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Philippines campaign (1944–1945)

Philippines campaign (1944–1945)
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

General Douglas MacArthur, President Osmeña, and staff land at Palo, Leyte on October 20, 1944.
Date20 October 194415 August 1945
Location
Philippines
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes

Liberation of the Philippines from Japan

Belligerents

 United States

Supported by:
 Australia
 Mexico
Non-state forces:
Hukbalahap
Moro guerillas

 Japan

Commanders and leaders
Douglas MacArthur
Sergio Osmeña
Chester W. Nimitz
Walter Krueger
Robert L. Eichelberger
William Halsey Jr.
Thomas C. Kinkaid
George C. Kenney
John Collins
Tomoyuki Yamashita
José P. Laurel
Akira Mutō
Sōsaku Suzuki 
Shizuo Yokoyama
Soemu Toyoda
Takeo Kurita
Jisaburō Ozawa
Sanji Iwabuchi 
Units involved
6th Army
8th Army

5th Air Force
3rd Fleet
7th Fleet
Task Force 74
14th Area Army


Combined Fleet

Navy Air Service

Strength
1,250,000
30,000+ guerrillas[2]
208[3]
529,802[4]
~6,000 militia[5][6][7]
Casualties and losses

American

Manpower:

  • Army:
    To 4 July 1945
    13,106 killed in action
    47,166 wounded (2,934 died)
    96 captured (44 died)
    349 missing (149 died)
    16,233 total battle deaths[8]
  • Navy:
    To 1 July 1945
    4,026 killed in action
    270 died of wounds
    40 died as POWs
    830 invalidated from service
  • Marines:
    To 1 July 1945
    132 killed in action
    10 died of wounds
    1 died as a POW
    25 invalidated from service[9][a]
  • Tens of thousands hospitalized due to disease[12]

Materiel:

33+ ships sunk
95+ ships damaged
485+ aircraft[10][13]

Filipino

Unknown[14]

Mexican

~10 (5 non-combat)[15]

Japanese

Manpower:

  • 420,000 dead and missing[16][b]
  • 10,000 casualties at Leyte Gulf.[18]

Materiel:

93+ ships sunk
1,300 aircraft[10][13]

The Philippines campaign, Battle of the Philippines, Second Philippines campaign, or the Liberation of the Philippines, codenamed Operation Musketeer I, II, and III, was the American, Mexican, Australian and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II.

The Japanese Army overran all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The liberation of the Philippines from Japan commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944. The United States and Philippine Commonwealth military forces, with naval and air support from Mexico and Australia, were progressing in liberating territory and islands when the Japanese forces in the Philippines were ordered to surrender by Tokyo on August 15, 1945, after the dropping of the atomic bombs on mainland Japan and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

Planning edit

By mid-1944, American forces were only 300 nautical miles (560 km) southeast of Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines – and able to bomb Japanese positions there using long-range bombers. American forces under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz had advanced across the Central Pacific Ocean, capturing the Gilbert Islands, some of the Marshall Islands, and most of the Marianas Islands, bypassing many Japanese Army garrisons and leaving them behind, with no source of supplies and militarily impotent.

Aircraft carrier-based warplanes were already conducting air strikes and fighter sweeps against the Japanese in the Philippines, especially their military airfields. U.S. Army and Australian Army troops under the American General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, had either overrun, or else isolated and bypassed, all of the Japanese Army on New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. Before the invasion of the Philippines, MacArthur's northernmost conquest had been at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies on September 15–16, 1944. This was MacArthur's one base that was within bomber range of the southern Philippines.

U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army as well as Australian and New Zealand forces under the commands of General MacArthur and Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. in Operation Cartwheel had isolated the large Japanese South Pacific base at Rabaul, New Britain, by capturing a ring of islands around Rabaul, and then building air bases on them from which to bomb and blockade the Japanese forces at Rabaul into military impotence.[c][19]

With victories in the Marianas campaign (on Saipan, on Guam, and on Tinian, during June and July 1944), American forces were getting close to Japan itself. From the Marianas, the very long-range B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) could bomb the Japanese home islands from well-supplied air bases – ones with direct access to supplies via cargo ships and tankers. (The earlier B-29 bombing campaign against Japan had been from the end of a very long and tortuous supply line via British India and British Burma – one that proved to be woefully inadequate. All B-29s were transferred to the Marianas during the fall of 1944.)

Although Japan was obviously losing the war, the Japanese Government, and the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, showed no sign of capitulation, collapse, or surrender.

There had been a close relationship between the people of the Philippines and the United States since 1898, with the Philippines becoming the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935, and promised their independence in mid-1946. Furthermore, an extensive series of air attacks by the American Fast Carrier Task Force under Admiral William F. Halsey against Japanese airfields and other bases on the Philippines had drawn little Japanese opposition, such as interceptions by the Japanese Army fighter planes. Upon Admiral Halsey's recommendation, the Combined Chiefs of Staff, meeting in Canada, approved a decision not only to move up the date for the first landing in the Philippines, but also to move it north from the southernmost island of Mindanao to the central island of Leyte, Philippines. The new date set for the landing on Leyte, October 20, 1944, was two months before the previous target date to land on Mindanao.

The Filipino people were ready and waiting for the invasion. After General MacArthur had been evacuated from the Philippines in March 1942, all of its islands fell to the Japanese. The Japanese occupation was harsh, accompanied by atrocities and with large numbers of Filipinos pressed into slave labor. From mid-1942 through mid-1944, MacArthur and Nimitz supplied and encouraged the Filipino guerrilla resistance by U.S. Navy submarines and a few parachute drops, so that the guerrillas could harass the Japanese Army and take control of the rural jungle and mountainous areas – amounting to about half of the archipelago. While remaining loyal to the United States, many Filipinos hoped and believed that liberation from the Japanese would bring them freedom and their already-promised independence.

