Marciano de Jesus Noble

Marciano de Jesus Noble was born on May 24, 1876.  His parents, Petronilo Noble and Barbara de Jesus had two other daughters: one died while she was still young.  The surviving sister was  Isidra who lived  to see his brother raise a family of four girls.  One of these girls was my mother She taught me to hail my grandfather as Lelong Ciano whose faintest recollection I have not retained as he died when I was only one year old.

I became fond of the grandfather that I never really had, thanks to the little stories my mother taught me,   She tells me that Lelong Ciano was concerned about the atrocities that would ensue when the Americans try to win back Manila from the Japanese. His anxieties caused his untimely death on January 4, 1945, just one month before the American liberation forces and the Japanese defenders launched the Battle for Manila.

Five days after Lelong's death, Gen. Kruegger landing at Red Beach in Lingayen,  rushed the Sixth Army towards Manila. From the south, the 11th Airborne Division landed at Nasugbu  followed by paratroopers of the 511th Regimental Combat Team jumping over Tagaytay Ridge, advanced northward.  The Japanese were trapped in Manila.

It was the worst urban warfare in the Pacific Theater of the war. The family of the late Marciano Noble, her widow and four daughters, a son-in-law and a one year old grandson, had to fend for themselves amidst the atrocities of war.  Manila one of the most devastated city of World War II, second only to Warsaw.

A marker at Anda Street near General Luna Street in Intramuros reads:  “This monument is erected in memory of the more than 100,000 defenseless civilians who were killed during the Battle for the Liberation of Manila between February 3 and March 3,1945. They were mainly victims of heinous acts perpetrated by the Japanese Imperial Forces and the casualties of the heavy artillery barrage by the American Forces. The Battle for Manila at the end of World War II was one of the most brutal episode in the history of Asia and the Pacific. The non-combatant victims of that tragic battle will remain forever in the hearts and minds of the Filipino people.”

PHOTO: Memorare-Manila, 1945, Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.