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Ryan Fauli's Yagting Cultural Heritage Collections
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Yagtings are invited to contribute stories about World War II in the island.

Banton and World War II

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A Reminiscence of World War II
as retold by my father

musashi photo 8
This famous picture, whose original is stored at Kure, shows the Musashi moments before she rolled over and sank.

More pictures at the bottom.

My father then was a teener when the war broke out. During the war they stayed in Banton while her mother (my lola) evacuated to the nearby island of Marinduque. I don't know why my grandmother went to that island where in fact there are more Japanese army in that island than in Banton. My grandmother together with other relatives sailed one calmy night using only the pasahe - a boat without engine. During that time, engine was then a dream in that island. She said they left Banton at dusk and luckily they arrived in Marinduque at dawn. 

During that time the Japanese army occasionally go to Banton. These soldiers had a reputation of torture, violence and even death. One time they gathered the islanders in the town plaza and had a head count - zona in Asi language. My father then was so nervous. He had heard of the cruelties and atrocities of the imperial army. He had heard of massacres that had happened in the neighboring island. He thought it was the end of the world for him then. But maybe it was the help of God through the intercession of San Nicholas de Tolentino - patron saint of the island, that  made miracle why the Japanese army then was not as expected.

There are guerrillas in the island during the war.  But maybe the Japanese army never had thought of such an existence. In fact my uncle, older brother of my father was a guerilla. Had they suspected of such existence in the island, maybe they were massacred. Thank God it never happened in the island.

During the great naval battle in Sibuyan Sea in October 24, 1944, my father at that time was in the farm, a few kilometers away from the poblacion. In that hill you can view clearly the sea where the battle took place.  He had seen how the US bombers bombed the Musashi, (Yamato's sistership) - the great Japanese battleship .

My father was still a kid  at that time.  Now in this age of information technology, I searched the net for possible photos of that great naval battle. Luckily I found photo sequence of that battle.   And when I return to my island sometime this summer, my father once more can see the picture of that event. 


Story of a great Waterscape in the island, you can go to Ish Fabicon's home page for more details.

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A photo sequence of the US Navy attack on the Japanese fleet in the Sibuyan Sea on October 24, 1944, one of the chapters of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. Just click the thumbnail to view the actual size.
musashi photo 8
musashi photo 1 musashi photo 2 musashi photo 3 musashi photo 4
This famous picture, whose original is stored at Kure, shows the Musashi moments before she rolled over and sank.
musashi photo 5 musashi photo 6 musashi photo 7

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*Photos used here are not the property of the author, but is used only for direct viewing. Credits goes to the owner of these photos, Paolo Pizzi. For more stories of World War II, you can go to these links:

http://www.odyssey.dircon.co.uk/leytegulf.htm
http://navismagazine.com/sample/photo-ship/photo-ship.htm