The Battles at Dawn: The Japanese and American Battles that shaped the World War in the Pacific An Alternate History

[galveston bay]

Prologue

The War in the Pacific, the battle for supremacy of the Pacific between the United States and its allies against the Japanese Empire, was the greatest naval war fought so far by humanity. Powerful fleets steamed thousands of miles to strike at the very heart of their enemies strongholds, while submarines, mines and aircraft brought new ways of destroying enemy maritime commerce and industry in ways that were decisive.

But it was not just the sailors and naval aviators who fought. On land, on islands arctic, temperate and tropical, soldiers and marines fought vicious ruthless battles to destroy their enemy, while in the jungles, mountains, rice fields and even steppe of mainland Asia, even larger battles were fought between old enemies.

At the same time aircraft became a decisive weapon that not only destroyed shipping, but brought a devastating rain of explosives and fire on cities, fortifications and armies in the field alike. New uses of aircraft were found, moving armies and supplying by air and moving wounded and civilians to safety on a scale undreamed of before the war.

It was in the Pacific War that the art and science of the amphibious landing was perfected to a degree not seen even in Europe, and it was in the Pacific were suicide became a common tactic.

The Pacific War continues to shape the destiny of Asia, Oceania and North America even today.

This work discusses the steps the United States took before the war and could have taken that would have shortened the war, reduced American and other Allied casualties, and markedly slowed the pace and eventual scope of the Japanese offensive that began the war. As an alternate history, some decisions and events have changed to reflect the authors opinion on options that were within the capability and availability of the United States to take before and early in the war that would have dramatically changed the course of the war. As such this is a work of fiction, but it is based on history .

So begins the story of the initial American fight in the Pacific in World War II if the United States had taken measures to improve its readiness and defenses. It is a story on how the American military and Allied forces blunt the Japanese offensive in the Hawaiian Islands and Philippines and sets the stage for the successful defense of the South Pacific that stops the Japanese and shifts the entire course of the war from Japanese conquest to the Allied offensives that will ultimately defeat Japan.

 

[galveston bay]

authors note: revised and edited versions of this previous series of threads


The Battle at Dawn: The First Battle Between the United States and Japan December 7-10, 1941
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...d-states-and-japan-december-7-10-1941.404816/
(this story is complete)(REVISED)

Eisenhower in the Pacific: The Shoe String Warriors of Luzon
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...rt-1-the-shoestring-warriors-of-luzon.409504/
covers the period December 1941 - July 1942 and the defense and fall of the Philippines
(this story is complete) (REVISED)

Rising Sun of Tropical Seas
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...al-seas-a-story-from-a-battle-at-dawn.412552/
Covers the period February - March 1942 and the Japanese Conquest of the Southern Resource area and the successful evacuation of many of the defenders of Singapore in a heroic action by the Royal Navy
(this story is complete)(REVISED)

Flyboys and Flattops: The Carrier War in the Pacific 1942-44
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...he-carrier-war-in-the-pacific-1942-44.419259/
covers the carrier battles of the Pacific War, from the raids by the 1st Air Fleet and Spruance's fast carriers in the Marshall Islands, to the great battle that destroyed the Imperial Japanese Navy as an effective force.
(this story is ongoing)(REVISED)

A Hard Won Victory: The South Pacific 1942-43 (Eisenhower in the Pacific Part 2)
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...2-43-eisenhower-in-the-pacific-part-2.431343/
Covers the period campaign to control New Guinea, the Bismark Archipelago, and the grinding battle of attrition that was a bitter test for the Allies and Japanese air, land and naval forces
(this story has barely started)

 

[galveston bay]

Part I Preparing for War 1935-1940
In the first few months of the Pacific War the American and Filipino soldiers and airmen led by General Dwight D Eisenhower fought an inspired and hard fought battle against the Japanese invasion of Luzon. Most historians now credit the fine performance of the US Army Far East in what would ultimately be a hopeless stand to the fine work of Eisenhower in creating and developing the Filipino forces that fought so well alongside the American forces and inflicted an embarrassing and serious check on the Japanese during the early days of war in the Pacific.

Although some historians think that General Douglas Macarthur, who briefly served as Field Marshall of the Philippine Army and who had much grander plans for the Philippine Army would have done better, his tragic death in an auto accident while visiting New York City soon after his wedding on May 1, 1937 to his wife Jean makes that a 'might have been'. This historian believes that his genius, if any, will remain unproven and his ideas of making the Philippines into the “Switzerland of the Pacific” and the ambitious plan to create a 300,000 army for the Republic of the Philippines unrealistic. Considering the financial constraints of the Philippine government (which was hard pressed to maintain a $12 million a year defense budget during the years leading up to 1941) could never have created such a thing.

