect the residents from the Japanese soldiers and Filipino guerillas. Some said Mayor Engton Bartolome was killed by the Japanese. Others said he drowned in the sea. Some said, he was killed by Filipino guerrillas and his body was thrown to the sea. He disappeared without a trace. That’ was one hardship and pain of war during the Japanese time.

Unfortunately, some Filipinos guerillas were killed by Filipinos who were already loyal and paid by the Japanese.

One time, while walking in the road in Barosbos, Carles we heard the sound of a coming truck. Somebody called “Japanese”.We ran to the side of the road and laid down on the ground. It was really a Japanese truck, with soldiers. But I did not see their faces. Their hats covered their faces. Often Japanese soldiers came to our village.

It was in late 1944 when I first saw a battle between the Japanese warplane “Zero” and the American “Lockhead”. We heard the groans of the planes coming under the sky above us. The Japanese warplane and the American fighter plane were in deadly combat.

It happened right above our village in Dayhagan, Pilar, Capiz. The two planes were about 100 meters above us. Then another American Lockhead plane came roaring above us. It joined the fight between the two. There were heavy gun blasts. There were machine gun fires. We ran to our air raids for protection. Then, we heard a very strong gun blast. I saw the Japanese Zero in heavy smoke moving very, very fast to the sea in the west. About 1 km., away from the shore, the Japanese warplane burst in flames. The plane was blown to pieces.

We heard the two Japanese pilots were able to jump to the sea. But they were caught by the people and turned over to the guerrillas. To make sure that the Japanese pilots would not be able to escape, their wrists were pierced with strong metal wires and tied. They were tied together while in prison.

I saw the two U.S. Lockhead Warplanes moved away from the place of battle. They moved fast and after a few minutes, I was not able to see the two American planes anymore. I never heard until later after that the American fighter planes had landing fields in the nearby town, like the Japanese.

At the beginning of World War II, the American firm Lockheed under the guidance of Clarence (Kelly) Johnson, considered one of the best-known American aircraft designers that met the specifications for an Interceptor Plane submitted the P-38 Lightning Fighter Aircraft, a twin-engine design. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory Day over Japan.

Another time, we also saw the battle between a Japanese boat with Japanese soldiers and the Filipino guerrillas in Dayhagan, Carles, Iloilo. My father told me, he was with the guerilla fighters that day. The battle scene was just about 3 km. from our home in Dayhagan, Pilar, Capiz. The Japanese boat was carrying 40 soldiers and was going to the Municipality of Carles. But they were intercepted by the guerrillas in Dayhagan and a battle began. It started at about 3:00 p.m. and went on until after midnight that day. We heard unshots from both sides. We heard cannon blasts. During the fighting, we saw Tracer Bullets flying with the flair of lights from both sides. The Japanese boat was blown down and capsized. I heard some Japanese were killed. And some were captured.

Then, about a week later, we saw many useful things were produced by the people out of the capsized boat. We saw cooking utensils, plates, spoons and forks, knives, and different kinds of materials made by enterprising people from the iron, steel bars and aluminum of the Japanese boat. These incidents during the Second World War remain vivid in my memory..

4Dofeliz Sorensen, Myrna Bernal and 2 others

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