On 20 October 1944, troops of the United States Sixth Army under the direct command of Lieutenant General Walter Krueger , invaded the Philippine island of Leyte . This operation was the beginning of General Douglas MacArthur ' s fulfillment of his promise in March 1942 to the Filipino people that he would liberate them from Japanese rule .
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Initial US Army landings on Leyte
The choice of Leyte was the result of heated discussion at the highest levels of the US military and government. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest J. King had forcefully advocated for an invasion of the island of Formosa , about 300 mi (480 km) north of the Philippines, insisting that it would both bolster the morale of the Nationalist Chinese , then fighting the Japanese occupation of their country, and provide a much closer base for military operations against the Japanese home islands . In the event, MacArthur's viewpoint that the United States needed to be seen as following through on its promise to liberate the Filipino people from Japanese oppression won out.
Summary of US ground forces:
US Sixth Army
Lieutenant General Walter Krueger
Approx. 202,500 total officers and enlisted[1]
Northern landing area
X Army Corps
Lieutenant General Franklin C. Sibert
Left: 24th Infantry ("Taro") Division
Right: 1st Cavalry Division
Southern landing area
XXIV Army Corps
Lieutenant General John R. Hodge
Left: 7th Infantry ("Bayonet") Division
Right: 96th Infantry ("Deadeye") Division
Reserve: 11th Airborne ("Angels") Division
Reserves
Landed 14 Nov: 32nd Infantry ("Red Arrow") Division
Landed 23 Nov: 77th Infantry ("Statue of Liberty") Division
General Tomoyuki Yamashita
Lieut. Gen. Sosaku Suzuki
Japanese landing ship LS-159 burning at Ormoc Bay on Leyte's west coast
IJN landing ship No.11 at San Isidro, northwest of Leyte
Southern Army (Southeast Asia) [11]
Field Marshal Count Hisaichi Terauchi [lower-alpha 2] at Manila
Fourteenth Area Army [lower-alpha 3]
General Tomoyuki Yamashita [lower-alpha 4]
Thirty-Fifth Army [lower-alpha 5]
Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki [lower-alpha 6]
1st Division
16th Division
26th Division
102nd Division
Elements of 30th Division
54th Independent Mixed Brigade
55th Independent Mixed Brigade
68th Independent Mixed Brigade
Third Shipping Transport Command
Major General Masazumi Inada [lower-alpha 7]
Leyte Defense Forces
16th Division
Lieutenant General Shiro Makino [lower-alpha 8]
9th Infantry Regiment[lower-alpha 9]
20th Infantry Regiment
33rd Infantry Regiment[lower-alpha 10]
22nd Artillery Regiment[lower-alpha 11]
16th Engineer Regiment[lower-alpha 12]
Miscellaneous units
2nd Company, 16th Transport Regiment
7th Independent Tank Company
16th Division Special Troops
Thirty-Fifth Army Depots units
Elements, 63rd Motor Transport Battalion
316th Independent Motor Transport Company
317th Independent Motor Transport Company
34th Air Sector Command
98th Airfield Battalion
114th Airfield Battalion
54th Airfield Company
2nd Airfield Construction Unit
11th Airfield Construction Unit
Naval Land Forces
Elements, 36th Naval Garrison Unit
311th Naval Construction Unit
Air Forces
Fourth Air Army at Manila
Lieutenant General Kyoji Tominaga [lower-alpha 13]
2nd Air Division
4th Air Division
IJN Fifth Base Air Force under on Formosa
Vice Admiral Kinpei Teraoka
Detached from 24th Infantry Division
Died before he could be tried for war crimes
A Japanese area army was equivalent to a Euro-American army.
Hanged for atrocities committed by men under his command
A Japanese army was equivalent to a Euro-American corps.
KIA on Cebu 19 April 1945
Served approx. seven-year sentence for covering up war crimes
Committed suicide 10 August 1945
Less three companies on Samar
Less one company on Samar
Less 3rd Battalion on Luzon
Print
Chun, Clayton (2015). Leyte 1944: Return to the Philippines . Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-4728-0690-1 .
Stanton, Shelby L. (1984). World War II Order of Battle . New York: Galahad Books. ISBN 0-88365-775-9 . Web