While the prewar years in the Philippines and indeed much of that campaign are well known only to military historians nearly all Americans and Japanese know of the series of battles around Hawaii in the opening week of the war between Japan and the United States. The “Date which will live in Infamy” was how President Franklin Roosevelt put it in his speech while the battle was still raging, and indeed the shock of the sudden Japanese attack united America behind the war effort like nothing else could of.

But the fateful battle that would change naval air warfare forever did not just last one day, but three exhausting desperate days, and only the foresighted leadership of Admiral Richardson and General Harmon, the dogged aggression of Admiral Halsey and the tireless determination of Admiral Yamamoto brought about the result that followed. The fighting which began on December 7 and did not end until the December 10, 1941 saw the first carrier versus carrier fight, the first surface actions between the Japanese and United States Navies, and great air battles between Japanese and American aviators that would prove that both were brave and skilled combatants.

These two campaigns would cost America terribly in lives and assets but would also inflict a cost on Japan that would cripple it and limit its options when the decisive South Pacific Campaign began in 1942 and it was that campaign that would result in the United States retaining the initiative in the Pacific Theater for the remainder of the war. The Philippines and South Pacific Campaign would also make Eisenhower a hero and ensure that he would get the command of the Invasion of Europe in 1944 and ultimately become President of the United States.

 

[galveston bay]

the death of MacArthur is the principal hinge, everything that follows is basically butterflies

 

[galveston bay]

Chapter 1 The American preparations in the Philippines
In 1937, the principal plan the United States had to fight a war with Japan was War Plan Orange. It assumed that the Japanese would quickly capture the American territories in the Philippines and Guam, and that the United States Navy would fight its way across the Central Pacific to liberate the Philippines, recapture Guam and place Japan under a naval blockade that would result in its collapse. This was the US Navy Plan. The US Army spent the decades since its acquisition of the Philippines debating on fortifying the Philippines to prepare for a siege in hopes that it would hold out until the Navy came to the rescue, or writing off the Philippines as hopeless and concentrating efforts on making Hawaii and Panama as well defended as possible and debating if effort should be made in Alaska.

In the early 1930s, with the Great Depression severely impacting the military budgets of the Army and Navy, the Philippines was again placed in the indefensible category and what funds were available were spent in Hawaii and Panama by the Army, while the Navy remained in its peace time footing with a small Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines and China, a role dating back to the early 19th Century and with essentially the same basic mission of showing the US Flag to deter the locals. The Pacific Fleet remained mainly in California, conducting annual exercises but Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was considered essentially a forward base. Only elements of the Scout Fleet were permanently based there, while the Battle Fleet was primarily based at San Pedro and San Diego.

It was in this situation that after completion of his tour as Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Douglas Macarthur was offered the position of senior military advisor and commander of the Army of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, which would form the basis of the national army when independence occurred, a mere 10 years away. Much to the disgust of many of his peers, MacArthur took the rank of Field Marshal of an army that did not yet exist. On December 3, 1935 he is formerly invested with that rank in a special ceremony in Manila. The new Field Marshal decides he will make the Philippines into a defensive military power like Switzerland or Sweden that are considered too difficult and costly to conquer and thus like them, Philippines would be left alone by Japan in the event of war between the United States and Japan once the Commonwealth becomes the Republic of the Philippines in 1945.

The MacArthur Era
Under the Philippine National Defense Act of 1935, the Commonwealth Army was to have a Regular Army of 10,000, a reserve army of 400,000 men organized into 30 divisions, an Inshore Patrol with 35 motor torpedo boats and an Army Air Force of 100 bombers. Of more durable importance was the passage of conscription for men between the ages of 21 and 50, the creation of military academy, and an annual allocation of 16 million pesos a year (roughly $8 million US).

However, by late 1936 it is clear to the assistant military advisors, Lieutenant Colonels Dwight Eisenhower and James Ord, that the money available is not enough for this ambitious plan, training camps are still barely started, and the arms, equipment, and other needs for this force will vastly be out of the reach of the budget and capability of the Commonwealth to provide or support long term. On top of this cooperation with the Philippine Department of the US Army has been grudging and indeed MacArthur is already having differences with President Quezon and the American High Commissioner Frank Murphy, as well as petty fights with the Army and State Department over precedence and the number of guns in a salute for him (it was eventually settled at 13). Both of the officers are becoming less and less impressed with MacArthur, who seems more concerned about his standard of living than making efforts to get progress made. Just as important, MacArthur has already angered General Malin Craig, the current Army Chief of Staff, there are calls for MacArthur to be recalled and some historians feel that he only remained in his post because FDR did not want him to return home during the election year and cause political trouble.

