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October 24, 1944

Some twenty planes made a thunderous attack over Nichols, catching the guardians of the city unaware. They did not hit as accurately as on the first day.

In San Pedro, Makati, bombs were dropped off-target. A boat in Manila Bay was bombed several times but it remained firmly afloat.

A Japanese official attributed this poor hitting precision to the fact that the pilots were Canadians, not Americans. That was a consolation for the Imperial Air Force which had already lost supremacy of the air in the Philippines since the first day.

A good part of the Japanese officialdom is gradually being convinced, not only of the possibility of losing the war, but also of the improbability of winning it. The troops are a small ignorant herd who, upon landing on this soil a few months ago, were asking if they had embarked in Australia. A number of officers are worried about being forced to commit harakiri should they lose this last battle. One Catholic among them, on being advised that it was prohibited for him to commit suicide, remarked that he and his family would be dishonored and could no longer live in Japan.