Battle of Bataan

This picture was taken just recently in Mt. Samat Shrine/Dambana ng Kagitingan/Shrine of Valor.

Here, I've learned a little more about what took place in this area during WWII. Hope you find some time to read this.

What I wrote here can be found inside the colonade in the shrine and inside the cross atop Mt. Samat.

Battle of Bataan

on december 7, 1941, pearl harbor was attacked by contingents of the japanese naval air arm. (it was december 8 in the philippines, west of the international dateline). two hours prior to the attack on pearl harbor, a japanese unit assault party composed of an air force unit of 490 men landed on the island of bataan in batanes province for the purpose of securing an airbase.

the japanese had secured the beachheads in lingayen gulf, the west coast of tayabas province and legazpi. the 14th japanese imperial army under the command of lieutenant general masaharu homma now started a gigantic pincer attack. the fate of luzon was sealed.

fighting valiantly, the usaffe led by general douglas mcarthur was thrown back by the implacable advance of the japanese. retreat to bataan became inevitable. on this peninsula the defending force, following war plan orange 3, regrouped for a last stand against the invaders.

plan orange 3 was a closely guarded secret, the details of which were known only to a few top american military leaders in the philippines. in the event that their position on the mainland of luzon became untenable, all of its defending forces would be withdrawn to bataan where a "lastditch stand" would be staged to contain the japanese and gain time for the united states to bring reinforcements to the philippines. bataan was to be defended to the "last extremity".

the first defensive line in bataan was the hermosa-dinalupihan line where on january 6, 1942 the 71st division, the american 31st infantry regiment and the 26th cavalry regiment fought off the pursuing japanese.

the main battle postion of the usaffe, the abucay-mauban line, was attacked along its eastern flank on january 9 but the japanese forces were repulsed by the 57th regimental combat team, reinforced by the 21st infantry of the 21st division.

on january 14, the japanese attacked the boundary of the 41st and 51 divisions. the 43rd infantry, holding the left flank of the 41st division, fought stubbornly and the japanese reeled back. the 51st infantry, holding the right flank of the 51st division, withdrew, creating a gap through which japanese advanced to the salian river, but they were discovered by a patrol of the 21st division were rushed to the salian river valley and after a savage battle succeeded in throwing back the japanese.

on january 15, the morong sector, defended by the 1st regular division, came under heavy bombardment. but the line held.

a few days later, the japanese penetrated through a huge gap in the silangnan-natib area and established a road block on the mauban ridge, thus cutting off the 1st regular division from the area. elements of the 71st and the 2nd pc regiment repeatedly attacked the road blocked but failed to dislodge the opposition.

although the II corps sector had prevented a similar envelopment in the salian river battle, the I corps position was now untenable. the abucay-morong line was abandoned on january 24. the orion-bagac line was established two days later.

meanwhile, in a bold action to trap the I corps, the japanese mounted landing operations on the west coast of bataan while fighting was still in progress at the abucay-morong line. the three ferocious engagements along the west coast of bataan, which became known as "the battle of the points" lasted from january 23 to february 13. these were in the lapiay-longoskawayan points area; quinauan-aglaloma points area; and in anyasan-silaim points. of the 2,000 japanese troops committed to these battles only 34 wounded soldiers returned to their lines.

on january 27, japanese troops were discovered in the rear of the orion-bagac line, the tuol river valley behind the 11th regular division and the goco-cotar river valley behind the 1st regular division. the series of fights to eliminate as the battle of the pockets, fought january 27 to february 17.

after the battle of the points, pockets and trail 2, which were brilliant triumphs of the usaffe, the opposition forces withdrew to regroup and wait reinforcements.

meanwhile, on march 12, macarthur left corregidor for australia where he began the build-up of the southwest pacific force. general wainwright took over the command of the united states forces in the philippines (USFIP). the usfip absorbed the ground and air forces, and all the US navy units left in the philippines.

the japanese high command reinforced homma's 14th imperial japanese army and toward the end of march, they struck. on april 1, homma opened up with his artillery, concentrating the fire against the position in front of mt. samat. the japanese air force also began saturation bombing of the rear positions of the usfip. then on good friday, april 3, the japanese moved in, striking hardest at the junction of the 21st and 41st divisions. mt. samat became an inferno. the forest was set on fire, men were buried alive in their foxholes and every inch of ground was covered by japanese fire.

on april 4, the japanese infantry attacked the 23rd infantry. crashing through the line along trail 4, they swerved towards the east and struck the flank of the 22nd infantry. by nighttime, the japanese penetrated 1,000 yards behind the main battle position of the 23rd. by april 6 mount samat was surrounded. but the 21st division still held the slope of the mountain.

late on the night of april 8, general edward p. king, in command of the luzon force, decided that the situation was hopeless and the only way out of the predicaments was for him to surrender bataan.

on april 9, 1942, they surrendered and the infamous "death march" took place.