The first conscripts arrive in January 1937, a total of 20,000 men, and are organized into battalions and regiments. Problems soon show themselves. There is little ammunition, rifles are in short supply (indeed many lack them entirely), many junior officers are unable to speak to their men in the same language as most officers only know Tagalog, while there are between 120-175 languages and dialects in the islands, and many of the enlisted men do not speak Tagalog or English. By April the Army is also running out of money, and most of the men spend their training time building their own camps. By July the money for the year will be spent, the conscripts will have to be sent home as marginally trained reservists, the air corps and inshore patrol will not have moved from the planning stage, and Eisenhower and Ord realize that double the money allocated for next year is needed to actually do what is in the plan for that year. Something that is highly unlikely.

Eisenhower meanwhile is taking flying lessons from Jerry Lee of the US Army (who is considered the founding father of the Philippine Air Force), something he will continue until Eisenhower gets his license in 1939. He is also working on his own ideas for a different organization of the Commonwealth Army and US Army Philippines but considers them unlikely to be considered.

In March 1937, MacArthur sails for the United States, and in what was his last valuable act to the Philippine Commonwealth, manages to persuade FDR in a one hour meeting to rebuild support of Quezon, who has managed to alienate FDR by asking for Philippine independence in 1938. MacArthur does his best to acquire arms and equipment for the Commonwealth Army and then visits New York City with his fiance, and they marry on April 30, 1937. Sadly two days later, while en route to board the ship that would take them home (and whose voyage would serve as a honeymoon) the married couple are in a taxicab that is involved in a serious car accident. A delivery truck suffers brake failure and plows into the left side of the cab, killing the General instantly and leaving his bride seriously injured.

A New Direction May 1937 – July 1937
MacArthur's death is a complete shock to Quezon, who is en route to France from Mexico and still 4 days from port when the message arrives. FDR too is shocked, as is Secretary of War Woodring and General Craig. However as all four men have had plenty of head aches from MacArthur in Washington opportunity is seen. The Commonwealth needs an army and the Philippine Department will need a new commander soon as General Holbrook is expected to retire when is term of duty as department head ends in February 1938. What is needed is someone who can advise and prepare the Commonwealth Army for its role upon independence, as well as prepare it to support the Philippine Department in its wartime mission.

For now that mission is to hold as long as possible to keep the Japanese busy for as long as can be reasonably expected as the priority for now remains the Panama/Hawaii/Alaska line due to financial constraints and limits of available forces. Someone who can work with a prickly Quezon is also needed. General Hughes is slated for that assignment, but Craig now decides he has someone better in mind. Quezon is due to return to the United States on May 22, so with the permission of FDR and Woodring, General Craig sends a telegram to Quezon. Looking through the last fitness reports from MacArthur he decides to immediately promote Eisenhower to Colonel (permanent rank) and gives him a brevet rank of Brigadier General both as a nod to his responsibilities but also as while as impressing upon Quezon the importance the US Government views the Commonwealth Army and the Philippines in general. Craig also suggests that Quezon consider General James Parsons who has experience commanding a brigade of the Philippine Division as recently as 1933, and who was well liked by his troops who also happens to have experience commanding coast artillery, the tank school, and is a proponent of integration and a strong supporter of non White troops in general.

For Parsons it will mean an immediate jump in responsibilities but as he was already slated to assume command of the III Corps at Fort Sam Houston next year, one Craig feels he can more than handle. Once Holbrook retires, Craig tells Quezon that Parsons will also have command of the Philippine Department which will improve coordination between the US and Commonwealth armies.

Quezon wires back that he agrees to interview the general, and on May 30, after a couple of meetings Quezon decides he has his man. Parsons is not offered a Field Marshal's baton, nor an elaborate hotel suite and insists that all he needs is his army salary. In a stroke the political and command difficulties are resolved.

For Eisenhower, who just got a permanent and a brevet promotion, and no longer has the difficult task of pleasing MacArthur or putting up with his difficult personality, the sudden change in circumstances is almost heaven sent. He and his close friend Ord have been working on a revised plan for the Commonwealth Army and on July 10 their plan is sent to Craig, Quezon and Parsons for approval and suggestions.

The new military advisor to the Commonwealth of the Philippines and President Quezon travel together in July, while Quezon continues his official visit, and both men get along well. Quezon sends word to his supporters to amend the Commonwealth National Defense Act to take into account what both men privately call “The Eisenhower Plan”.

