TheCommonwealth of the Philippines was attacked by theEmpire of Japan on 8 December 1941, nine hours after theattack on Pearl Harbor (the Philippines is on the Asian side of the international date line). Although it was governed by a semi-independent commonwealth government, Washington controlled the Philippines at the time and possessed important military bases there. The combined Filipino-American army was defeated in theBattle of Bataan, which saw many war crimes committed, and theBattle of Corregidor in April 1942, butguerrilla resistance against the Japanese continued throughout the war. Uncaptured Filipino army units, acommunistinsurgency, and supporting American agents all played a role in the resistance. Due to the huge number of islands, the Japanese never occupied many of the smaller and more minor islands. The Japanese control over the countryside and smaller towns were often tenuous at best.
In 1944, Allied forcesliberated the islands from Japanese control in a naval invasion.
On 27 September 1940,Nazi Germany,Kingdom of Italy, andEmpire of Japan had allied under theTripartite Coalition as theAxis powers. The United Statesbanned the shipment ofaviation gasoline to Japan in July 1940, and by 1941 shipments ofscrap iron, steel, gasoline, and other materials had practically ceased. Meanwhile, American economic support to China began to increase.
Japan and theUSSR signed aneutrality pact in April 1941 and Japan increased pressure on theFrench andDutch colonies in Southeast Asia to cooperate ineconomic matters. Japanese forces occupied thenaval andair bases of southernFrench Indochina on 22 July 1941. The Philippines was almost completely surrounded.
GeneralGeorge C. Marshall,US Army Chief of Staff, stated, "Adequate reinforcements for the Philippines, at this time, would have left the United States in a position of great peril, should there be a break in the defense of Great Britain."[1]
A campaign for independence from the US which had been ongoing since 1919 resulted on 17 January 1933 in the passage by the US Congress of theHare–Hawes–Cutting Act over the veto of PresidentHerbert Hoover.[2] The law promised Philippine independence after 10 years, but reserved several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. PhilippineSenate PresidentManuel L. Quezon convinced the legislature to reject the bill. Subsequently, theTydings–McDuffie Act, which eliminated provisions for US military reservations and substituted a provision for "ultimate settlement", became US law on 24 March 1934 and was accepted by the Philippine legislature on 1 May.[3] The impact of this on the future defense of the Philippines with the establishment was to prove disastrous. During the 10-year transition period, thePhilippine Constabulary was vested with an ever-increasing responsibility for defending the borders of the Philippines.[citation needed] The forces of the US Army settled at around 10,000 men.[citation needed]
The US Army had, however, already spent millions constructing forts and air strips throughout Luzon. This included theharbor defenses in Manila Bay, at Fort Mills onCorregidor Island and atGrande Island inSubic Bay. There were also bases at Nichols Air Station (nowVillamor Airbase), Nielson Air Base (nowAyala Triangle in Makati City—Ayala andPaseo de Roxas Avenues lay over the original landing strips), atFort William McKinley (nowFort Andres Bonifacio and the American Cemetery), Camp Murphy (nowCamp Aguinaldo andCamp Crame) inQuezon City,Camp O'Donnell inTarlac and a series of airbases and army installations inPampanga includingFort Stotsenburg,Clark Air Base, as well asCamp Wallace inLa Union, theNaval Station in Sangley Point,Cavite City,Camp Keithley in Lanao,Camp Eldridge inLos Baños, Laguna andCamp Henry T. Allen inBaguio. Other fields inTuguegarao,Aparri,Isabela,Nueva Ecija,Legaspi,Bataan, andDel Monte inDavao were also built using US funds prior to and during the first years of the 1935 provisional Commonwealth.[citation needed]
The date for Philippine Independence and US military withdrawal was approaching, resulting in a reduction in funds from the US military to directly support the expansion of thePhilippine Commonwealth Army. 12 million dollars were provided to the Commonwealth for the establishment of the Philippine Army in 1936. In the early years of the Commonwealth, the Philippine Army was composed of an Active Duty and a Reserve Component. The Active Duty component was thePhilippine Constabulary, which was a para-military organization. After the outbreak of the war, this was referred to as the First Philippine Division. Many of the officers of the Philippine Army andPhilippine Army Air Corps came from the members of thePhilippine Constabulary and Air Constabulary.[citation needed]
On 25 July 1941, US Secretary of WarHenry L. Stimson requested that US PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt issue orders calling the military forces of the Commonwealth into active service for the United States. Stimson explained, "All practical steps should be taken to increase the defensive strength of the Philippine Islands."
