Which island was the base of Hiroo Onoda’s postwar holdout in the Philippines?

Lubang Island was the base of Hiroo Onoda’s postwar holdout in the Philippines.

Onoda was assigned to Lubang in late 1944 as an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer. After Japan surrendered, he and fellow soldiers hid in the island’s rugged interior and continued guerrilla activity because they believed the war was still continuing.

One member of the group surrendered in 1950, while two others died in later encounters. Onoda remained alone after Kinshichi Kozuka was killed in 1972. Norio Suzuki found him on Lubang in February 1974, but Onoda waited for formal orders before surrendering.

Onoda surrendered at Lubang’s radar base on March 10, 1974. The island is in Occidental Mindoro province, west of the main island of Luzon. His case is distinct from Shoichi Yokoi’s, who was discovered on Guam in 1972.