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World War II: Battle

of Bataan
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Japanese tank moving forward on Bataan. Without anti-tank

weapons, the PACR was helpless to stop an armored attack.
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U.S.A.F. - Public Domain/ Wikimedia Commons

by Kennedy Hickman
Updated January 26, 2019

Battle of Bataan - Conflict & Dates:

The Battle of Bataan was fought January 7 to
April 9, 1942, during World War II (1939-
1945).

Forces & Commanders

Allies

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General Douglas MacArthur

Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright

Major General Edward King

79,500 men

Japanese

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma

75,000 men

Battle of Bataan - Background:

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft began
conducting an aerial assault on American
forces in the Philippines. In addition, troops
moved against Allied positions on Hong Kong
and Wake Island. In the Philippines, General
Douglas MacArthur, commanding United
States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE),
began making preparations to defend the
archipelago from the inevitable Japanese
invasion. This included calling up numerous
Filipino reserve divisions. Though MacArthur
initially sought to defend the entire island of
Luzon, prewar War Plan Orange 3 (WPO-3)
called for USAFFE to withdraw to the highly
defensible ground of the Bataan Peninsula,
west of Manila, where it would hold out until
relieved by the US Navy.

Due to the losses sustained at Pearl Harbor,

this was unlikely to occur.

Battle of Bataan - The Japanese

Land:
On December 12, Japanese forces began
landing at Legaspi in southern Luzon. This was
followed by a larger effort in the north at
Lingayen Gulf on December 22. Coming
ashore, elements of Lieutenant General
Masaharu Homma's 14th Army began driving
south against Major General Jonathan
Wainwright's Northern Luzon Force. Two days
after the landings at Lingayen commenced,
MacArthur invoked WPO-3 and began shifting
supplies to Bataan while Major General George
M. Parker prepared the peninsula's defenses.

Steadily pushed back, Wainwright retreated

through a succession of defensive lines over the
next week. To the south, Major General Albert
Jones' Southern Luzon Force fared little better.
Concerned about Wainwright's ability to keep
the road to Bataan open, MacArthur directed
Jones to move around Manila, which had been
declared an open city, on December 30.
Crossing the Pampanga River on January 1, the
SLF moved towards Bataan while Wainwright
desperately held a line between Borac and
Guagua. On January 4, Wainwright began
retreating towards Bataan and three days later
USAFFE forces were within the peninsula's
defenses.

Battle of Bataan - The Allies

Prepare:
Stretching from north to south, the Bataan
Peninsula is mountainous down its spine with
Mount Natib in the north and the Mariveles
Mountains in the south. Covered in jungle
terrain, the peninsula's lowlands stretch to
cliffs overlooking the South China Sea in west
and beaches in the east along Manila Bay. Due
to the topography, the peninsula's only natural
harbor is Mariveles at its southern tip. As
USAFFE forces assumed their defensive
position, roads on the peninsula were limited a
perimeter route that ran along the east coast
from Abucay to Mariveles and then north up
the west coast to Mauban and an east-west
route between Pilar and Bagac.

Defense of Bataan was divided between two

new formations, Wainwright's I Corps in the
west and Parker's II Corps in the east. These
held a line stretching from Mauban east to
Abucay. Due to the open nature of the ground
around Abucay, fortifications were stronger in
Parker's sector. Both corps commanders
anchored their lines on Mount Natib, though
the mountain's rugged terrain prevented them
from being in direct contact forcing the gap to
be covered by patrols.

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Battle of Bataan - The Japanese

Attack:
Though the USAFFE was supported by a large
amount of artillery, its position was weakened
due to a tenuous supply situation. The speed of
the Japanese advance had prevented the large
scale stockpiling of supplies and the number of
troops and civilians on the peninsula exceeded
prewar estimates. As Homma prepared to
attack, MacArthur repeatedly lobbied leaders
in Washington, DC for reinforcements and aid.
On January 9, Lieutenant General Akira Nara
opened the assault on Bataan when his troops
advanced on Parker's lines.

Turning back the enemy, II Corps endured

heavy attacks for the next five days. By the
15th, Parker, who had committed his reserves,
requested assistance from MacArthur.
Anticipating this, MacArthur had already put
the 31st Division (Philippine Army) and
Philippine Division in motion towards II
Corps' sector.

The following day, Parker attempted to

counterattack with the 51st Division (PA).
Though initially successful, the division later
broke allowing the Japanese to threaten II
Corps' line. On January 17, Parker desperately
attempted to restore his position. Mounting a
series of attacks over the next five days, he
managed to retake much of the lost ground.
This success proved brief as intense Japanese
air attacks and artillery forced II Corps back.
By the 22nd, Parker's left was under threat as
enemy forces moved through the rough terrain
of Mount Natib.

That night, he received orders to retreat south.