The Australian government offered General MacArthur the use of the First Corps of the Australian Army for the Liberation of the Philippines. MacArthur suggested that two Australian infantry divisions be employed, each of them attached to a different U.S. Army Corps, but this idea was not acceptable to the Australian Cabinet, which wanted to have significant operational control within a certain area of the Philippines, rather than simply being part of a U.S. Army Corps.[20] No agreement was ever reached between the Australian Cabinet and MacArthur – who might have wanted it that way. However, units from the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy, such as the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, were involved.

In addition to rejecting Australian ground troops MacArthur also rejected the use of U.S. marines for major ground combat operations during the whole 10 months of the Philippines campaign. The only contributions by the U.S. Marine Corps in this campaign were USMC aircraft and aviators, who greatly helped to provide air cover for the U.S. Army soldiers and assisted U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft, and one small USMC artillery unit, V Amphibious Corps (VAC) Artillery, commanded by Brigadier General Thomas E. Bourke. These 1,500 USMC artillerymen only fought in the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte from October 21 to December 13. This small artillery corps was the only USMC ground combat unit that served in the Philippines in 1944-45.[21]

During the American re-conquest of the Philippines, the guerrillas began to strike openly against Japanese forces, carried out reconnaissance activities ahead of the advancing regular troops, and took their places in battle beside the advancing American divisions.[22][23]

Leyte edit

 
The four main actions in the Battle of Leyte Gulf: 1 Battle of the Sibuyan Sea 2 Battle of Surigao Strait 3 Battle off Cape Engaño 4 Battle off Samar. Leyte Gulf is north of 2 and west of 4. The island of Leyte is west of the gulf.

On October 20, 1944, the U.S. Sixth Army, supported by naval and air bombardment, landed on the favorable eastern shore of Leyte, one of the islands of the Visayas island group, northeast of Mindanao. The Japanese miscalculated the relative strength of the naval and air forces, and they attempted to destroy the landing. This brought about the massive sequence of battles called the Battle of Leyte Gulf, fought on October 23 through October 26. This decisive victory by the U.S. Navy, its Fast Carrier Task Force, its surface fleet, and its submarines effectively destroyed the remainder of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which had already lost all of its effective aircraft carrier forces. The IJN had four of its carriers sunk (ships with depleted air squadrons – which were used only as decoys), numerous battleships and heavy cruisers, and a large number of light cruisers and destroyers. The IJN was never able to fight a major battle after this.

The U.S. Sixth Army continued its advance from the east, as the Japanese rushed reinforcements to the Ormoc Bay area on the western side of the island. While the Sixth Army was continually reinforced, the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the U.S. 3rd Fleet's Task Force 38 were able to devastate the Japanese attempts at air attacks and at landing new reinforcements and supplies, and also provide much support to the Army's ground troops during what is known as the Battle of Ormoc Bay from November 11 to December 21, 1944.

The Filipino guerrillas also performed valuable service in maintaining public order and in keeping the roads and highways free of congestion. After the American beachheads were established, the Leyte guerrilla groups were attached directly to the Sixth Army corps and divisions to assist in scouting, intelligence, and combat operations.[24][failed verification] With the initial U.S. Sixth Army landings on the beaches at Tacloban and Dulag, Colonel Ruperto Kangleon's units went into action. They dynamited key bridges to block Japanese displacement toward the target area; they harassed enemy patrols; and they sabotaged supply and ammunition depots. Information on enemy troop movements and dispositions sent from guerrilla outposts to Kangleon's Headquarters was dispatched immediately to Sixth Army.[25]

During many torrential rains and over difficult terrain, the advance continued across Leyte and onto the major island of Samar, just north of Leyte. On December 7, 1944, the U.S. Army units made another amphibious landing at Ormoc Bay and, after a major land and air battle, the landing force cut off all Japanese ability to reinforce and resupply their troops on Leyte. Although fierce fighting continued on Leyte for months, the U.S. Army was always in control.

Mindoro edit

The U.S. 6th Army's second major target to attack was Mindoro. This large island is directly south of Luzon and Manila Bay, and MacArthur's main goal in taking it was to be able to construct airfields on it for fighter planes that could dominate the sky over the most-important island of Luzon, with its major seaport and capital city of Manila.[26]

The Seventh Fleet's large invasion convoy from Leyte to Mindoro came under strong attack by kamikazes, but they could not delay the American invasion of Mindoro.[27] Mindoro was only lightly occupied by the Japanese Army, and much of it was held by Filipino guerrillas, so Mindoro was quickly overrun. U.S. Army engineers set about rapidly constructing a major air base at San Jose. Besides being close to Luzon, Mindoro has another advantage: good flying weather nearly all the time, because this is a part of the Philippines that is relatively dry – quite unlike Leyte which receives torrential rains most of the year, not only giving it poor flying weather, but making it very muddy and difficult to construct airfields.

Mindoro was also the location of another breakthrough: the first appearance during the War in the Pacific of USAAF squadrons flying the fast, long-range P-51B Mustang fighters. Mindoro was a major victory for the 6th Army and the USAAF, and it also provided the major base for the next move of MacArthur's 6th Army: the invasion of Luzon, especially at Lingayen Gulf on its western coast.

Luzon edit

 
Japanese leaflet designed to discourage the landing American troops.
 
Troops of the 185th Inf., 40th Div., take cover behind advancing tanks while moving up on Japanese positions on Panay Island

On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.

Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, which included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city. On February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila, and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.

As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. Taking this stronghold was necessary because troops there could block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.

Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until April 13, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.

As the fighting in Manila was coming to a close, the other challenge faced by newly liberated city was its water supply. The Shimbu Group under Gen. Shizuo Yokoyama fortified their positions east of Manila in the Sierra Madre mountain range - practically controlling Ipo Dam, Wawa Dam, and its surrounding areas. The result was a seesaw battle, and the longest continuous combat engagement in the Southwest Pacific Theater from February 28 to May 30, 1945. Facing the Shimbu Group during the Battle of Wawa Dam and Battle of Ipo Dam was initially the 6th Army's XIV Corps, and this would later be replaced by the XI Corps. While the fighting took 3 months, the American forces supported by Filipino guerrillas led by Marcos "Marking" Agustin forced decimated the Shimbu Group, forcing Gen. Yokoyama to retreat his forces further east.[28]

In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.

Finishing up the campaign edit

 
Japanese Troops surrender to the 40th Infantry Division

Palawan Island, between Borneo and Mindoro, the fifth largest and westernmost island of the Philippines, was invaded on February 28, with landings of the Eighth United States Army at Puerto Princesa. The Japanese put up little direct defense of Palawan, but cleaning up pockets of Japanese resistance lasted until late April, with the Japanese using their common tactic of withdrawing into the mountains and jungles, dispersed as small units. Throughout the Philippines, U.S. forces were aided by Filipino guerrillas to find and dispatch the holdouts,[29] the last of whom, Hiroo Onoda, did not surrender until 1974, in the mountains of Lubang Island in Mindoro.

The U.S. Eighth Army then moved on to its first landing on Mindanao (April 17), the last of the major islands of the Philippines to be taken. Mindanao was followed by invasion and occupation of Panay, Cebu, Negros and several islands in the Sulu Archipelago. These islands provided bases for the U.S. Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces to attack targets throughout the Philippines and the South China Sea.

Following additional landings on Mindanao, U.S. Eighth Army troops continued their steady advance against stubborn resistance. By the end of June, the enemy pockets were compressed into isolated pockets on Mindanao and Luzon where fighting continued until the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. However, some units of the Japanese Army were out of radio contact with Tokyo, and it was difficult to convince some of them that Japan had surrendered, becoming Japanese holdouts. As at many Pacific Islands, major Japanese officials, including members of the Imperial Family, visited in person to convince the soldiers that they must surrender by order of the Emperor.[30]

Aftermath edit

Upon the surrender of Japan, some 45,000 Japanese Prisoners of War were in the custody of American authorities in the Philippines. These POWs were held in a number of camps around the country, and were used as labor for war reparation. Gen. MacArthur formed the Philippine War Crimes Commission, while Pres. Sergio Osmeña formed the National War Crimes Office. Both offices supported each other in the pursuit of war crimes trial in Tokyo, and later on the Philippine War Crimes Trial.[31]

Casualties edit

U.S. Army and Army Air Forces
Location Killed Wounded Total
Leyte[32] 3,504 11,991 15,495
Luzon[33] 8,310 29,560 37,870
Central and Southern Philippines[33] 2,070 6,990 9,060
Total 13,884 48,541 62,425
Japanese
Location Died[d] Captured Total
Leyte[34] 65,000 828[32] 65,828
Luzon[35] 205,535 9,050 214,585
Central and Southern Philippines[36] 50,260 2,695 52,955
Total 320,795 12,573 333,368

In addition it is estimated that a million Filipino civilians died in the Philippines campaign.[37]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Other sources mention 3,800 Navy casualties at Leyte Gulf,[10] 2,680 casualties in the month after December 13, 1944 (omitting November), and 790 lost in a typhoon[11]
  2. ^ Approximately 80% of Japanese deaths were from starvation or disease.[17]
  3. ^ The Solomon Islands campaign west of Guadalcanal were in the South West Pacific Area, which was the responsibility of General MacArthur. When Admiral Halsey operated in the Solomon Islands that was west of 159° east longitude he reported to MacArthur. When he operated east of 159° east longitude he reported to Nimitz. The middle of Santa Isabel Island is where 159° east longitude runs through. Operation Cartwheel took place west of Santa Isabel Island.
  4. ^ Includes battle and nonbattle deaths