The Eisenhower Plan
By June 1937 it has become clear that the MacArthur plan is unworkable due to financial reasons, not to mention lack of sufficient cadre, training facilities, weapons and a host of other less critical but still important factors. Eisenhower and Ord determine that the Philippine Army is not going to become large enough to provide the deterrent to Japan that MacArthur hoped. But it is possible to build an army able to deal with banditry, revolts by separatists in the southern islands and provide extra manpower that would help the US Army hold out in the Philippines long enough to weaken Japan sufficiently so that War Plan Orange can liberate the islands once the war starts. It is also possible to build a national army big enough to force the Japanese to divert very large forces to deal with partisan war, something that history shows the Filipinos are good at and one that the geography and terrain of the nation is very suitable for.

The basis of the national army will be two parts.

The Philippine Constabulary, a cross between soldiers and policemen, maintain order and deal with low level insurgencies and banditry and have been highly effective. There are already 4 regiments of them in service, around 8,000 men. Many of their NCOs and officers were detached to train the class of 1937 conscripts. Eisenhower plans to expand this force to eventually 24 small regiments of 2,000 men each, organized into 12 brigades, with half in Luzon and the rest in the other islands. This force would in peacetime consist of 24 battalions (600 men each), but upon mobilization would expand to 48,000 men able to function as military police and light infantry. To support this force there will be 6 brigades (each of 2 regiments of 1,500 men each) of construction engineers, who during peacetime would build and maintain Philippine Army camps (as well as do road construction, much needed in the islands) and in wartime they would provide plenty of manpower to build defensive works and repair them. They would also function as light infantry in a pinch. The construction engineers would have 12 battalions active during peacetime, with a mobilization strength of 18,000 men. Between the military police brigades and construction engineer brigades a total of 66,000 men will be needed, and by conscripting 11,000 men a year between 1939 and 1945 this target can be achieved by independence. In peacetime this force of 36 battalions (24,000 men including support personnel and units) should be more than capable of keeping order and ensuring that the authority of the national government is not threatened while in wartime this force is not only capable of forcing an invader to invest a sizable force to successfully invade, but would also provide a large light infantry and construction force to support the Philippine Scouts and US Army.

For 1938, the construction brigades will be called up for 4 months between January – April to build camps and support facilities for the expansion planned for next year, while conscription will be limited to the number needed to replace any conscripts found unsuitable for service. The engineers also will provide a useful place to send conscripts who are unsuitable for constabulary work. The class of 1937 conscripts will remain in the construction troops with future classes assigned to constabulary regiments or to fill out the engineers. Engineers are allowed to volunteer or can be selected for transfer to constabulary units.

The real fighting strength consists of the 11,000 men in the Philippine Scouts, which are currently as of 1937 organized into 2 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 2 field artillery regiments, 2 coast defense regiments, and 1 engineer regiment, plus various support units in the Philippine Division and Harbor Force. This force will consist of volunteers and will expand to 4 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 4 field artillery regiments, 4 coast defense regiments (2 of which will be anti aircraft) and 2 engineer regiments. As this force is paid at American pay scales (higher than the Constabulary troops), and volunteers are frequently turned away due to financial limitations, all that is needed to expand this force is more money. Once this force is brought up to strength a reserve infantry division will be formed consisting of 2 regular and 2 reserve infantry regiments, plus a regiment of artillery and engineers. The original 4 infantry regiments will be assigned to one of 4 regional commands (South and Central Philippines, plus the Luzon and Manila Bay Commands) with remaining engineers and artillery as a mobile reserve and the coast defense units assigned to defend the Manila Bay forts as well as new positions planned for Lingayan Gulf. Upon independence the Philippine Scouts will join the Constabulary as the Philippine National Army, with the former Scouts being the backup to the garrison type forces of the old Constabulary.

To support this and to provide at least minimal protection of Philippine sovereignty, an air force and coast guard are needed.

The Inshore Patrol will be renamed the Philippine Coast Guard, with a similar mission in peacetime as the American version. It will ultimately consist of 2,500 regulars, who will have 4 stations (Lingayen, Bataan, Cebu and Mindanao) and 1 major facility (Cavite when it is transferred to Filipino control). It will have 24 armed motor launches (or PT boats when or if they become available), 12 armed patrol craft (converted fishing boats, yachts and tugs), 4 former US Navy gunboats, 4 minesweepers and 4 transport ships to support the ground forces if they need to deal with a problem on one of the many islands. This force will begin forming in 1939, with the armed patrol craft as the initial vessels along with the transports.

The Air Force is slated to eventually have 2,500 men organized into 3 Groups. The 1st Group will consist of training aircraft, ideally dual purpose aircraft that can perform light attack missions. The 2nd Group will consist of transport and liaison aircraft (which along with the trainers can also be used for observation missions), and the 3rd Group will have 2 fighter squadrons, 1 patrol squadron and 1 attack squadron. This is seen as sufficiently large enough to support the ground forces while being within budgetary constraints in the long run. It is scheduled to begin forming in 1938 and orders are being placed for primary and advanced trainers and a training field at Batangas is under construction. The training group will also have twin engine aircraft (that will be stationed at Clark).

