Triumph in the Philippines, 1941-1945; The Saga of Bataan and Corregidor [3]

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HISTORIC DOCUMENTS OF \ITORLD WAR IN THE PI{ILIPPINES

VOLUME III

UP

VISAYAS

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TRIUMPH IT{ THE PHILIPPINES 1941

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1946

(THE SAGA OF BATAAN AND COBREGIDOR) EDITED BY

CELEDONIO A. ANCI{ETA

WITH SUPPLEiIIENT

A

REASSESSMENT OF THE HISTORY

OF ?HE SECOND WORLD WAR IN BATAAN

PCPM Certificate of Registration No. 594 PUBLISHED & EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY

'gt@r"rlB00l($0RililC - wttrt srx SToRES To sERVE You Metro Manila 1977

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u.-9952 Philippine Copyright, 1978 By Celedonio

A. Ancheta

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National Book Store, Inc.

First Year of Publication,

1978

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All rights

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Printed in the Philippines by NAVOTAS PRESS )rlavotas, Metro Manila

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DEDICATION

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This volume is humbly dedicated to all the heroes of the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor, living and dead, as a tribute to their sacrifices and valor for their country's honor'

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TRIU}IPH IN T}IFJ PHILIPPINES

The value of this edition to the reading pubric an easy style. This vorume has substantiai u"a is its availability in *or"ing varre to the Filipino people who are entifled to know the history of world war II in the Philippines. It is comprete in itself. ftris l*"unexpurgated. To the opinion of the editor, it may serve the interest of s.rroturr, military historians, and researcherc on the history of wortd- war rI in the Philippines.

The first book by the editor about the war in the ph,ippines is Erigencies of war (1968), and the second is usAFIp, NL Reports of operattons and, other (19?6), pubrished both bv the philippine Historical Association,lalers Manila. The editor wishes to aeknowredge

his indebtedness to the university of the Philippines and southern rtiinois university for research grants which enabled him to pursue .ur.r"J". in the Nationar Archives of the United States, in Library of Corrg"urs, Washington, D.C. and in lhe New York pubric Library, rboi-rg68, without which it wourd be im_ possible for this volume to come outThe .SUPPLEMIy!__has been prepared by the editor, and also fhe INDEX of the TRIUMPH IN THE pHrLIpprNES. C. A. A.

University of the philippines Diliman, euezon City February 24, lg77

PREFACE

This history was prepared by order of Lieutenant General W. D. St1'er, Commanding General, by the Combat History Division, G-1 Section, United States Army Forces Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines. The Combat History Division is under Col. Walter E. Buchly, Ca'.'alry, chief of division; Lt. Colonel Le Roy V. Greene, Infantry, executive :if icer; Capt. Justus C. Bateman, Infantry, in charge of record compitra::on; and 1st Lt. Frederick C. Dorr, Inf, in charge of research records. This record,'putting together the outline of the war in the Philippines, including the published works, was done under the direction of Col. Buchly, a Regular Army cavalryman and long time pre-war veteran of the Philippines; production and makeup was by Lt. Co]. Greene; the writing team which produced the manuscript was Lt. Col. Greene and Capt. Bateman, both professional newspapermen in civilian life, the former -:'.-,m the Philadelphi,a Public Led.ger and the latter from the Baltittore .i','i. Research was directed by Lt. Dorr, who was assisted by many '." -unteers, principal among them Capt. Cipriano Masiclat (PS) AUS, :.,rrnerly the famed 26th Cavalry.

In the course of time the complete history of all the persons and :nits participating in the campaign of the Philippines during World

II wiil have been assembled and compiled, I:ut because of the almost "l-ar destruction of records in the early phases of the war this will take :,-:aj :.':ars. In the meantime there is existing a tremendous demand for. an ...:rirate interim history, as complete as possible under the circumstances, ::r immediate military and research use. To meet this pressing need, :rese four volumes "Triumph in the Philippines" were compiled. Beciiuse of the urgency of the information contained in these volumes, .-.ch has been made available npon completion and one, "Corregidor 'i Eternal Memory," was prinfed in condensed form, in 30,000 copies, :-r members of the Armed Forces making trips to the island fortress. ix

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TRITII{PH IN TI{E PHII,IPPINES

The work of this unit has been basicaily research to salvage records before they were lost forever; to compile copies of widery scattered ae_ participants; to interview those still living 9gu-nts of and bring together their stories; to uncover rost batflefierds and combai cemeteries, and its members have been with the troops at ail times in current operations to record all the facts.