References edit

  1. ^ "World War II: Mexican Air Force Helped Liberate the Philippines". History.net. June 12, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  2. ^ MacArthur, Douglas (1966). Reports of General MacArthur: Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area Volume 2, Part 1. JAPANESE DEMOBILIZATION BUREAUX RECORDS. p. 311. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  3. ^ Castillo, G. (2011); Homenaje de la Sedena a militares del Escuadrón 201 de la Fuerza Aérea; La Jornada (in Spanish); Retrieved 3 October 2019
  4. ^ Chapter 11: Operations of the Eighth Army in the Central and Southern Philippines, pp. 358 June 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 10, 2016
  5. ^ Jowett, Philip (2020). Japan's Asian Allies 1941–45. Osprey Publishing. pp. 37–39.
  6. ^ Ikehata Setsuho; Ricardo T. Jose (2000). The Philippines Under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction. Ateneo De Manila University Press. pp. 83 & 89.
  7. ^ Stein Ugelvik Larsen, Fascism Outside Europe, Columbia University Press, 2001, p. 785
  8. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II p. 94. Retrieved 4 May 2023
  9. ^ history.navy.mil, "World War II Casualties, Return to the Philippines." Retrieved 4 May 2023
  10. ^ a b c Tucker, Spencer (2012). Almanac of American Military History, Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 1668. ISBN 978-1-59-884530-3.
  11. ^ "Triumph in the Philippines" pp. 48 & 66 December 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 26, 2015
  12. ^ "Luzon" December 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine 93,400 non-combat casualties on Luzon alone. Retrieved October 26, 2015
  13. ^ a b "Triumph in the Philippines" pp. 48–66 December 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 26, 2015
  14. ^ According to the National World War II Museum, Filipino military deaths during the war numbered 57,000. A significant portion must have fallen in the 1944–45 campaign.
  15. ^ Parker, Richard (May 27, 2020). "When the Mexican Air Force Went to War Alongside America". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Final report, progress of demobilization of the Japanese Armed Forces, Part III: Overseas Areas and IV: Air Forces enclosure #44 January 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 10, 2016. With 109,890 Japanese military personnel repatriated immediately after the war, that leaves around 420,000 Japanese dead or missing.
  17. ^ American Historical Association: Lessons from Iwo Jima. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  18. ^ American Battles and Campaigns: A Chronicle from 1622 to 2010 by Chris McNab, p. 184.
  19. ^ "Cartwheel: The Reduction of Rabaul" (PDF). history.army.mil. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  20. ^ David Day, 1992, Reluctant Nation: Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan, 1942–1945. (New York, Oxford University Press), p.230
  21. ^ ". . . AND a FEW MARINES: Marines in the Liberation of the Philippines". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  22. ^ "LIEUTENANT RAMSEY'S WAR" by EDWIN PRICE RAMSEY and STEPHEN J. RIVELE.Published by Knightsbride publishing Co,Los Angeles,California
  23. ^ "Edward Price Ramsey: Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts)". militarymuseum.org. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  24. ^ "Allied guerillas".
  25. ^ Macarthur, Douglas (1966). . Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific. Vol. I. Washington, D.C.: Center for Military History, US Army. pp. 316–318. OCLC 254218615. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  26. ^ . Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific: Volume I. Library of Congress: Department of the Army. pp. 242–294. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  27. ^ . Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific: Volume I. Library of Congress: Department of the Army. p. 247. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  28. ^ MacArthur, Douglas. "Reports of General MacArthur Vol. 1". US Army Center for Military History. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  29. ^ Chambers, John Whiteclay; Fred Anderson (1999). The Oxford companion to American military history. New York City: Oxford University Press US. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-19-507198-6. Retrieved May 7, 2011. guerrilla Philippine liberation fighting Japanese.
  30. ^ MacArthur, Douglas (1994). . United States Army. p. 445. LCCN 66-60005. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014. The radio also stated that members of the Imperial family were being sent to Japan's numerous theaters of operations as personal representatives of the Emperor to expedite and insure full compliance with the Imperial order to cease hostilities.
  31. ^ Chamberlain, Sharon Williams. "Justice and Reconciliation: Postwar Philippine Trials Against Japanese War Criminals in History and Memory". GWU Library. George Washington University. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  32. ^ a b Cannon, Leyte: Return to the Philippines, pp. 368–369
  33. ^ a b Smith, Triumph in the Philippines, pp. 692–693
  34. ^ Toland, "The Rising Sun" p. 607
  35. ^ Smith, Triumph in the Philippines, p. 694
  36. ^ Smith, Triumph in the Philippines, p. 694
  37. ^ Hasting, Max. Nemesis.

Bibliography edit

  • Breuer, William B. (1986). Retaking The Philippines: America's Return to Corregidor & Bataan, 1944–1945. St Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312678029. ASIN B000IN7D3Q.
  • Huggins, Mark (May–June 1999). "Setting Sun: Japanese Air Defence of the Philippines 1944–1945". Air Enthusiast (81): 28–35. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Leary, William M. (2004). We Shall Return!: MacArthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan, 1942–1945. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-9105-X.
  • . Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific: Volume I. Library of Congress: Department of the Army. pp. 242–294. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  • Mellnik, Stephen Michael (1981). Philippine War Diary, 1939–1945. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0-442-21258-5.
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Leyte: June 1944 – Jan 1945, vol. 12 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-58317-0.
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001). The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas 1944–1945, vol. 13 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (Reissue ed.). Castle Books. ISBN 0-7858-1314-4.
  • Norling, Bernard (2005). The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-9134-3.
  • Smith, Robert Ross (2005). Triumph in the Philippines: The War in the Pacific. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1-4102-2495-3.