The last years of peacetime 1937 -1938
General Parsons takes command at his brevet four star rank in the US and Philippine Army and with the help of Eisenhower and Ord, as well as High Commissioner McNutt help Quezon get a new Defense Act passed. This act changes conscription to a 1 year active duty period and 4 years of active reserve, followed by another 4 years of inactive reserve. Those in the inactive reserve are assigned to the newly created (on paper) Philippine Militia, which will provide internal security troops to assist in guarding population centers and installations. For now it remains entirely a paper force but it is hoped by the time 1943 comes arms and organization can be provided. Those who volunteer for service will have 4 years active duty followed by 4 years of active reserve, or may reenlist. The draft call for 1938 forward is modified to take into account the Eisenhower Plan.

In January 1938, the engineer brigades are put to work building training camps, a new air base for the Philippine Army Air Force, as well as an entire brigade put to work improving roads in Bataan. Parsons also makes Eisenhower his Department Chief of Staff when Holbrook retires, while making Ord chief of staff for his other function as commander of the Philippine Army. Eisenhower begins breaking the US Army out of its comfortable colonial life style and a number of officers and senior enlisted men who are lazy or drunks find themselves heading home or forced to shape up.

Frustrated by the unwillingness of the US Army to part with Springfields at all, or Enfields at a reasonable price, Colonel Ord persuades Parsons to allow him to pursue other options. As the Constabulary military police and engineers, as well as the Coast Guard and Air Force are second line combat forces, they can get by with civilian rifles, trench guns and what submachineguns that can be found. An order for 25,000 weapons is placed with Winchester consisting of 12,000 Winchester Model 1897 trench guns, 12,000 Model 70 Winchester bolt action rifles with 22 inch barrels chambered for the 30 06 Springfield round, and 1,000 Thompson submachineguns. This along with the 45,000 Enfields already on order, should allow by the time delivery is completed in 1941 for the Philippine military to have sufficient small arms for its troops.

In 1938 and 1939, Parsons also sends a small number of American and Filipino junior officers to China to act as observers with the Chinese Nationalist Army as well as a handful that are sent to observe with the Japanese Army through private arrangements made by Quezon on his visit there in 1938.

To assist with communications Parsons orders the establishment of schools to teach English to all Filipino officers while all enlisted men who reach corporal are required to take literacy classes in Tagalog. There are shortages in available teachers, but efforts are made to improve on this. Reserve officers who have training as teachers find themselves doing their civilian job in the Army.

By the end of 1939 the Eisenhower Plan is well underway and is having far more success than the initial 1937 year. The Philippine Army Air Force has been started as has the Philippines Coast Guard with the help of the US Navy and US Army and many of the peace time attitudes of the US Army in the Philippines are finally being shaken off.

However Eisenhower, who has been in the Philippines since 1935 and whose wife has had serious health problems, is ready to go home. In December 1939 he returns to the US to take command of a brigade of the Third Infantry Division in Fort Lewis, Washington and with it gains permanent rank as a Brigadier General US Army. By early 1941 he is Chief of Staff of the US Third Army, working for Walter Krueger and would distinguish himself in the Louisiana Maneuvers that same year. That performance leads Marshall to decide that Krueger and Eisenhower are the men to send to Philippines in September 1941 when General Parsons is finally retired due to health reasons.

The origins of the Far East Air Force 1937 – 1939
The US Army Air Corps has only 28 P26 fighters, 17 B10 bombers, 10 0-46 observation aircraft, 5 0-19 observation aircraft, and 3 Steerman trainers organized into the 4th Composite Group in the Philippines. To fly these aircraft, of which only half are operational due to parts shortages, are 26 pilots (of 58 authorized). Only Clark Field is actually a functional air base, although there are 12 additional fields in the islands which serve mainly as emergency landing strips.

The Philippines are dumping ground for aircraft determined to be in excess of needs for Hawaii and Panama, and for that matter an assignment in the Philippines is not considered a route to promotion in the Air Corps.

To avoid interfering with flight operations at Clark (such as they are), Eisenhower has the Philippine Army 6th Construction engineer brigade construct a hard packed dirt airstrip and apron as well as hangers and other buildings for this new home for air training for the soon to be created Philippine Air Corps at Lipa, Batangas (modern day Fernando air base).

Eisenhower decides that that this initial location is too unpleasant and too close to Batangas City, and he also has a road built from the small port at Batangas city to the new base site not far away. This revised selection also gets the future air force away from mosquitoes. The base gets a new name when an aviation cadet Porfiro Zablan is killed in a training accident.

