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116 THE WIDENING WAR 1942

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9–10 April 1942
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Mauban
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Port
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Mabayo
Tobang
Cabcaben
Limay
Lamao
Balanga
Abucay
Pilar
Orion
Bagac
Dinalupihan
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Mount

Natib

Mount

Mariveles

▽ Medal of Honor

This medal was awarded to US General Jonathan

Mayhew Wainwright IV, the Commander of the

Allied forces in the Philippines, who led his men

in the final stand on Corregidor.

THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH

APRIL 10–11, 1942

The Japanese force-marched 80,000 American

and Filipino prisoners of war from Bataan to

Camp O’Donnell in Capas in the north—a total

distance of around 69 miles (112 km). Between

5,500 and 18,650 died in the march, which was

later judged to be a war crime. About 12,000

marchers eventually escaped to form guerrilla

units in the mountains.

4

Route of the Bataan Death March

JAPAN INVADES

THE PHILIPPINES

Following their attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii, Japanese troops began to land in the north of the US-held

Philippine Islands on December 8, 1941. The US was now under

attack across the Pacific Ocean and faced the most serious military

challenge that it had known in a generation.

The Japanese began their campaign for

the Philippines with heavy air attacks

that neutralized US air power in the

archipelago. Their first landings were

met with little effective resistance,

forcing the Commander of US Forces in

the East, General Douglas MacArthur,

to abandon the capital, Manila, and

retreat west to fortify the Bataan

Peninsula. Here the American and

Filipino troops held out for four more

months until forced to surrender on

April 9, 1942. The final US redoubt on

Corregidor Island fell the next month.

The defeat was a blow to American

morale, and the Philippine Islands

would remain in Japanese hands until

their gradual but bloody recovery after

October 1944 (see pp.248–249).

The Japanese set up a Council of

State to rule the islands until they

declared them an independent republic,

led by José Laurel, in October 1943.

Most of the Filipino elite served the

Japanese, but a successful resistance

quickly arose, notably on Mindanao, the

island furthest from Manila. By the end

of the war, some 277 guerrilla units and

about 260,000 people were in action.

They were so effective that by the end

of the war, the Japanese controlled only

12 of the 48 Philippine provinces.

Jan 23–26, 1942 Japanese

troops attempt to land by sea

behind US lines but are

contained on their beachheads.

THE JAPANESE

INVASION BEGINS

The Japanese landed in the northern

Philippine Islands on December 8,

1941. After bombing US air bases,
      they invaded Luzon, the main island
      in the north, on December 10 and in
      the south two days later, attacking
      from Palau, a Pacific island some 620
      miles (1,000 km) to the south-east.
      Further assaults were launched
      against the southern Mindanao
      Island on December 19, again from
      Palau. The main attacks on Luzon
      came on December 22, when
      Japanese troops landed in Lingayen
      Gulf on the west coast, and on
      December 24, when they landed in
      Lamon Bay on the east coast.
      Attacks on the smaller central islands
      continued until May 1942.

THE BATTLE OF CORREGIDOR

MAY 5–6, 1942

Corregidor Island to the south of Bataan guarded

access to Manila Harbor—the finest natural

harbor in East Asia. After the fall of Bataan,

this tiny island was the last US base in the region.

The Japanese bombed Corregidor for four weeks

before landing their troops on the north-east

coast on the night of May 5. US defenses collapsed,

and the island surrendered on May 6, 1942.

5

Last US base in the Philippines

Japanese beachhead

Battle

Japanese air attacks on US bases

Japanese landings

KEY

Philippine

Sea

Moro

Gulf

Sulu Sea

(^24) DE
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Luzon
Mindanao
Mindoro
Panay
Palawan Los Negros
Cebu
Jolo
Basilan
Bohol
Leyte
Calamian Samar
Group Masbate
Corregidor
Island
Bataan
Peninsula
Borneo
10 DEC
Puerto
Princesa
Cabanatuan
Lingayen
Zamboanga
Aparri
Cotabato
Dulawan
Tacloban
Calapan
San Fernando
Batangas
Pagadian
Legazpi
Surigao
Davao
Mati
Manila
Laoag
Capiz
Vigan
Bukidnon
Iloilo
(^19) DEC
12 DEC
10 DEC
(^22) D
EC
24
D
EC
Lingayen
Gulf
Lamon
Bay
P
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