philippines, campaign, 1944, 1945, japanese, conquest, philippines, 1941, 1942, philippines, campaign, 1941, 1942, part, pacific, theater, world, iigeneral, douglas, macarthur, president, osmeña, staff, land, palo, leyte, october, 1944, date20, october, 1944, . For the Japanese conquest of the Philippines in 1941 1942 see Philippines campaign 1941 1942 Philippines campaign 1944 1945 Part of the Pacific Theater of World War IIGeneral Douglas MacArthur President Osmena and staff land at Palo Leyte on October 20 1944 Date20 October 1944 15 August 1945LocationPhilippinesResultAllied victoryTerritorialchangesLiberation of the Philippines from Japan End of the Second Philippine Republic Restoration of the Commonwealth of the PhilippinesBelligerents United States Philippine CommonwealthSupported by Australia MexicoNon state forces HukbalahapMoro guerillas Japan Philippine RepublicCommanders and leadersDouglas MacArthur Sergio Osmena Chester W Nimitz Walter KruegerRobert L Eichelberger William Halsey Jr Thomas C Kinkaid George C Kenney John CollinsTomoyuki Yamashita Jose P Laurel Akira Mutō Sōsaku Suzuki Shizuo Yokoyama Soemu Toyoda Takeo Kurita Jisaburō Ozawa Sanji Iwabuchi Units involved6th ArmyI Corps 6th Infantry Division43rd Infantry Division XIV Corps 37th Infantry Division40th Infantry Division X Corps 1st Cavalry Division24th Infantry Division XXIV Corps 77th Infantry Division7th Infantry Division96th Infantry Division 6th Army Reserves 11th Airborne Division25th Infantry Division158th Infantry Regiment13th Armored Group6th Ranger Battalion 8th ArmyXI Corps 23rd Infantry Division31st Infantry Division41st Infantry Division93rd Infantry Division503rd Infantry Regiment Philippines Recognized guerrillasHukbalahap 5th Air Force 201st Squadron 1 3rd Fleet 7th Fleet Task Force 7414th Area ArmyDirectly controlled 1st Infantry Division10th Infantry Division19th Infantry Division23rd Infantry Division26th Infantry Division103rd Infantry Division105th Infantry Division2nd Tank Division68th Infantry Brigade55th Mixed Brigade58th Mixed Brigade 35th Army 16th Infantry Division30th Infantry Division100th Infantry Division102nd Infantry Division54th Mixed Brigade 41st Army 9th Artillery HQ8th Infantry Division39th Mixed Brigade65th Infantry Brigade Philippines Makapili 4th Air Army 6th Air Division7th Air Division Combined Fleet 2nd Fleet 3rd Fleet 5th FleetNavy Air Service 1st Naval Air Fleet 2nd Naval Air FleetStrength1 250 000 30 000 guerrillas 2 208 3 529 802 4 6 000 militia 5 6 7 Casualties and lossesAmericanManpower Army To 4 July 194513 106 killed in action47 166 wounded 2 934 died 96 captured 44 died 349 missing 149 died 16 233 total battle deaths 8 Navy To 1 July 19454 026 killed in action270 died of wounds40 died as POWs830 invalidated from service Marines To 1 July 1945132 killed in action10 died of wounds1 died as a POW25 invalidated from service 9 a Tens of thousands hospitalized due to disease 12 Materiel 33 ships sunk 95 ships damaged 485 aircraft 10 13 FilipinoUnknown 14 Mexican 10 5 non combat 15 JapaneseManpower 420 000 dead and missing 16 b 10 000 casualties at Leyte Gulf 18 Materiel 93 ships sunk1 300 aircraft 10 13 The Philippines campaign Battle of the Philippines Second Philippines campaign or the Liberation of the Philippines codenamed Operation Musketeer I II and III was the American Mexican Australian and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II The Japanese Army overran all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942 The liberation of the Philippines from Japan commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20 1944 The United States and Philippine Commonwealth military forces with naval and air support from Mexico and Australia were progressing in liberating territory and islands when the Japanese forces in the Philippines were ordered to surrender by Tokyo on August 15 1945 after the dropping of the atomic bombs on mainland Japan and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria Contents 1 Planning 2 Leyte 3 Mindoro 4 Luzon 5 Finishing up the campaign 6 Aftermath 7 Casualties 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 BibliographyPlanning editBy mid 1944 American forces were only 300 nautical miles 560 km southeast of Mindanao the largest island in the southern Philippines and able to bomb Japanese positions there using long range bombers American forces under Fleet Admiral Chester W Nimitz had advanced across the Central Pacific Ocean capturing the Gilbert Islands some of the Marshall Islands and most of the Marianas Islands bypassing many Japanese Army garrisons and leaving them behind with no source of supplies and militarily impotent Aircraft carrier based warplanes were already conducting air strikes and fighter sweeps against the Japanese in the Philippines especially their military airfields U S Army and Australian Army troops under the American General Douglas MacArthur the Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations had either overrun or else isolated and bypassed all of the Japanese Army on New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands Before the invasion of the Philippines MacArthur s northernmost conquest had been at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies on September 15 16 1944 This was MacArthur s one base that was within bomber range of the southern Philippines U S Navy Marine Corps and Army as well as Australian and New Zealand forces under the commands of General MacArthur and Admiral William F Halsey Jr in Operation Cartwheel had isolated the large Japanese South Pacific base at Rabaul New Britain by capturing a ring of islands around Rabaul and then building air bases on them from which to bomb and blockade the Japanese forces at Rabaul into military impotence c 19 With victories in the Marianas campaign on Saipan on Guam and on Tinian during June and July 1944 American forces were getting close to Japan itself From the Marianas the very long range B 29 Superfortress heavy bombers of the U S Army Air Forces USAAF could bomb the Japanese home islands from well supplied air bases ones with direct access to supplies via cargo ships and tankers The earlier B 29 bombing campaign against Japan had been from the end of a very long and tortuous supply line via British India and British Burma one that proved to be woefully inadequate All B 29s were transferred to the Marianas during the fall of 1944 Although Japan was obviously losing the war the Japanese Government and the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy showed no sign of capitulation collapse or surrender There had been a close relationship between the people of the Philippines and the United States since 1898 with the Philippines becoming the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935 and promised their independence in mid 1946 Furthermore an extensive series of air attacks by the American