The Lady School Teacher Who Silently Slayed 200 Japanese Forces in WWII

When the Japanese Forces arrived in the Philippines in 1941, they tortured Filipinos and took away all their possessions. No one was allowed to own businesses, and no one could teach anything except those approved by Imperial Japan.

One of those who endured the horrors brought by the Japanese occupation was Nieves Fernandez. She was a former schoolteacher and didn’t have any combat experiences. But she was determined to protect her students and fellowmen in Tacloban, Leyte, at all cost.

Japanese Occupation of the Philippines

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The Lady School Teacher Who Silently Slayed 200 Japanese Forces in WWII

The unsung badass story of Miss Fernandez

Captain Nieves Fernandez shows U.S. Army Private Andre Lupiba how to silently kill using a bolo | Image credit: Rare Historical

When the Japanese Forces arrived in the Philippines in 1941, they tortured Filipinos and took away all their possessions. No one was allowed to own businesses, and no one could teach anything except those approved by Imperial Japan.

One of those who endured the horrors brought by the Japanese occupation was Nieves Fernandez. She was a former schoolteacher and didn’t have any combat experiences. But she was determined to protect her students and fellowmen in Tacloban, Leyte, at all cost.

Japanese Occupation of the Philippines

Bataan Death March in the Philippines during the Japanese Occupation | Image Credit: Though Co.

Ten hours after the Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, they turned their attention next to the United States’ annex in Asia — the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

American aircraft were severely damaged in the initial attack. Therefore, the Allied forces were lacking aerial support in the Pacific theatre. The Asiatic Fleet was withdrawn from the Philippines and sailed towards Java on December 12, 1941.

General Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines, leaving his men at Corregidor on the night of March 11, 1942. The 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino soldiers in Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942. They were forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March on which 7,000–10,000 of them died or murdered.

It did not take long for the Japanese to quickly occupy the Philippines and spread their inhuman treatment against the Allied people in East Asia.

Leyte invasion

On May 25, 1942, Japanese forces landed in Tacloban City, signaling the beginning of Leyte’s two-year occupation. The Imperial troops barricaded the city and developed its airfield. Since San Pedro Bay was ideal for larger vessels, the Japanese Imperial Naval Forces made Tacloban a port of entry.