To the west, Wainwright's corps fared
somewhat better against troops led by Major
General Naoki Kimura. Holding off the
Japanese at first, the situation changed on
January 19 when Japanese forces infiltrated
behind his lines cutting off supplies to the 1st
Regular Division (PA). When efforts to
dislodge this force failed, the division was
withdrawn and lost most of its artillery in the
process.

Battle of Bataan - Bagac-Orion

Line:
With the collapse of the Abucay-Mauban Line,
USAFFE established a new position running
from Bagac to Orion on January 26. A shorter
line, it was dwarfed by the heights of Mount
Samat which provided the Allies with an
observation post overseeing the entire front.
Though in a strong position, MacArthur's
forces suffered from a lack of capable officers
and reserve forces were minimal. As fighting
had raged to the north, Kimura dispatched
amphibious forces to land on the southwest
coast of the peninsula.

Coming ashore at Quinauan and Longoskayan

Points on the night of January 23, the
Japanese were contained but not defeated.
Seeking to exploit this, Lieutenant General
Susumu Morioka, who had superseded
Kimura, dispatched reinforcements to
Quinauan on the night of the 26th. Becoming
lost, they instead established a foothold on
Canas Point. Obtaining additional troops on
January 27, Wainwright eliminated the
Longoskayan and Quinauan threats.
Tenaciously defending Canas Point, the
Japanese were not expelled until February 13.

As the Battle of the Points raged, Morioka and

Nara continued assaults on the main USAFFE
line. While attacks on Parker's corps were
turned back in heavy fighting between January
27 and 31, Japanese forces succeeded in
breaching Wainwright's line via the Toul River.
Quickly closing this gap, he isolated the
attackers into three pockets which were
reduced by February 15. As Wainwright was
dealing with this threat, a reluctant Homma
accepted that he lacked the forces to break
MacArthur's defenses.

As a result, he ordered his men to fall back to a

defensive line on February 8 to await
reinforcements. Though a victory that boosted
morale, USAFFE continued to suffer from a
critical shortage of key supplies. With the
situation temporarily stabilized efforts
continued to relieve the forces on Bataan and
the fortress island of Corregidor to the south.
These were largely unsuccessful as only three
ships were able to run the Japanese blockade
while submarines and aircraft lacked the
carrying capacity to bring the needed
quantities.

Battle of Bataan - Reorganization:

In February, the leadership in Washington
began to believe that USAFFE was doomed.
Unwilling to lose a commander of MacArthur's
skill and prominence, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt ordered him to evacuate to
Australia. Reluctantly leaving on March 12,
MacArthur traveled to Mindanao by PT boat
before flying to Australia on a B-17 Flying
Fortress. With his departure, USAFFE was
reorganized into the United States Forces in
the Philippines (USFIP) with Wainwright in
overall command. Leadership on Bataan
passed to Major General Edward P.

King. Though March saw efforts to better train

USFIP forces, disease and malnutrition badly
depleted the ranks. By April 1, Wainwright's
men were living on quarter rations.

Battle of Bataan - Fall:

To the north, Homma took February and
March to refit and reinforce his army. As it
regained strength, it began to intensify artillery
bombardments of the USFIP lines. On April 3,
Japanese artillery unleashed the most intense
shelling of the campaign. Later in the day,
Homma ordered a massive assault on the 41st
Division (PA)'s position. Part of II Corps, the
41st was effectively broken by the artillery
bombardment and offered little resistance to
the Japanese advance. Overestimating King's
strength, Homma moved forward cautiously.

Over the next two days, Parker fought

desperately to save his crumbling left as King
attempted to counterattack north. As II Corps
was overwhelmed, I Corps began falling back
on the night of April 8. Later that day, seeing
that further resistance would be hopeless, King
reached out to the Japanese for terms. Meeting
with Major General Kameichiro Nagano the
next day, he surrendered the forces on Bataan.

Battle of Bataan - Aftermath:

Though pleased that Bataan had finally fallen,
Homma was angry that the surrender did not
include the USFIP forces on Corregidor and
elsewhere in the Philippines. Massing his
troops, he landed on Corregidor on May 5 and
captured the island in two days of fighting.
With the fall of Corregidor, Wainwright
surrendered all remaining forces in the
Philippines. In the fighting on Bataan,
American and Filipino forces sustained around
10,000 killed and 20,000 wounded while the
Japanese sustained approximately 7,000 killed
and 12,000 wounded.

In addition to the casualties, USFIP lost 12,000

American and 63,000 Filipino soldiers as
prisoners. Though suffering from combat
wounds, disease, and malnutrition, these
prisoners were marched north to prisoner of
war camps in what became known as the
Bataan Death March. Lacking food and water,
prisoners were beaten or bayoneted if they fell
behind or were unable to walk. Thousands of
USFIP prisoners died before reaching the
camps. Following the war, Homma was
convicted of war crimes relating to the march
and was executed on April 3, 1946.

Selected Sources:

Corregidor Historical Society: Bataan

HistoryNet: Battle of Bataan - Brigadier General Clyde

A. Selleck Commands the Layac Line

US Army: Bataan Death March

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