The first recruits who will be mechanics eventually begin training at Santo Thomas University before moving to Clark Field for advanced training while officer candidates for technical and pilot training are trained at the newly started military academy at Baguio. The first aircraft do not arrive until January 1939 and newly trained Filipino air corps personnel, with assistance from the 4th Composite Group, begin assembling them at Zablan Field.

The initial aircraft for the Philippine Air Corps consist of 48 PT 17 Steerman biplane trainers which are equipped with bomb racks for 200 pounds of bombs and one fixed forward machine gun and one flexible mount for the observer in its light attack mission. Only half of the aircraft are initially assembled, with the rest remaining in crates as a source of spares and parts. The next arrivals are 24 AT6 Texan advanced trainers, also equipped for combat with a forward and rear machine gun, as well able to carry 500 pounds of bombs. The final arrivals are 24 Beech 18 twin engine trainers which will also serve as liason and light transport aircraft. Although a significant number of these are lost in training accidents, it still provides the Philippine Army Air Force with 2 primary training squadrons, 1 advanced training squadron and 1 multi-engine training (and navigation training) squadron which can also serve as 3 light attack and 1 patrol squadron in wartime.

By 1939 over 100 aviation cadets are in training at various levels of skill, and 10 American pilots from the 4th Composite Group seconded to the Philippine Army Air Corps and led by now Captain Jerry Lee.

 

[galveston bay]

 

[galveston bay]

The Philippines are pretty large. I will posts maps as the story unfolds

 

[galveston bay]

more to come

I am editing and combining all of the previous story threads into one work, so there will be more to come. That is all for today

 

[Driftless]

more to come

I am editing and combining all of the previous story threads into one work, so there will be more to come. That is all for today

Hell of a great start!

 

[zert]

Great to see you back, and I look forward to any new, revised details you will share.

 

[TimTurner]

would MacArthur be remembered better ITTL?

 

[tomo pauk]

Excellent, keep up with good work 😀

 

[Driftless]

would MacArthur be remembered better ITTL?

Good question. From the public perception, he'd still have mostly favorable views from WW1, mixed views from his stint as commandant of West Point, and mixed views for his Bonus Marcher suppression. From the military professionals perception, it probably depends a lot on personal encounters in the small world of the US Army in the interwar years.

 

[galveston bay]

Chapter 2 Preparations for War in the Philippines
In September 1939, the Second World War begins in Europe and the United States Military finally starts to begin to receive resources it needs to prepare for war as the War in Europe spreads throughout 1939 and 1940.

Federalizing the Philippine Army
In the Philippines, reports reach Parsons over the effectiveness of Japanese tanks against the Chinese Army as well as the reports of the effectiveness of the German panzers in Poland. He and Eisenhower had several deep discussions over the previous year, and Eisenhower is convinced, with tank support, and the formation of 3 infantry divisions with the trucks to move them, that a mobile force could attack the Japanese when they inevitably land at Lingayen Gulf (the assumed Japanese landing site for over 37 years) then there is a chance that the Japanese might be pushed back into the sea and valuable time purchased for the Philippines and the US Navy to fight its way to the rescue. The other choice, retreat to Bataan and hold out for six months will definitely delay the Japanese, but also will almost certainly not delay them long enough for rescue.

It is a risky strategy but if it fails, the mobile force should be able to retire to Bataan, where as a safety measure, the Philippine Army will be digging in and preparing the defense. If nothing else it will buy time to move everything useful to the final bastion defense and it will increase the Japanese casualties.

Parsons sends his recommendations to General Marshall in March 1940, where they are examined closely but Marshall simply has nothing to send him until September 1940, when the Selective Service Act is passed, the National Guard is federalized and massive defense spending is approved.

Parsons has actually asked for relatively small amount of reinforcement. The 65th Infantry Regiment (with its high number of Spanish speaking Puerto Ricans), a tank brigade, another cavalry regiment or the funds and equipment to raise one, permission to form two divisions out of the Philippine Scouts and US infantry (plus the reinforcing infantry regiment requested) to be designated the 12th and 23rd Infantry Divisions. He also requests sufficient artillery, vehicles and other equipment to form the planned Philippine Army 1st Division earlier than planned as well as some corps artillery and heavy equipment for his engineers. Parsons also wants some modern fighters and bombers, at least a group of each and Marshall begins talking to Hap Arnold about what can be provided and who can be sent to command it. The most urgent thing that Parsons asks for is a signals regiment, or at least a battalion as he is critically short on such support.