Philippine seouts and members of the philippine Army gave invaluable assistanee on their own times in assisting wittr feireting o,t the lost facts and the Division is extremely grateiul.

July 4, 1946 Manila, Philippines l

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SOURCES

Since this study is, of necessity and for practical purposes, a natrative outline of the entire war in the Philippines, it was thought advisable to establish all sources in a "source File."

This file contains a copy of every souree record used, uncovered or assembled. Rather than merely making a reference to a source in a iong. bibliography, the Division staff has actually had copied cvery source reference because, within a ferv months, those sources will be so scattered as to be virtually beyond reassembly. For instance, the recorcls recovered by this Division in Malinta Tunnel have gone to the Recovered Personnel office and are in actual use there; many records of engagements are treasured mementoes of the dead, held in the personal possession of their families on the Islands. This source file, intact and preserved, is being sent to the History Division, war Department. \vashington, D.c., and thus all the facts in this record may be verified from copies of the original sources.

It -sh6ulcl be pointed out that the information of the enemy contained herein came from the enemy leaders themselves. colonel Buchry, Lt. coi. Greene and capt. Rateman personally interviewed Lt. Gen. Masaharu I{omma, C. G. of the 14th Japanese Imperial Army,.before he was put to death by hanging. They also interviewed Lt. General Akira Muto, chief of staff of the same Army under Gen. Tomoyuki yamashita, before Muto went to Japan to stand trial as one of the major figures causing the war. The enemy figures and strategic plans are from them. All statements given by them have been checked and verified before being used here.

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Frontispieee v vtr

President Ferdinand E. Marcos Dedication Foreword

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Preface Sources

CONTENTS BOOK ONE

BATAAN: INTO

DARKNESS Poges

Chapters

I Pre-War Military History II The Japanese PIan III Peari Harbor and Clark Field Mhe Attack V The Withdrawal Begins VI The Calumpit Bridge VII Into Bataan VIII Reorganization IX The First tsattle of Bataan X The Pilar-Bagac Road XI Points and Pockets XII All Worn Out XIII The Second Battle of Bataan XIV The Last Hours XV Surrender XVI The Fall of Bataan XVII The Mariveles Massacre XVIII The Death March XIX The Islands to the South

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23 27

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48 63 62

70 81

87 93 96 101

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BOOK TWO CORREGIDOR: OF ETERNAL MEMORY

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Early History

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II Fortifications and the Plan III The Japs Attack IV

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VI

VII VIII IX

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XI

The Defense The Siege The Last Stand The Surrender Into the Unknown Captivity Corregidor Regained The Return

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127 128

141 149

L64 163 169 173 180

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TRIL'I'IPH IN TI,rE pHrt,IpprNES

XII Corregidor:

1946

183

Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C

187 189 190

ENEr\{y

r333fr,3#l'SrERBrLLAs I A Great National" Movement is Born II The Enemy Takes Over III Prisoners of War and. fnternees IV Guerrillas in Northern Luzon v Guerrilla Forces in Central and Southern Luzon VI Guerrilla Activity in the Visayas

VII

Mindanao

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204 210

2t7 224 233

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BOOK

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THE RETURN:

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I "I Shall Return,, The First BIow:

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II III

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Luzon

FOUR

TOTAL VICTORY

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IV Freeing the Visayan passages v t{econquest of the Sulu Sea VI Operations in the Southern Visayas vu Mindanao: The Last Campaigrr

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VIII The Surrender IX

Into

Inrlependenee

SAPPLEMENT A REASSESSMENT OF THE HISTORY OF THE S-E-COND WORLD WAR IN BAi;Ai rNO*r rrrE VIEWPOINT OF A FILIPINO INDEX - C.'E. ANCHETA About the Author