The following day President Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets within the United States and issued orders to absorb the forces of the Philippine Army. That same day theWar Department created theUS Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) command, with jurisdiction over thePhilippine Department and the military forces of the Commonwealth. At the same time GeneralDouglas MacArthur was recalled to active duty and designated the commander of the USAFFE.
At the outbreak of war theUnited States Navy'sAsiatic Fleet was stationed atCavite Naval Base inManila Bay. Also stationed there was theOffshore Patrol.
MacArthur ordered the mobilization of the Philippine Army beginning on 1 September 1941. Elements of 10 Filipino reserve divisions were to be called into the service of the United States Army by 15 December. Battalions were not organized by the time of the Japanese invasion in December. However, a force of a hundred thousand or more Filipinos was raised.
On 14 August Brigadier GeneralLeonard T. Gerow argued that the Philippine Department could not resist a Japanese attack. He thus recommended that the Philippines be reinforced withanti-aircraft artillery, modern aircraft and tanks. On 16 August, MacArthur was informed that by 5 September he could expect the200th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA), the192nd and194th Tank Battalions and a company of the17th Ordnance Battalion.
On 5 September Marshall asked MacArthur if he wanted aNational Guard Division, probably the41st. MacArthur replied that he did not need any additional divisions. He also stated, "Equipment and supplies are essential. If these steps are taken, I am confident that no such backing, the development of a completely adequate defense force will be rapid."
During September and October, in addition to the above-mentioned reinforcements, MacArthur received the 192nd Tank Battalion and 75self-propelled75 mm guns.
MacArthur strove to reorganize thePhilippine Division from asquare into atriangular formation. This plan involved shipping in an American infantry regiment and or complementing Stotsenburg and allow USAFFE control of 2 American combat teams. These plans also involved the formation of four tactical commands, each ofcorps strength, along with various additional support units.
By November the War Department had approved additional reinforcements of 1,312 officers, 25 nurses and 18,047 men. The34th Infantry Regiment was scheduled to ship out from San Francisco on 8 December 1941. By 5 December fifty-five ships were en route from San Francisco carrying 100,000 ship-tons of cargo to the Philippines. On board were the personnel and equipment of the 26th Field Artillery Brigade, including the 147th Field Artillery, 75 mm, Truck Drawn, Regiment of theSouth Dakota National Guard; the 148th Field Artillery, 75 mm, Truck Drawn, Regiment of theIdaho National Guard and the 2nd Battalion of the 131st Field Artillery, 75 mm, Truck Drawn, Regiment of theTexas National Guard. These units were diverted to Hawaii and assigned to its defenses.
When the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor took place, there were several air elements en route. This included 52A-24 Bansheedive bombers of the27th Bombardment Group, eighteenP-40s of the35th Pursuit Group, 340 tons of bombs and 9,000 drums ofaviation fuel. There were also two light field ground echelons of the7th Bombardment Group, which arrived in the Philippines and were relocated to Mariveles after the evacuation of Manila. The air echelon squadrons of the 7th were en route to the Philippines and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941. They consisted of 9th, 463rd, 492nd, and 493d Heavy Bombardment Squadrons. The air echelon was diverted back to the US and then routed toJava throughAustralia.
The Philippine Army received clothing that was of poor quality. Their rubber shoes would wear out within 2 weeks. There were shortages of nearly every kind of equipment such as blankets,mosquito bars, shelter halves,entrenching tools,gas masks, andhelmets.
During August, MacArthur had requested 84,500M1 Garand rifles, 330.30-caliber machine guns, 326.50-caliber machine-guns, 45037mm guns, 21781 mm mortars, 28875 mm guns, and over 8,000 vehicles. On 18 September, he was informed that, because oflend-lease commitments, he would not receive most of these items. As a result, the Philippine Army was forced to continue using the oldEnfield andSpringfield rifles.
The shipment of supplies depended upon the US Navy's limited cargo capacity. In September, the Navy announced its intentions to convert three transports intoescort carriers, but this was not done after MacArthur observed that the loss of three transports would delay his reinforcements by more than two months.
