Filipino Civilians Charge Japanese Lines Armed Only with Bolos, 1941

This amazing account comes from the Spokane Daily Chronicle, and was published on December 19, 1941:

“Refugees streaming into Manila today, disclosed that hundreds of Filipino civilians, armed only with bolo knives or bamboo poles, had charged into Japanese rifle and machine gun fire beside United States and Philippine troops to hold off the invaders in Southern Luzon.

Using such weapons as they had in their homes and fields, witnesses said, the Filipinos fought furiously, running into the Japanese bayonet lines, to enable their women and children to escape to safety in the interior.

A woman refugee arriving from the area, said hundreds of women and children fled from Legaspi, the southern invasion center, because Japanese soldiers were shooting all noncombatants who refused to ‘cooperate.'”

Poster of the WWII Filipino Fighting Man. Source: http://filipinonationinarms.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-philippines-was-grave-of-dai-nippon.html