By February 1945, Manila, the pearl of the Orient', had been under Japanese occupation for over three years. The million or so inhabitants of this lively, cosmopolitan city had, for the most part, made the necessary adjustments. Despite major shortages, the pattern of daily life had reasserted itself, both in the gracious bayside mansions lining Dewey Boulevard and in the thriving slums of the Tonday peninsula. Yet the air was charged with expectation: US General Douglas MacArthur, who on leaving the Philippines in March 1942 had famously promised I shall return, was about to fulfil that promise.