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Epilogue-The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon
Epilogue The Shoestring Warriors of Luzon
For 200 days American and Filipino soldiers, sailors and airmen have fought a gallant and determined defense against a powerful Japanese military and has done far better than prewar planners ever expected and inflicted far more damage than the Japanese have planned on, and indeed dragged out the campaign far longer than expected. The Americans and Filipinos did better than any of the other Allied forces in the region and were a bright spot in a dark series of continual defeat. They also seriously disrupted Japanese plans and inflicted far heavier casualties than hoped for.
But the Japanese have won a major victory and eliminated American naval, air and conventional ground forces from the heart of the Southern Resource Area. This was a vital task, and while completed much more slowly than expected, the mission is finally accomplished.
Losses
There were approximately 45,000 American servicemen in the Philippines when the war began. Of these, over 8,000 American troops were evacuated by air and sea, as well as the nearly 10,000 officers and crew of the Asiatic Fleet ships and another 2,000 men are in stay behind forces. Of the remainder, 15,000 American military personnel went into Japanese captivity and roughly 10,000 American military personnel were killed, died or are missing presumed dead. Of the POWs in Japanese control, around 10,000 return home when the war is over.
The Filipino's include members of the US Army and Navy (12,000 in all), and 125,000 men in the Coast Guard, Air Force and Army of the Republic of the Philippines. Almost 10,000 members of the US Navy, Philippine Scouts, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Air Force are evacuated from the islands by air and sea. Another 25,000 are in stay behind forces (either deliberately or by evacuation or escaping Bataan or the Death March). A total of 50,000 Filipino's go into Japanese captivity, and 15,000 Filipino's die in captivity or are murdered. The remaining nearly 45,000 men are are dead or missing presumed dead as a result of the campaign.
But those 25,000 Filipino personnel and 2,000 Americans form the nucleus of a partisan army of 350,000 plus nearly 3 million active supporters by the time the Americans return to liberate the islands. This includes 25,000 Filipino POWs (all from the Philippine Army) who are later released to buy favor from the Filipino population. That was an ill-advised decision by the Japanese who fail to appreciate the meaning of Bataan for the local population.
Japanese losses were bearable but costly. The Navy has lost a light cruiser, 3 fleet destroyers, and several smaller combat vessels and ships as well as nearly 200 aircraft (bombers, fighters and float planes) from combat and operational causes. Japanese land combat forces saw two entire Special Naval Landing Force brigades were wrecked and three others suffered serious losses.
The Army suffers similar aircraft losses over the campaign, but the fighting sucked a total of 9 infantry divisions plus 4 more divisions tied down in the central and southern Philippines. A total of 15,000 Japanese troops were killed in combat, and another 20,000 were lost to disease and accident during the campaign. Another 40,000 soldiers are rendered unfit for further service in the tropics (and about half of them for any field service at all). In all around 300,000 Japanese troops were committed to the campaign, when around two thirds of that number had been originally allocated.
Effects
The American military learns valuable lessons from the defense of the Philippines. Most of the aviation personnel are evacuated and those veteran pilots pass on many useful lessons. The management of the air campaign from the American point of view also provides volumes of lessons learned to future operations by Allied air forces. The Navy performed very well, considering how well it was overwhelmed, and although losses were heavy, it managed to delay a Japanese landing, wipe out another, and successfully evacuate thousands of troops and civilians, including a significant force from Bataan itself.
The most important effect is that the Philippine nation acquires a military tradition and even some victories and heroes, something that would serve it in good stead in the postwar era. For the United States, and the rest of the Allies fighting Japan, it proves that Allied forces, even when operating on a supply line that is a mere shoestring, even while underequipped and incompletely prepared and trained, can fight the Japanese to a standstill and it permanently ends any myth of Japanese superiority.
For the Japanese, the campaign was more expensive and slower than planned or hoped for, and valuable and scare forces (especially ground troops) have to be reassigned from planned missions, and indeed a 1942 planned offensive in China has to be postponed until 1943 and planned offensives aimed at Darwin and Ceylon are postponed forever.