237

241 257 277

282 288

295 303 306

315 335 343

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,:.\ES 183 187

189 190

193 196

204 210 2L7

2,4 L33

237 257

Triumph in the Philippines

282

1941-1946

288 295

Pnupanpo BY THr: CoMslr HrstonY

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DwrsroN G-1 Sr:ctlox. HUInQUARTERS AFWESPAC

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Book One BATAAN: INTO DARKNESS

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PRE.WAR MILITARY HISTORY

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Wars and rumors of wars lay heavily upon an oppressed zrnd apprehensive world at the end of the tragic thirties. The shape of that thing to come World War II was readily apparent to many seg-were already engulfed or whieh population which ments of the world's rvere clearly soon to be engulfed in the holocaust. This was particularly the case with soldiers, American and Filipino, in the Philippines. They well knew that the island archipelago would play a key and sanguinary role in the impending rvorld clash. It rvas simply a matter of how soon. Geographically, the Philippines, Pearl of the Orient,,has been an outpost for both the eastern and western worlds ever since Magellan rediscovered the islands for the Western Hemisphere in 1521 A.D. Within fifty years Spain followed behind her explorer with an aggressive colonization and fortification of the islands, the vestiges of which are still extant. The English, rvith an eye to guarding the sea lanes of thc Brltish Empire, took possession of Manila in 1762, returning it to Spain by treaty in 1764. In 1898, the United States took over the Philippines after the crushing defeat of Spain in the war which had its beginnings in Cuba, some 11,000 miles away. The United States Army immediately laid plans for the defense of the I'hilippines its farthest outpost with a system of fortifications and troop installations. On Corregidor- Island, at the month of Manila Bay, for example, $50,000,000 were spent.

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As early as 1901, the organization which was later to fight gloriously as the Philippine Scouts of the United States Army rvas organized. This organization commenced toward the end of the Philip2

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PRE.WAR MILITARY HISTORY

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pine insurrection against the United States a revolt that flamed almost before the Spanish-American War was over. During that revolt a great number of Filipinos were employed in the United States Army, most of them in the Quartermaster Corps. They served both as agents and as scouts. In recognition of their devotion and loyalty, they were organized into a company, and finally, officially received the title of "Philippinc Scouts." The commissioned officers of this new organization were originally drawn from..battle-hardened American non-commissioned officers. Subsequently,/ie Philippine Scouts rvere led by officers of the Regular Army. The Congress of the United States authorized the expansion of the Philippine Scouts to 5,000 enlisted men in 1g02. Cognizance was taken of the eighty-seven,;,.dialects spoken in the Philippines and assignment of troops was made on the basis of dialects spoken. Finally, as Americans came to understand better their new friends, whole battalions were organized and dialect differences were disregarded except in respect of the Moros of Mindanao and the Igorots of the Mountain Province. Jlhis integration was accomplished in 1908.

The demobilization of the American unitS that had participated in the Spanish-American war and the subsequent insurrection left the

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uroblem of pacifying the Moros of Zamboanga and Sulu to the Philippine Scouts under the ]eadership of Capt. John J. Pershing, the great world \tr7ar I commander. some of the scout units rvere used in Luzon as quarantine guards, their principal duties being the prevention of the spiead of animal-borne diseases.

nuring world war I, American troops in the philippines were in preparation for the European expeditionary forces, and the Philippine Scouts baftalions were organized into provisional regiments. The scouts by now had become an integral part of the Regular Army and had a proud heritage. By the end of workl war I, there were fifty-two companies of seouts organized into thirteen battalions in five provisional regiments. These were the lst philippine Mountain Artillery and the 1st, 2nd, Brd, and 4th philippine Infantry 1'urther reduced

Regiments. In 1920, these provisional regiments were permanenily organized into the: 24th F.A., P.S. (formerly the 1st Philippine Mountain Artillery) 45th Inf., P.S. (formerly the 1st Philippine Infantry) 51st Inf., P.S. (formerly the Znd Philippine Infantry) 91st CA, P.S. (formerly the 4th Philippine Infantry) 43rd Infantry P.S.

