By the early part of 1941, Japanese expansionism in Asia was causing fears to rise in the Philippines. By May of the same year, all American dependents in the Philippines were ordered back to the United States. Despite these, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December still caught the Americans by surprise. As war broke out, bombs that fell on Camp John Hay heralded its arrival on Philippine soil. The Mess Hall and Scout Hill received direct hits. Japanese and German nationals in the city were quickly rounded up and by December 10 they were interned at Camp John Hay.

But, the tides of war shifted swiftly and decisively. Within two weeks Baguio, including Camp John Hay, had fallen into Japanese hands and nationals of the Allied nations (Americans, British and Europeans) replaced the Japanese and Germans as internees at the Camp.

A dismal Christmas season ushered in their four-month stay. However, they tried to make the best of their internment. Within two weeks, they had organized kitchen operations, assigned tasks and established a routine. To fight boredom and depression, they organized games: bridge, poker, cribbage and volleyball for the adults and various others for the children.

Deprived of news of developments elsewhere, rumors were rife among the internees. Many believed their confinement would be short. But, this notion was cruelly dashed when the Swedish consul came under diplomatic immunity to take his wife and child. His stories were the first realistic account they heard of the failing defense of Bataan and the expanding occupation of the Japanese.

On April 9, 1942 Bataan fell. Less than two weeks later, the internees were transferred to Camp Holmes in La Trinidad. By then, Camp John Hay had become a Japanese army post. It was converted into an arsenal and staging area from which Japanese soldiers in the surrounding mountains received their supplies during the duration of the war. When Japanese forces retreated to the Cordilleras at the end of the war, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Commanding Officer of the Japanese Imperial Forces in the Philippines transferred his headquarters from Manila to Baguio. To avoid the strafing and bombing by Allied aircraft, he frequently moved to Camp John Hay. While there he stayed at the residence of the U.S. High Commissioner.

Ironically, his occasional home would be the site of his last official act as the top Japanese military official in the Philippines: the signing of the instrument of surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces in the Philippines. This brought things to full circle.

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