Monument to Philippine Soldiers at the 1st Line of Defense, Bataan
For 200 days American and Filipino soldiers, sailors and airmen have fought a gallant and determined defense against a powerful Japanese military and has done far better than prewar planners ever expected and inflicted far more damage than the Japanese have planned on, and indeed dragged out the campaign far longer than expected. The Americans and Filipinos did better than any of the other Allied forces in the region and were a bright spot in a dark series of continual defeat. They also seriously disrupted Japanese plans and inflicted far heavier casualties than hoped for.
But the Japanese have won a major victory and eliminated American naval, air and conventional ground forces from the heart of the Southern Resource Area. This was a vital task, and while completed much more slowly than expected, the mission is finally accomplished.
Losses
There were approximately 45,000 American servicemen in the Philippines when the war began. Of these, over 8,000 American troops were evacuated by air and sea, as well as the nearly 10,000 officers and crew of the Asiatic Fleet ships and another 2,000 men are in stay behind forces. Of the remainder, 15,000 American military personnel went into Japanese captivity and roughly 10,000 American military personnel were killed, died or are missing presumed dead. Of the POWs in Japanese control, around 10,000 return home when the war is over.
The Filipino's include members of the US Army and Navy (12,000 in all), and 125,000 men in the Coast Guard, Air Force and Army of the Republic of the Philippines. Almost 10,000 members of the US Navy, Philippine Scouts, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Air Force are evacuated from the islands by air and sea. Another 25,000 are in stay behind forces (either deliberately or by evacuation or escaping Bataan or the Death March). A total of 50,000 Filipino's go into Japanese captivity, and 15,000 Filipino's die in captivity or are murdered. The remaining nearly 45,000 men are are dead or missing presumed dead as a result of the campaign.
But those 25,000 Filipino personnel and 2,000 Americans form the nucleus of a partisan army of 350,000 plus nearly 3 million active supporters by the time the Americans return to liberate the islands. This includes 25,000 Filipino POWs (all from the Philippine Army) who are later released to buy favor from the Filipino population. That was an ill-advised decision by the Japanese who fail to appreciate the meaning of Bataan for the local population.
Japanese losses were bearable but costly. The Navy has lost a light cruiser, 3 fleet destroyers, and several smaller combat vessels and ships as well as nearly 200 aircraft (bombers, fighters and float planes) from combat and operational causes. Japanese land combat forces saw two entire Special Naval Landing Force brigades were wrecked and three others suffered serious losses.
The Army suffers similar aircraft losses over the campaign, but the fighting sucked a total of 9 infantry divisions plus 4 more divisions tied down in the central and southern Philippines. A total of 15,000 Japanese troops were killed in combat, and another 20,000 were lost to disease and accident during the campaign. Another 40,000 soldiers are rendered unfit for further service in the tropics (and about half of them for any field service at all). In all around 300,000 Japanese troops were committed to the campaign, when around two thirds of that number had been originally allocated.
Effects
The American military learns valuable lessons from the defense of the Philippines. Most of the aviation personnel are evacuated and those veteran pilots pass on many useful lessons. The management of the air campaign from the American point of view also provides volumes of lessons learned to future operations by Allied air forces. The Navy performed very well, considering how well it was overwhelmed, and although losses were heavy, it managed to delay a Japanese landing, wipe out another, and successfully evacuate thousands of troops and civilians, including a significant force from Bataan itself.
The most important effect is that the Philippine nation acquires a military tradition and even some victories and heroes, something that would serve it in good stead in the postwar era. For the United States, and the rest of the Allies fighting Japan, it proves that Allied forces, even when operating on a supply line that is a mere shoestring, even while underequipped and incompletely prepared and trained, can fight the Japanese to a standstill and it permanently ends any myth of Japanese superiority.
For the Japanese, the campaign was more expensive and slower than planned or hoped for, and valuable and scare forces (especially ground troops) have to be reassigned from planned missions, and indeed a 1942 planned offensive in China has to be postponed until 1943 and planned offensives aimed at Darwin and Ceylon are postponed forever.
Monument to Philippine Soldiers at the 1st Line of Defense, Bataan
- galveston bay
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