What happens
Mr. Ainsworth, a long-time resident of Manila, is held as a prisoner by the Japanese occupiers and recounts the city's history in a letter he hopes to smuggle out. He reflects on Manila's layered past under Spanish, American, and now Japanese rule, from the 1500s conflicts with Raja Solomon and Martin de Goiti to the American-led development of the harbor. He describes the friend Tupper, the outbreak of war, and the Japanese arrival in the city. The story of the Pacific Story series, aired October 1, 1944 on the National Broadcasting Company, is told through Ainsworth's narration of how the Japanese seized control and how contact with the outside became dangerous.
Manila, Philippines, from the 1500s through the Japanese occupation in World War II
Characters: Mr. Ainsworth, Tupper, Major, Raja Solomon, Martin de Goiti, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, Gregorio Reyes, Dr. Monroe
Listen for: Ainsworth's account of Manila's history and his description of the Japanese occupation and his arrest-threatened contact with Gregorio Reyes
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.