Fast Carrier Task Force under Admiral William F Halsey against Japanese airfields and other bases on the Philippines had drawn little Japanese opposition such as interceptions by the Japanese Army fighter planes Upon Admiral Halsey s recommendation the Combined Chiefs of Staff meeting in Canada approved a decision not only to move up the date for the first landing in the Philippines but also to move it north from the southernmost island of Mindanao to the central island of Leyte Philippines The new date set for the landing on Leyte October 20 1944 was two months before the previous target date to land on Mindanao The Filipino people were ready and waiting for the invasion After General MacArthur had been evacuated from the Philippines in March 1942 all of its islands fell to the Japanese The Japanese occupation was harsh accompanied by atrocities and with large numbers of Filipinos pressed into slave labor From mid 1942 through mid 1944 MacArthur and Nimitz supplied and encouraged the Filipino guerrilla resistance by U S Navy submarines and a few parachute drops so that the guerrillas could harass the Japanese Army and take control of the rural jungle and mountainous areas amounting to about half of the archipelago While remaining loyal to the United States many Filipinos hoped and believed that liberation from the Japanese would bring them freedom and their already promised independence The Australian government offered General MacArthur the use of the First Corps of the Australian Army for the Liberation of the Philippines MacArthur suggested that two Australian infantry divisions be employed each of them attached to a different U S Army Corps but this idea was not acceptable to the Australian Cabinet which wanted to have significant operational control within a certain area of the Philippines rather than simply being part of a U S Army Corps 20 No agreement was ever reached between the Australian Cabinet and MacArthur who might have wanted it that way However units from the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy such as the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia were involved In addition to rejecting Australian ground troops MacArthur also rejected the use of U S marines for major ground combat operations during the whole 10 months of the Philippines campaign The only contributions by the U S Marine Corps in this campaign were USMC aircraft and aviators who greatly helped to provide air cover for the U S Army soldiers and assisted U S Army Air Forces aircraft and one small USMC artillery unit V Amphibious Corps VAC Artillery commanded by Brigadier General Thomas E Bourke These 1 500 USMC artillerymen only fought in the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte from October 21 to December 13 This small artillery corps was the only USMC ground combat unit that served in the Philippines in 1944 45 21 During the American re conquest of the Philippines the guerrillas began to strike openly against Japanese forces carried out reconnaissance activities ahead of the advancing regular troops and took their places in battle beside the advancing American divisions 22 23 Leyte edit nbsp The four main actions in the Battle of Leyte Gulf 1 Battle of the Sibuyan Sea 2 Battle of Surigao Strait 3 Battle off Cape Engano 4 Battle off Samar Leyte Gulf is north of 2 and west of 4 The island of Leyte is west of the gulf Main article Battle of Leyte On October 20 1944 the U S Sixth Army supported by naval and air bombardment landed on the favorable eastern shore of Leyte one of the islands of the Visayas island group northeast of Mindanao The Japanese miscalculated the relative strength of the naval and air forces and they attempted to destroy the landing This brought about the massive sequence of battles called the Battle of Leyte Gulf fought on October 23 through October 26 This decisive victory by the U S Navy its Fast Carrier Task Force its surface fleet and its submarines effectively destroyed the remainder of the Imperial Japanese Navy IJN which had already lost all of its effective aircraft carrier forces The IJN had four of its carriers sunk ships with depleted air squadrons which were used only as decoys numerous battleships and heavy cruisers and a large number of light cruisers and destroyers The IJN was never able to fight a major battle after this The U S Sixth Army continued its advance from the east as the Japanese rushed reinforcements to the Ormoc Bay area on the western side of the island While the Sixth Army was continually reinforced the U S Fifth Air Force and the U S 3rd Fleet s Task Force 38 were able to devastate the Japanese attempts at air attacks and at landing new reinforcements and supplies and also provide much support to the Army s ground troops during what is known as the Battle of Ormoc Bay from November 11 to December 21 1944 The Filipino guerrillas also performed valuable service in maintaining public order and in keeping the roads and highways free of congestion After the American beachheads were established the Leyte guerrilla groups were attached directly to the Sixth Army corps and divisions to assist in scouting intelligence and combat operations 24 failed verification With the initial U S Sixth Army landings on the beaches at Tacloban and Dulag Colonel Ruperto Kangleon s units went into action They dynamited key bridges to block Japanese displacement toward the target area they harassed enemy patrols and they sabotaged supply and ammunition depots Information on enemy troop movements and dispositions sent from guerrilla outposts to Kangleon s Headquarters was dispatched immediately to Sixth Army 25 During many torrential rains and over difficult terrain the advance continued across Leyte and onto the major island of Samar just north of Leyte On December 7 1944 the U S Army units made another amphibious landing at Ormoc Bay and after a major land and air battle the landing force cut off all Japanese ability to reinforce and resupply their troops on Leyte Although fierce fighting continued on Leyte for months the U S Army was always in control Mindoro editMain article Battle of Mindoro The U S 6th Army s second major target to attack was Mindoro This large island is directly south of Luzon and Manila Bay and MacArthur s main goal in taking it was to be able to construct airfields on it for fighter planes that could dominate the sky over the most important island of Luzon with its major seaport and capital city of Manila 26 The Seventh Fleet s large invasion convoy from Leyte to Mindoro came under strong attack by kamikazes but they could not delay the American invasion of Mindoro 27 Mindoro was only lightly occupied by the Japanese Army and much of it was held by Filipino guerrillas so Mindoro was quickly overrun U S Army engineers set about rapidly constructing a major air base at San Jose Besides being close to Luzon Mindoro has another advantage