1. Philippines: World War II
By: Patrick Blanco

2. Japanese Plans
• Planned to occupy
Philippines as part of
their plan of “Great East
Asia War”
• Had 3 objectives:
– Prevent use of Philippines
as an advance base of
American Forces
– To acquire staging areas
and supply bases to
enhance operations
– To secure communication
lines from Japanese Home
Island

3. Japanese Invasion
• Japan launched surprise
attack on December 8,
1941
• Just ten hours after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
• Aerial bombardment
was followed by landing
of ground troops

4. Commonwealth Of The Philippines
• Invaded by Japan in
December 1941
• Shortly after Japan’s
declaration of war with
United States
• Commonwealth
government exiled from
1942-1945 under
Japanese occupation

5. US Defenses
• Recalled MacArthur to
active duty
• Named him commander
of U.S. Army Forces in
the Far East (USAFFE)
• USAFFE formed
Philippine Army’s 1st
Regular Division, 2nd
Constabulary Division,
and 10 mobilized
reserve division

6. USAFFE
• Or U.S. Army Forces in the
Far East
• On July 31, 1941, the
Philippine Department had
22,532 assigned
• Half of whom were Filipino
• MacArthur recommended
the reassignment of the
department commander,
Maj. Gen. George Grunert
in October 1941
• MacArthur organized
USAFFE into 4 commands:
– The North Luzon Force
• Activated in Dec 3, 1941
• Under Major Gen. Jonathan
Wainwright
– The South Luzon Force
• Activated in Dec 13, 1941
• Under Brig. Gen. George M.
Parker Jr
– The Visayan-Mindanao Force
• Under Brig. Gen. William
Sharp
– USAFFE’s Reserve Force
• Under MacArthur’s direct
control

7. Mobilization
• Mobilization plans called
for induction of the ten
reserve divisions between
1 September and 15
December 1941
• The most crucial
equipment shortfalls
were in rifles and
divisional light artillery
– MacArthur requested
84,500 M1 Garand rifles to
replace the World War I
Enfields

8. Defeat and Retreat
• US and Filipino suffered two
defeats from Battle of Bataan
and Battle of Corregidor
• US and Filipino surrendered to
the Japanese and takes as
POWs
• The defeat was the beginning
of three and a half years of
harsh treatment for the Allied
survivors
• Including the Bataan Death
March
• And the prison camps, “Hell
Ships” used for labor in mines
and factories
• MacArthur ordered to retreat
in Australia
• Famous last words were “I
came out of Bataan and I shall
return”

9. US in the Philippines
• Under the command of
General Douglas
MacArthur
• Suffered many ground
and naval losses
• Resupply from US of
ground forces is
impossible
• MacArthur forced to
leave

10. Philippine Resistance
• Opposed by
underground and
guerilla activity
• Philippine guerilla
movement continued to
grow
• Filipinos joined various
groups and vowed to
fight the Japanese

11. Guerilla Forces
• Formed throughout the
archipelago during
invasion of Japanese
• Gathered and smuggled
important military
intelligence to US Army
• Built stashes of arms
and explosives, assisting
the US Army

12. Hukbalahap
• “Hukbong Bayan Laban sa
mga Hapon” which
means “People’s Army
Against the Japanese”
• Military arm Communist
Party of the Philippines
• Formed to fight the
Japanese occupation
• Under the leadership of
Luis Taruc

13. Return of MacArthur
• Returned well supplied of
information late in 1944
• It has been said that in his
return, he knew what every
Japanese lieutenant ate for
breakfast
• MacArthur's Allied forces
landed on the island of Leyte
on October 20, 1944 with
Osmeña
• Fighting was fierce,
particularly in the mountains
of northern Luzon
• Japanese had to retreat

14. Japan’s last resort
• Used Philippines as the
final line of defense
• Kamikaze corps created
to defend Philippines
• Guerilla forces averted
a big disaster for
Japanese

15. Philippine’s Aftermath
• Filipino-American
resistance lasted for 3
months
• An estimated 1 million
Filipinos had been killed
• A large proportion
during the final months
of the war, and Manila
was extensively
damaged
• The valor of the Filipino
and American soldiers is
celebrated
• April 9th
in the
Philippines, Valor Day
or “Araw ng Kagitingan”

16. Bibliography
• http://countrystudies.us/philippines/21.htm
• http://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/20
06/04/09/world-war-ii-in-the-
philippines/#comments
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_occup
ation_of_the_Philippines
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_
of_the_Philippines_during_World_War_II