The main issue is that Marshall has only what can be spared after Lend Lease, US Army expansion, Hawaii, Panama and Alaska, leaving the Philippines far down the list in terms of what can be found to send them. For the rest of 1940 this will not be much, but he does order the 65th Infantry sent in September, authorizes the formation of the two divisions, and sends General Grunnert to assume command of the US I Corps, which will consist initially of only a headquarter but eventually, if Marshall can scrape some up, will have additional support and combat support units. While small arms can be found for the Philippine 1st Infantry Division, and extra machine guns and even the trucks, the problem of artillery units remains one of shortage. Marshall does persuade Roosevelt to part with some discretionary funds however, matching dollar for dollar what the Commonwealth spends, and thus doubles the available budget for the Philippine Army. He also manages to increase funds for the Philippine Department by 20% and finds a National Guard Signals Battalion to send. Additional reinforcements will have to wait until 1941 however.

General Marshall and Secretary of War Stimson (who takes office in 1940) are able to persuade to Navy to release any spare artillery in the Philippine Islands to the US Army, which is in dire need of artillery for the expanded Filipino coast artillery branch. Mines for use in Lingayen Gulf are also found from Navy and Army stocks and ordered sent urgently. However in spite of their best efforts Stimson and Marshall are not able to persuade Roosevelt to order the Philippine Army into federal service as he is concerned that this will further antagonize Japan and he is trying to buy time.

However Parsons and new High Commissioner Sayre manages to persuade Quezon that a formal request from him might do the trick, particularly when in Japanese move into French Indochina in September 1940 and also signs the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940 Roosevelt is forced to accept Quezon's request, particularly in light of the fact he has already federalized the US National Guard. Thus in early December, the Philippine Army is brought into Federal Service as an element of the US National Guard system and pay is increased to match that of soldiers in the US Army.

By January 1941, the US and Filipino armies have the following forces available:

The Philippine Department US Army January 1941
Headquarters US Army Philippines (Parsons)
Mobile Force
US I Corps (Major General Grunnart) (1,200 men)
26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) (800 men)
12th Infantry Division - 31st US Infantry regiment, 43rd Philippines Scouts (PS) infantry regiment, 57th PS infantry regiment, 86th Field Artillery regiment (PS), plus support (10,000 men)
23rd Infantry Division - 65th US Infantry regiment, 45th PS infantry regiment, 47th PS infantry regiment, 88th field artillery regiment (PS) plus support (10,000 men)

attached
Philippine Army (PA) 1st MP regiment (1,200 men)
PA 1st Engineer brigade (1,200 men)

Lingayen Gulf defense area (Ord)
2nd PA Engineer brigade (1,200 men)
11th PA Division (provisional) w 1st PA Coast Defense regiment (lacks artillery)(1,600 men) 2nd PA MP regiment (1,200 men)
21st PA Division (provisional) w 2nd PA Coast Defense regiment (lacks artillery)(1,600 men) 3rd PA MP regiment (1,200 men)

Bataan defense area
4th PA MP regiment (1,200 men)
3rd PA Engineer brigade, 5th PA engineer brigade (1,200 men each)

Airfield construction central Luzon
4th PA engineer brigade, 6th PA engineer brigade (1,200 men each)

Manila
6th, 11th, 12th PA MP regiments (1,200 men each)
1st PA Infantry Division (forming)(10,000 men)

Harbor Defense Command (Subic and Manila Bays)
Harbor Defense Command HQ (1,000 men)
59th US coast artillery regiment, 60th US coast artillery regiment (antiaircraft) (1,000 men each)
91st PS coast artillery regiment, 92nd PS coast artillery regiment (1,000 men each)
Marine Corps detachment Subic Bay (a small battalion in size) (800 men)
5th PA MP regiment (1,200 men)

outside of Luzon
7th and 8th PA engineer brigades (1,200 men each)
7th, 8th, 9th, 10th PA MP regiments (1,200 men each)

Total US Army (includes Philippine Scouts) 27,000 men
Total US Marine Corps 1,000 men (includes various detachments)
Total Philippine Army 27,000 men

The Asiatic Fleet
The US Navy Asiatic Fleet between 1937 – 1940 continues it's mission of showing the flag, acting as a trip wire force and continuing to maintain an American presence in China. It suffers it's first combat loss with the sinking of the USS Panay in 1937 (and the first deaths it would suffer from the Japanese attack). Until the end of 1939 Admiral Yarnell, a man with considerable diplomatic skills as well as a fine commander, is in command and he and General Parsons get along very well, in contrast to the relationship Yarnell (or lack of one) had with previous Philippine Department Commanders or with MacArthur.

Yarnell is supportive of the idea of the Philippine Coast Guard and he directs the commander of the 16th Naval District to provide training to Filipino junior officers and persuades Washington to allow Filipino mess attendants in the US Navy, who have damage control training just like all US sailors, to transfer without prejudice to the Philippines Coast Guard.

