Dumaguete Facts
Photo: Japanese WW2 Pillbox in Brgy. Piapi.
This first air raid in Dumaguete City took place on September 12, 1944, more than a month before the American landing in Leyte. The area most often under bombing raids after that first one was the landing field which the Japanese had been trying to complete for their own planes.
Bombs were also dropped along the provincial highway from the landing filed to the town. After one bombing sortie, the large depot in Lo-oc near the Dumaguete wharf blew up in a flaming holocaust.
Another major objective of the American raids was Guy Hall on the Silliman campus, the headquarters of the Japanese. The walls of the building were damaged by American B-25 strafing operations. After a number of raids by the American planes, the Japanese transferred their headquarters to the home of the late Mr. Miguel Amil in Piapi. No damage was done to Oriental Hall, the headquarters of the Bureau of Constabulary. The underground resistance men inside the town kept the Americans informed of the whereabouts of the Japanese. At first, American bombings were frequent, but later, there were long quiet intervals between raids which seemed to mislead the Japanese into believing that the Americans were not coming again. The Japanese did not fire back for fear they might be located. Besides, they had no anti-aircraft guns with which to fight back effectively.
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