Philippines campaign (1941–1942)
Invasion of the Philippines by Japan during World War II / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Philippines campaign (Filipino: Kampanya sa Pilipinas, Spanish: Campaña en las Filipinas del Ejercito Japonés, Japanese: フィリピンの戦い, romanized: Firipin no Tatakai), also known as the Battle of the Philippines (Filipino: Labanan sa Pilipinas) or the Fall of the Philippines, was the invasion of the American territory of the Philippines by the Empire of Japan and the defense of the islands by United States and the Philippine Armies during World War II.
Battle of the Philippines | |||||||||
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Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II | |||||||||
A burial detail of American and Filipino prisoners of war uses improvised litters to carry fallen comrades at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, 1942, following the Bataan Death March. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Japan | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Masaharu Homma Hideyoshi Obata Ibō Takahashi Nishizō Tsukahara |
Douglas MacArthur Jonathan Wainwright George Parker Manuel L. Quezon Basilio J. Valdes | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
129,435 troops[1] 90 tanks 541 aircraft |
151,000 troops[2] 108 tanks[3] 277 aircraft[4] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Japanese source:[5]
US estimate:[6]
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146,000[7]
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The Japanese launched the invasion by sea from Taiwan, over 200 miles (320 km) north of the Philippines. The defending forces outnumbered the Japanese by a ratio of 3:2 but were a mixed force of non-combat-experienced regular, national guard, constabulary and newly created Commonwealth units. The Japanese used first-line troops at the outset of the campaign, and by concentrating their forces, they swiftly overran most of Luzon during the first month.
The Japanese high command, believing that they had won the campaign, made a strategic decision to advance by a month their timetable of operations in Borneo and Indonesia and to withdraw their best division and the bulk of their airpower in early January 1942.[8] That, coupled with the defenders' decision to withdraw into a defensive holding position in the Bataan Peninsula and also the defeat of three Japanese battalions at the Battle of the Points and Battle of the Pockets, enabled the Americans and Filipinos to hold out for four more months. After the Japanese failure to penetrate the Bataan defensive perimeter in February, the Japanese conducted a 40-day siege. The crucial large natural harbor and port facilities of Manila Bay were denied to the Japanese until May 1942. While the Dutch East Indies operations were unaffected, this heavily hindered the Japanese offensive operations in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, buying time for the U.S. Navy to make plans to engage the Japanese at Guadalcanal instead of much further east.[9]
Japan's conquest of the Philippines is often considered the worst military defeat in U.S. history.[10] About 23,000 American military personnel and about 100,000 Filipino soldiers were killed or captured.[11]