good flying weather nearly all the time because this is a part of the Philippines that is relatively dry quite unlike Leyte which receives torrential rains most of the year not only giving it poor flying weather but making it very muddy and difficult to construct airfields Mindoro was also the location of another breakthrough the first appearance during the War in the Pacific of USAAF squadrons flying the fast long range P 51B Mustang fighters Mindoro was a major victory for the 6th Army and the USAAF and it also provided the major base for the next move of MacArthur s 6th Army the invasion of Luzon especially at Lingayen Gulf on its western coast Luzon editMain articles Battle of Luzon and Battle of Manila 1945 nbsp Japanese leaflet designed to discourage the landing American troops nbsp Troops of the 185th Inf 40th Div take cover behind advancing tanks while moving up on Japanese positions on Panay IslandOn December 15 1944 landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon On January 9 1945 on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon General Krueger s Sixth Army landed his first units Almost 175 000 men followed across the twenty mile 32 km beachhead within a few days With heavy air support Army units pushed inland taking Clark Field 40 miles 64 km northwest of Manila in the last week of January Two more major landings followed one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula and another which included a parachute drop south of Manila Pincers closed on the city On February 3 1945 elements of the U S 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment organized as infantry passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured On February 16 paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor Taking this stronghold was necessary because troops there could block the entrance of Manila Bay The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan planned to begin on November 1 1945 Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27 and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15 1945 obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands Despite initial optimism fighting in Manila was harsh It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops and the Japanese Marines who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done Fort Drum a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor held out until April 13 when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3 000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort then set off incendiary charges No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire As the fighting in Manila was coming to a close the other challenge faced by newly liberated city was its water supply The Shimbu Group under Gen Shizuo Yokoyama fortified their positions east of Manila in the Sierra Madre mountain range practically controlling Ipo Dam Wawa Dam and its surrounding areas The result was a seesaw battle and the longest continuous combat engagement in the Southwest Pacific Theater from February 28 to May 30 1945 Facing the Shimbu Group during the Battle of Wawa Dam and Battle of Ipo Dam was initially the 6th Army s XIV Corps and this would later be replaced by the XI Corps While the fighting took 3 months the American forces supported by Filipino guerrillas led by Marcos Marking Agustin forced decimated the Shimbu Group forcing Gen Yokoyama to retreat his forces further east 28 In all ten U S divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa Italy or southern France Finishing up the campaign edit nbsp Japanese Troops surrender to the 40th Infantry DivisionPalawan Island between Borneo and Mindoro the fifth largest and westernmost island of the Philippines was invaded on February 28 with landings of the Eighth United States Army at Puerto Princesa The Japanese put up little direct defense of Palawan but cleaning up pockets of Japanese resistance lasted until late April with the Japanese using their common tactic of withdrawing into the mountains and jungles dispersed as small units Throughout the Philippines U S forces were aided by Filipino guerrillas to find and dispatch the holdouts 29 the last of whom Hiroo Onoda did not surrender until 1974 in the mountains of Lubang Island in Mindoro The U S Eighth Army then moved on to its first landing on Mindanao April 17 the last of the major islands of the Philippines to be taken Mindanao was followed by invasion and occupation of Panay Cebu Negros and several islands in the Sulu Archipelago These islands provided bases for the U S Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces to attack targets throughout the Philippines and the South China Sea Following additional landings on Mindanao U S Eighth Army troops continued their steady advance against stubborn resistance By the end of June the enemy pockets were compressed into isolated pockets on Mindanao and Luzon where fighting continued until the Japanese surrender on August 15 1945 However some units of the Japanese Army were out of radio contact with Tokyo and it was difficult to convince some of them that Japan had surrendered becoming Japanese holdouts As at many Pacific Islands major Japanese officials including members of the Imperial Family visited in person to convince the soldiers that they must surrender by order of the Emperor 30 Aftermath editUpon the surrender of Japan some 45 000 Japanese Prisoners of War were in the custody of American authorities in the Philippines These POWs were held in a number of camps around the country and were used as labor for war reparation Gen MacArthur formed the Philippine War Crimes Commission while Pres Sergio Osmena formed the National War Crimes Office Both offices supported each other in the pursuit of war crimes trial in Tokyo and later on the Philippine War Crimes Trial 31 Casualties editU S Army and Army Air ForcesLocation Killed Wounded TotalLeyte 32 3 504 11 991 15 495Luzon 33 8 310 29 560 37 870Central and Southern Philippines 33 2 070 6 990 9 060Total 13 884 48 541 62 425JapaneseLocation Died d Captured TotalLeyte 34 65 000 828 32 65 828Luzon 35 205 535 9 050 214 585Central and Southern Philippines 36 50 260 2 695 52 955Total 320 795 12 573 333 368In addition it is estimated that a million Filipino civilians died in the Philippines campaign 37 See also editBattle of Villa Verde Trail Dalton Pass Escuadron 201 Philippine Liberation MedalNotes edit Other sources mention 3 800 Navy casualties at Leyte Gulf 10 2 680 casualties in the month after December 13 1944 omitting November and 790 lost in a typhoon 11 Approximately 80 of Japanese deaths were from starvation or disease 17 The Solomon Islands campaign west of Guadalcanal were in the South West Pacific Area which was the responsibility of General MacArthur When Admiral Halsey operated in the Solomon Islands that was west of 159 east longitude he reported to