Hills, overlooking the town. Rhonie Dela Cruz photo.
Investigating History:
THE JAPANESE WWII TUNNELS OF BAMBAN HILLS: THE KAMII BUTAI NORTH SECTOR
大東亜戦争 バンバン丘陵のトンネル 1945年: 上井舞台北の場所
In the continuation of our Project Discovery WWII Tunnels, we ventured into the northern sector of Bamban, another WWII Battlefield anchored on the ridges of Macapul, Layac and Pulung Diablu. During WWII, the area became another fiercest battlefields of the Bamban Hills, where the 108th Infantry, 40th Division fought the Japanese Kamii Butai reinforced battalion.
where we conducted field survey of the series of Japanese WWII tunnels.
In January 1945, the whole area appearing in this image became fierce battlefields.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photo.
These high grounds were the sector command of the Japanese Kamii Battalion (reinforced) in 1945, under Major F. Kamii. The battalion boasted additional support units like the 25th Independent Anti-Tank Battalion, with numerous Type 96 anti-aircraft guns under Capt. Sata. These Type 96 were converted into anti-tank use and had been utilized against the 40th Division M4’s Sherman light tank during the Battle of Bamban Hills.
WWII tunnels in the Macapul area and the vicinity former battlefields in WWII.
There was also the 28th Independent Cannon Unit, under the command of Captain Matsuhara. In fact, Kamii Battalion was the better equipped unit of the Takayama Detachment, Kembu Group protecting the north and high ground of the Bamban in January 1945.
These Type 96 are the same automatic cannons that’s on display in front of Clark Museum. Numerous projectiles were recovered around Bamban high grounds overlooking the town, where the Type 96 were scattered in large numbers in 1945.
Even these days, you can still find these 25mm projectiles in wide area. We were led to a series of tunnels in the Kamii Sector of Macapul, a perfect high grounds where you can see every movement of potential enemy.
The tunnels, counted at 6 but maybe more and others were just sealed off in the final days of stiff combat, were well-defined tunnel defense system where machine guns, mortars and automatic cannons emplaced. 25mm Type 96 projectiles were also recovered in these places, some of which are now in display at the Bamban WWII Museum, all but inert.
A journey to these tunnels is a travel in WWII History that can only be experienced with the Bamban WWII Battlefield Tours.
Copyright 2025 Rhonie Dela Cruz
Bamban Historical Society
Bamban WWII Museum
Center for Pacific War Studies
Provincial Government of Tarlac –
Tarlac Provincial Tourism Office
