Corregidor, << kuh REHG ih `dawr,` >> a rocky fortified island, covers about 2 square miles (5 square kilometers) at the entrance to Manila Bay on the island of Luzon. It is sometimes called the Gibraltar of the Pacific. During the early days of World War II, United States and Filipino troops made a determined stand on Corregidor against overwhelming Japanese forces. Their surrender to enemy troops on May 6, 1942, marked the end of organized U.S. resistance in the Philippines.
The Japanese held Corregidor until U.S. troops freed Luzon in February 1945. The United States ceded Corregidor to the Republic of the Philippines in 1947. In 1954, Corregidor became a Philippine national shrine dedicated to the American and Filipino troops who died there during World War II. The island has a war museum and a marble war memorial.
