Captain Nieves Fernandez was the only known female Filipino guerilla leader. She was a school teacher prior to the war. The picture above shows US Army Pvt. Andrew Lupiba how used her long knife to silently kill Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation of Leyte Island. The image was taken by Stanley Troutman, 7 November 1944, Mabuhay Las Piñas, Leyte Island, Philippines.
She worked with guerrillas south of Tacloban and brought together native men to withstand the Japanese. She led over 110 natives and they killed over 200 Japanese with knives and shotguns made from parts of a gas pipe.
The Japanese put in 10,000 pesos for her to be captured. She was hurt once. The bullet scar is visible on her right forearm. Filipinos call the weapon a bolo, which is basically a long knife. The primary use of the bolo is for clearing vegetation; whether for agriculture or during trailblazing.
As a result of its availability, the bolo became a common choice of improvised weaponry for the common man, especially during the Japanese assault.
The Filipino culture has a very rich culture that supports beheading enemies and using their heads for rituals. In the Northern province of Luzon, headhunter warriors are tattooed to represent their successful enemy headhunts. This continued till WWII.
During WWII, the headhunting continued and so rather than use guns, the Filipino warriors would hide in the forests and attack the Japanese. They would then bring back their heads to their tribe and do a black magic ceremony with it and end it by putting their heads on a spike to ward off future attacks.
The technique she showed is by cutting a carotid artery and the internal jugular, which is connected to the brain. The idea was by stabbing sharply into the soft spot directly behind or below the ear lobe. This way, the object enters the base of the victim’s brain.
If this procedure was correctly performed, the only sound the victim will make is that of physical struggle but with the plan of sneaking from behind, that was settled.
SEE ALSO: The Wartime Weekly Food Ration For Two People In Britain, 1943
