The Fall of the Philippines: The Desperate Struggle Against the Japanese Invasion, 1941-1942

221 Pages·2015·2.35 MB·English

by  Donald J. Young

The Fall of the Philippines
ALSOBYDONALDJ. YOUNG
Final Hours in the Pacific:
The Allied Surrenders of Wake Island,
Bataan, Corregidor, Hong Kong and Singapore(2011)
The Battle of Bataan:
A Complete History, 2d ed.(2009)
The Fall of the Philippines
The Desperate Struggle
Against the Japanese
Invasion, 1941–1942
Donald J. Young
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Young, Donald J., 1930–
The fall of the Philippines : the desperate struggle against the Japa-
nese invasion, 1941/1942 / Donald J. Young.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-9820-8 (softcover : acid free paper) ♾
ISBN 978-1-4766-2047-3 (ebook)
1. Bataan, Battle of, Philippines, 1942. 2. World War,
1939–1945—Campaigns—Philippines. I. Title.
D767.4.Y693 2015
940.54'2599—dc23 2015006191
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2015 Donald J. Young. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover image: Japanese air raid in Barrio, Paranque, in the
Philippine Islands, December 13, 1941, U.S. Army Corps Image
(Library of Congress)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1. “Never even got into the air” 3
2. The Philippines, December 10, 1941: “Where are our
fighters?” 14
3. Moon Under Lingayen 30
4. When America Needed Heroes: Wheless and Wagner,
December 10–16 38
5. The USS Canopus 48
6. A Scary Christmas But a Happy New Year: The
Philippines, December 1941 58
7. The Last and the First: Bataan, January 18, 1942 65
8. The First Battle for Bataan: January 18, 1942 75
9. “Think what we could have done with sixty!” 84
10. Biggest Day for the Bataan Air Force: March 3, 1942 91
11. Japanese Blitzkrieg: April 3, 1942 98
12. The Deliberate Bombing of Bataan Hospital No. 1 107
13. The Fighting General of Bataan 119
14. Honorable But Not Easy: The Surrender of Bataan 133
v
Table of Contents
15. “P-40 Something”: The Last of the Tomahawks 146
16. Corregidor Fights Back: May 6, 1942 154
17. “You will, repeat, will surrender” 191
Chapter Notes 203
Bibliography 207
Index 209
vi
Introduction
Along with Pearl Harbor and Wake Island, World War II began for
the United States with the s ame-d ay Japanese attack on the Philippine
Islands. Unlike Pearl Harbor and the quick capture of Wake Island on
December 25, 1941, war in the distant Philippines would not officially
end until June 1942, seven months later.
During those seven months, the Philippines remained virtually cut
off from the friendly outside world, as did interest in its end when over-
shadowed by the miracle U.S. victory at Midway that same June.
Even to this day, the battle and fall of the Philippines has never
attracted interest like other events of the war. Along with its loss went
experiences and history of the battle that, compared to those covered
in the two and a half years of war to come, have still never been told.
While there are many stories lost or unwritten, because of the rapid fall
of the distant and isolated islands, I have chosen to write about the 17 I
feel best represent that bitter and oft forgotten campaign.
1
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1
“Never even
got into the air”
In the 1943 Hollywood movie Air Force, a gruff B-17 crew chief,
played by actor Harry Carey, when told that his fighter pilot son’s plane
had taken a direct hit while attempting to take off from Clark Field on
December 8, commented, “Never even got into the air.” Little did the
producer of the movie know just how similar that scenario was to what
actually happened at Clark Field that day.
Results of the Japanese attacks on U.S. fighter forces in the Philip-
pines on December 8, 1941, amounted to the staggering loss of 35 of the
86 frontline P-40 fighters in the islands. Of that number, nothing was
more tragic or devastating than the loss of fifteen of the 20th Pursuit
Squadron’s eighteen P-40s within the first minutes of the attack on Clark
Field. This is the story of those that never did get into the air.
The story of that fateful moment actually began a little after mid-
night on December 8, when the only functioning radar on Luzon, located
at the northern edge of Iba Field, site of one of the four U.S. fighter bases
in the islands, picked up a flight of Japanese planes 115 miles northwest
of the field. Based on their line of approach, their assumed target was
Manila.
When the news reached 27-year-old 1st Lt. Joe Moore, commander
of the 20th Pursuit Squadron at Clark Field, he ordered his entire
squadron from their quarters at nearby Fort Stotsenburg to the 24th
Pursuit Group operations hanger at the edge of the field.
There they were met by group commander Major Orrin Grover
who, after explaining why they had been called out, ordered all t hirty-
six 20th pilots to remain near their planes until further notice. Two
3