The army then approved requests for105 mm howitzers,75 mm pack howitzers,75 mm guns, .30-caliber machine guns, 37 mm guns, ten 250 ft station hospitals, one hundred and eighty sets of regimental infirmary equipment, jeeps, ambulances, trucks and sedans. By November, there were 1,100,000 tons of equipment, intended for the Philippines, piled up in US ports. Most of this never reached its destination. Meanwhile, the Navy did manage to transport 1,000,000gallons of gasoline to the island. Much of this fuel would be stored on theBataan Peninsula.
In 1941, many Filipino units went into battle without ever having fired their weapons. Many of the troops had also never even seen an artillery piece fired. The31st Infantry Division (PA) signal officer was unable to establish radio communication with other units in the same camp. The commander of the Philippine 31st Infantry Division, Colonel Bluemel stated, "The enlisted men are proficient in only two things, one, when an officer appears, to yell 'attention' in a loud voice, jump up, andsalute; two, to demand 3 meals per day."
Training and coordination were further complicated by language barriers. Enlisted Filipinos often spoke one language (such asBikol or aVisayan language), their officers would speak another (such asTagalog) and the Americans would speak English. There were somefirst sergeants and company clerks who could neither read nor write.
The Japanese viewed all the lands of Asia to be the rightful property of the Imperial Japanese Government and the Emperor.[4] The seizures of Korea, China and parts of Soviet Union, which had begun at the turn of the 20th century, had been taking an upswing.[5] The Japanese had been kept from realizing their goal of unifying or dominating the Asian lands by the presence of foreign military forces in the Philippines (United States),Hong Kong,Malaysia (United Kingdom) and theDutch East Indies.[6] Japan had hoped that they could strike fast and hold off reinforcements long enough to broker a peace accord from a position of strength.[7]
Central to the Japanese goals was the taking of all Asian lands.[8] To be successful, US, UK, and Dutch forces were to be attacked simultaneously to prevent their ability to reinforce and aid their Asian possessions. Pivotal to the Japanese decision to attack was a tremendous need for crude oil as a result ofeconomic sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands which was weakening theJapanese economy. The Japanese leaders were faced with a choice: end the war in China and their plans for Asian conquest, so as to end the sanctions, or declare war on three large military forces. The current war against Britain, and the Netherlands, and the strain of providing aid by the United States to these countries was seen as an opportunity by the Japanese to extend their "rightful" place as a ruler in Asia.[9]
The Japanese government decided to seize resources under the control of Britain, the United States and the Netherlands. Japan had already placed over ten divisions inFormosa (Taiwan). Japanese military planners argued that the British (and the USSR should they decide to declare war), would be unable to effectively respond to a Japanese attack, given the threat posed by theThird Reich.[citation needed]
US Navy construction and repair started in March 1945 with the taking of Manila in thecostlyBattle of Manila ending on 2 March 1945. Naval Base Manila supported thePacific War and remained a majorUS Naval Advance Base until its closure in 1971.[10]To support the taking of Naval Base Manila,Leyte Gulf was taken first and base construction started on 20 October 1944.Leyte-Samar Naval Base was made of base on both the island of Leyte and the islands of Samar. The US Naval bases for supported troops, ships,submarines,PT boats,seaplanes, supply depots, training camps, fleet recreation facilities, and ship repair depots. To keep supplies following the bases were supplied by the vastII United States Merchant Navy. After the war ended onVJ Day, Leyte Gulf bases closed and the Naval Base Manila remained aUS Naval Advance Base till in 1971. After theInvasion of Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945, the Seabees built up aNaval Base Lingayen atLingayen city and the surrounding gulf. In 1944 and 1945 Japan started usingkamikaze attacks on US Navy ships in the Philippines. With two large Naval Bases on Luzon:Naval Base Manila andNaval Base Subic Bay, Naval Base Lingayen was closed after the war. Naval Base Subic Bay, like Naval Base Manila was base of Spain lost to the United States in theBattle of Manila Bay 1898. Subic Bay was lost to Japan in 1941 and retaken in January 1945.Philippine War Crimes Commission was started in 1945 and was dissolved in 1949.[10][11][12]
