Like clockwork, the sound of machine guns interrupted breakfast at 0745. I dashed out to see two American planes overhead. The siren sounded three minutes later, followed by a moment of quiet. The first wave of fighters had cleared the skies; the bombers arrived at 0800 and treated us to a 20-minute repetition of the raid exactly a week ago.

The weather was all too perfect for a raid — not a cloud under very blue skies. The barometer read 760 — cool "North Winds" — the best time of the year here lasting from November to February. The planes came from the East in bunches then split into groups of twos, threes, fives and sevens. They were neat and shiny, perfectly visible slow-moving targets, but each drew only about two antiaircraft shots per minute ... until they started diving.

As I write this, Japanese warships at Cavite are putting up a strong defense. One plane just scored a direct hit on Pandacan, starting a glorious fire with hissing and crackling flames 50 to 100 feet high.

Pandacan (an explosion there just now) is in the middle of Manila and has always been the main oil depot for the entire Philippines (another explosion; loud crackling noises). Oil is barged in and stored in huge oil tanks there (earth-shaking underground explosion now). The Japanese would have preferred to scatter drums of oil and gasoline around the city (another heavy explosion) but they simply hadn't the trucks to do so. So it stayed in Pandacan, a perfect target. And what a crackling sound it's making now! Sounds like the National Development again — like ammunition boxes exploding ... and still exploding ... heavy ones ... timeout!

All went quiet at 1000, but the planes returned 25 minutes later. The sounds of explosions or antiaircraft are coming from Cavite now, where a large convoy that must have arrived yesterday is getting it today. Planes are overhead again at 1047....

I heard a strange sucking sound as a round sped by, then another just hit the Bachrach garden like the last time — exploding in a spherical flash of light about 25 feet in diameter. I reacted instinctively — two steps back, arm raised over eyes, and down on one knee. Two more landed in the Burgos School and one in Placido Mapa's former house next door; none on our yard. That was the closest call so far. A battery somewhere must have us under range.

continues...