In this last organization, the bulk of the enlisted personnel eame from the Srd Philippine Infantry and the rest came from the separate 'i'There are ovet one hunclred diaiects spoken

in the Philippines (ed.)

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Moro companies stationed in zamboanga and Jolo. In 1g21, additional regiments of Philippine scotrts were organized: the 25th Field Artillery, the 92nd coast Artillery, the 14th Engineers, the 12th signal Regimeni. The 43rd Infantry, P.s., rvas broken up, its personnel distributed among these new units.

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In september, LgzZ, the 25th Field Artillery was disbanded ancl october, the organization of 26th cavalry, which was one day to ploye itself lvith great distinction in the fighting on Luzon, was implenrcnted by transfer of personnel and equipment from the artillery utrit and the .nimals and equipment of the gth u. s. cavalry. The .?h ay .fesiment Philippine scouts was organized that same year. .-'These Philippine scout regiments became the celebrated philippine Di'ision of the united States Army and remained as such from that tinre on through the Philippine campaign in lg41-42. In this division, by 1941, besides the regular headquarters and service and supply units, there was one regurar Army unit from the states, the Blst Infantry. This was, very briefly, the oufline of united stzrtes military in the Philippines until the Tydings-McDuffie Act was passed inforces lgBE b-v the congress of the united states. -This birl reorganized the government of the l)hilippines. providing for the establishment of a common_ wetrlth with a united states High commissioner, and eriminating the control of a united states Governor Generar. legisration, which ..{his became knolvn as the Independence Act because it providect for ultimate total independence on July 4, 1946, gave the Islands a constitution their own maki,g. .-The Act also provided that the president of of the United States might call into service of the unitecl states all militarv forces created by the new philippine Government. in

At the time that the new Philippine Constitution was ratified on IlIay 14, 1935, by popnlar vote of the Island's population, the Chief of was General the I, and who had been commander of the Philippine Department in 1928-1930. By arrangemeltt between Philippine Manuel L. Quezon and U. S. President Franklin MacArthur was retired as U. S. Chief of Staff in to become I4i-l!_tary_ Adviser to the to undertake the creation of a Philippine Army. he became Field Marshal of the Philippine Army.

-{he first legislation enacted under the new commonwealth, on December 21, 1935, was the National Defense Act. It ordered into being the Philippine Army, apart from the u.s. Army and the philippine ,scouts. -rdnder this Aci, all male citizens were subject to six months of military service at the age of 21, those to serve being selected by a draft lottery. General MacArthur picked a staff of u. S. Army offtcers as a military mission to direct the new army of the commonwealth. The officers corps for the philippine Army was initially drawn

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PRE-IVAR MILITARY HISTORY

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from officers of the Philippine Constabulary which had been in existence as a national police force for some thirty years. The nucleus of the Philippine Regular Army was organized and trained under the supervision of U. S. Army instructors. This smail force then was assigned the mission of training its own large reserve, in line with the concept of America's national defense plan - a small standing army and a large reserve. Military camps were to be opened throughout the Islands in this new program. The Commonwealth was organized on the basis of the distribution of population into ten military disf,ricts, similar to the nine corps areas in the United States. The program, starting from scratch at a time when the rest of the world already was in an armaments race for the forthcoming war, was intended to rrreate thirty reserve infantry divisiols alotrg rvith coast artillery regiments and other nondivisional organizations. -,Bi Jrrnuary, 1937, instructors had been trained and a number of temporary camps were established. The first group of 18,000 trainees rvas called up for the limited six-month course. Infantry training was cr-rnducted throughout all ten military districts. Field Artillery training was carried on at Camp IJatt near historic Ft. Stotsenburg, above Manila. As the reserve program progressed, about fifteen percent of the 18,000 wero selected for an additional five-and-one-half months of training to make them non-commissioned officers. The outstanding of these were selected for of{icer candidate school. ROTC units in colleges and universities were established as additional sources for reserve officers. Military leaders in the Islands speeded the training pt'ogram to a nraxirnnm. But the task took time, valutrble time, because of the fundamcntul fuct that they rvere creating an army where none had existed before. In addition, thele was widespread indifference in the United States to the military program, there were treaties which prevented modernization of f