philippines wwii

Philippines: World War II

By: Patrick Blanco

Japanese Plans• Planned to occupy

Philippines as part of their plan of “Great East Asia War”

• Had 3 objectives:– Prevent use of Philippines

as an advance base of American Forces

– To acquire staging areas and supply bases to enhance operations

– To secure communication lines from Japanese Home Island

Japanese Invasion

• Japan launched surprise attack on December 8, 1941

• Just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor

• Aerial bombardment was followed by landing of ground troops

Commonwealth Of The Philippines

• Invaded by Japan in December 1941

• Shortly after Japan’s declaration of war with United States

• Commonwealth government exiled from 1942-1945 under Japanese occupation

US Defenses

• Recalled MacArthur to active duty

• Named him commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE)

• USAFFE formed Philippine Army’s 1st Regular Division, 2nd Constabulary Division, and 10 mobilized reserve division

USAFFE• Or U.S. Army Forces in the

Far East• On July 31, 1941, the

Philippine Department had 22,532 assigned

• Half of whom were Filipino• MacArthur recommended

the reassignment of the department commander, Maj. Gen. George Grunert in October 1941

• MacArthur organized USAFFE into 4 commands:– The North Luzon Force

• Activated in Dec 3, 1941• Under Major Gen. Jonathan

Wainwright– The South Luzon Force

• Activated in Dec 13, 1941• Under Brig. Gen. George M.

Parker Jr– The Visayan-Mindanao Force

• Under Brig. Gen. William Sharp

– USAFFE’s Reserve Force• Under MacArthur’s direct

control

Mobilization• Mobilization plans called

for induction of the ten reserve divisions between 1 September and 15 December 1941

• The most crucial equipment shortfalls were in rifles and divisional light artillery– MacArthur requested

84,500 M1 Garand rifles to replace the World War I Enfields

Defeat and Retreat• US and Filipino suffered two

defeats from Battle of Bataan and Battle of Corregidor

• US and Filipino surrendered to the Japanese and takes as POWs

• The defeat was the beginning of three and a half years of harsh treatment for the Allied survivors

• Including the Bataan Death March

• And the prison camps, “Hell Ships” used for labor in mines and factories

• MacArthur ordered to retreat in Australia

• Famous last words were “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”

US in the Philippines

• Under the command of General Douglas MacArthur

• Suffered many ground and naval losses

• Resupply from US of ground forces is impossible

• MacArthur forced to leave

Philippine Resistance

• Opposed by underground and guerilla activity

• Philippine guerilla movement continued to grow

• Filipinos joined various groups and vowed to fight the Japanese

Guerilla Forces

• Formed throughout the archipelago during invasion of Japanese

• Gathered and smuggled important military intelligence to US Army

• Built stashes of arms and explosives, assisting the US Army

Hukbalahap

• “Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon” which means “People’s Army Against the Japanese”

• Military arm Communist Party of the Philippines

• Formed to fight the Japanese occupation

• Under the leadership of Luis Taruc

Return of MacArthur• Returned well supplied of

information late in 1944• It has been said that in his

return, he knew what every Japanese lieutenant ate for breakfast

• MacArthur's Allied forces landed on the island of Leyte on October 20, 1944 with Osmeña

• Fighting was fierce, particularly in the mountains of northern Luzon

• Japanese had to retreat

Japan’s last resort

• Used Philippines as the final line of defense

• Kamikaze corps created to defend Philippines

• Guerilla forces averted a big disaster for Japanese

Philippine’s Aftermath

• Filipino-American resistance lasted for 3 months

• An estimated 1 million Filipinos had been killed

• A large proportion during the final months of the war, and Manila was extensively damaged

• The valor of the Filipino and American soldiers is celebrated

• April 9th in the Philippines, Valor Day or “Araw ng Kagitingan”

Bibliography

• http://countrystudies.us/philippines/21.htm• http://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/

2006/04/09/world-war-ii-in-the-philippines/#comments

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occupation_of_the_Philippines

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_Philippines_during_World_War_II