MacArthur When he operated east of 159 east longitude he reported to Nimitz The middle of Santa Isabel Island is where 159 east longitude runs through Operation Cartwheel took place west of Santa Isabel Island Includes battle and nonbattle deathsReferences edit World War II Mexican Air Force Helped Liberate the Philippines History net June 12 2006 Retrieved June 12 2015 MacArthur Douglas 1966 Reports of General MacArthur Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area Volume 2 Part 1 JAPANESE DEMOBILIZATION BUREAUX RECORDS p 311 Retrieved January 25 2020 Castillo G 2011 Homenaje de la Sedena a militares del Escuadron 201 de la Fuerza Aerea La Jornada in Spanish Retrieved 3 October 2019 Chapter 11 Operations of the Eighth Army in the Central and Southern Philippines pp 358 Archived June 3 2020 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 10 2016 Jowett Philip 2020 Japan s Asian Allies 1941 45 Osprey Publishing pp 37 39 Ikehata Setsuho Ricardo T Jose 2000 The Philippines Under Japan Occupation Policy and Reaction Ateneo De Manila University Press pp 83 amp 89 Stein Ugelvik Larsen Fascism Outside Europe Columbia University Press 2001 p 785 Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II p 94 Retrieved 4 May 2023 history navy mil World War II Casualties Return to the Philippines Retrieved 4 May 2023 a b c Tucker Spencer 2012 Almanac of American Military History Vol 1 ABC CLIO p 1668 ISBN 978 1 59 884530 3 Triumph in the Philippines pp 48 amp 66 Archived December 24 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 26 2015 Luzon Archived December 15 2008 at the Wayback Machine 93 400 non combat casualties on Luzon alone Retrieved October 26 2015 a b Triumph in the Philippines pp 48 66 Archived December 24 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 26 2015 According to the National World War II Museum Filipino military deaths during the war numbered 57 000 A significant portion must have fallen in the 1944 45 campaign Parker Richard May 27 2020 When the Mexican Air Force Went to War Alongside America The New York Times Final report progress of demobilization of the Japanese Armed Forces Part III Overseas Areas and IV Air Forces enclosure 44 Archived January 5 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 10 2016 With 109 890 Japanese military personnel repatriated immediately after the war that leaves around 420 000 Japanese dead or missing American Historical Association Lessons from Iwo Jima Retrieved November 13 2015 American Battles and Campaigns A Chronicle from 1622 to 2010 by Chris McNab p 184 Cartwheel The Reduction of Rabaul PDF history army mil Retrieved March 28 2022 David Day 1992 Reluctant Nation Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan 1942 1945 New York Oxford University Press p 230 AND a FEW MARINES Marines in the Liberation of the Philippines www ibiblio org Retrieved March 28 2022 LIEUTENANT RAMSEY S WAR by EDWIN PRICE RAMSEY and STEPHEN J RIVELE Published by Knightsbride publishing Co Los Angeles California Edward Price Ramsey Lieutenant Colonel Retired 26th Cavalry Regiment Philippine Scouts militarymuseum org Retrieved December 1 2015 Allied guerillas Macarthur Douglas 1966 Guerrilla Activities in the Philippines The Philippine Resistance Movement Reports of General MacArthur The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific Vol I Washington D C Center for Military History US Army pp 316 318 OCLC 254218615 Archived from the original on January 31 2016 Retrieved May 31 2011 Chapter IX The Mindoro and Luzon Operations Reports of General MacArthur The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific Volume I Library of Congress Department of the Army pp 242 294 Archived from the original on January 16 2014 Retrieved January 5 2014 Chapter IX The Mindoro and Luzon Operations Reports of General MacArthur The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific Volume I Library of Congress Department of the Army p 247 Archived from the original on January 16 2014 Retrieved January 5 2014 MacArthur Douglas Reports of General MacArthur Vol 1 US Army Center for Military History Retrieved April 28 2023 Chambers John Whiteclay Fred Anderson 1999 The Oxford companion to American military history New York City Oxford University Press US p 547 ISBN 978 0 19 507198 6 Retrieved May 7 2011 guerrilla Philippine liberation fighting Japanese MacArthur Douglas 1994 Reports of General MacArthur United States Army p 445 LCCN 66 60005 Archived from the original on August 3 2014 Retrieved August 15 2014 The radio also stated that members of the Imperial family were being sent to Japan s numerous theaters of operations as personal representatives of the Emperor to expedite and insure full compliance with the Imperial order to cease hostilities Chamberlain Sharon Williams Justice and Reconciliation Postwar Philippine Trials Against Japanese War Criminals in History and Memory GWU Library George Washington University Retrieved April 30 2023 a b Cannon Leyte Return to the Philippines pp 368 369 a b Smith Triumph in the Philippines pp 692 693 Toland The Rising Sun p 607 Smith Triumph in the Philippines p 694 Smith Triumph in the Philippines p 694 Hasting Max Nemesis Bibliography edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philippines Campaign 1944 45 Breuer William B 1986 Retaking The Philippines America s Return to Corregidor amp Bataan 1944 1945 St Martin s Press ISBN 9780312678029 ASIN B000IN7D3Q Huggins Mark May June 1999 Setting Sun Japanese Air Defence of the Philippines 1944 1945 Air Enthusiast 81 28 35 ISSN 0143 5450 Leary William M 2004 We Shall Return MacArthur s Commanders and the Defeat of Japan 1942 1945 University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0 8131 9105 X Chapter IX The Mindoro and Luzon Operations Reports of General MacArthur The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific Volume I Library of Congress Department of the Army pp 242 294 Archived from the original on January 16 2014 Retrieved January 5 2014 Mellnik Stephen Michael 1981 Philippine War Diary 1939 1945 Van Nostrand Reinhold ISBN 0 442 21258 5 Morison Samuel Eliot 1958 Leyte June 1944 Jan 1945 vol 12 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II Little Brown and Company ISBN 0 316 58317 0 Morison Samuel Eliot 2001 The Liberation of the Philippines Luzon Mindanao the Visayas 1944 1945 vol 13 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II Reissue ed Castle Books ISBN 0 7858 1314 4 Norling Bernard 2005 The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0 8131 9134 3 Smith Robert Ross 2005 Triumph in the Philippines The War in the Pacific University Press of the Pacific ISBN 1 4102 2495 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Philippines campaign 1944 1945 amp oldid 1182135311, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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