The Creation of the Philippine Coast Guard
The official beginning of the Commonwealth naval force is January 1, 1939. A large number of Filipino fishermen, coastal sailors and shipyard workers all apply, and the initial force of 500 men is easily recruited. Training is at Subic Bay and Cavite naval stations and aboard the USS Bittern (an elderly minesweeper). Late in the year, a 55 foot and a 65 foot torpedo boat arrive from Britain built by Thorneycroft, and engines needed for the construction of 4 more also arrive (all of which are under construction and should be ready for action in 1940). The Commonwealth government also acquires 6 fishing boats with diesel engines, 2 old tugboats, 4 motor yachts (varying from 30-50 feet) and 4 inter-island steamers (all under 1,000 tons) for use by the naval force, and equips them with machine guns and in the case of the larger steamers, a pair of 3 inch guns.

In 1940, the motor torpedo boats are formed into a squadron and along with an armed tug and 2 fishing boats are sent to a naval station that has been constructed at Aliminos on the shores of Lingayen Gulf. The station is only a few dozen men including the crews, but a small stock of naval mines is acquired and the tug and the fishing boats are equipped as minelayers. The small force is periodically serviced by trips to Cavite. A small sea plane ramp is added in 1940, and permanent detachment of a MP company from the Philippine Army is also assigned as well as a battery of coast defense troops equipped with pre World War I era 8 inch guns released from US Navy stocks in the US.

The remainder of the little fleet is at Cavite and Subic Bay training as of the end of 1940 and personnel have expanded to 1,500 men total.

In 1940, Admiral Hart takes command of the Asiatic Fleet and is persuaded to continue the cooperation that the US Navy has provided so far. He is not able to provide any ships at present, but as a plan is already underway to move the gunboats and other vessels out of China, he begins considering a plan to transfer them to the Filipino's as they will be of little use in the war plan he is developing and the trained crews on those ships, particularly the heavily experienced petty officers, would be valuable aboard his fighting ships. He sends a letter to Admiral Stark recommending that and receives an affirmative response late in the year but only if China is evacuated, which is not yet politically possible.

However there is more money available for training, not only for the Asiatic Fleet but also to pay for more fuel and supplies for the Philippine Coast Guard, and this is used to good effect. The older ships in the Coast Guard are able to get much needed repairs and servicing, and weapons such as machine guns can now be more easily passed from the US Navy to the Republic of the Philippines Coast Guard.

Philippine Department Air Force 1940
As additional funds that have become available with the general increase in the US Defense Budget once the War begins in Europe, there is now funds so that the air power that is in the Philippines can reorganized and efforts are made to expand and modernize it.

The first Filipino pilots to complete their twin engine training are ready for aircraft and they form the first transport squadron of the Philippine Air Army Force when they receive 12 DC3 transport aircraft in early 1940. The US Army also transfers all 15 of its observation aircraft in the Philippines (as it lacks the pilots to fly them in any event). Parsons puts the Filipinos to work conducting a thorough aerial mapping survey of the island as a review of defense plans determines that there is a severe issue with many of the maps of the islands being outdated or minimal in terms of information to begin with. The first priority is Bataan, the Central Luzon Plain, as well as likely Japanese landing sites. The 2nd Composite Group, Philippine Army Air Force, is formed with one observation squadron and one transport squadron.

Construction engineers have built a basic airfield at Del Monte in Mindanao, Baguio, Del Carmen, Cabanatuan, Rosales, Pilar, Mariveles, and Bataan (larger field near Pilar) in Luzon, as well as Matan on Cebu. Discussions continue about improving Nichols Field as well as building a hard surface concrete runway for Clark (the new home of the Filipino air transport squadron) but money will not be available until 1942. In the interim, all the airfields are completed by the end of 1940 and are able hold up to a squadron of aircraft although their principal role is training and for giving the transports someplace to land.

The 4th Composite Group, US Army Air Corps, is primarily serving as a training unit for the Philippine Air Force at this point, and as it has no modern aircraft, its pilots are working as flight instructors and squadron leaders for the PAAF. Parsons finds that his senior two aviators, Colonel Harrison Richards (Department Air officer) and Colonel Lawrence Churchill (commander 4th Composite Group) are incapable of working constructively together. Deciding he needs Churchill more (as he is working well with the engineers) he sends Richards to develop a potential air ferry route via Australia as well as missions to discuss coordination with the Dutch and British, thus moving him out of the way. Churchill is given a brevet promotion to Brigadier General, PAAF, and placed in overall command of that organization as well as that of his own 4th Composite Group and all Filipino and American units are officially designated Philippine Department Air Force in August 1940.

Parsons requests modern aircraft and at least a fighter group, although he would like a light bomber group, an air defense center, and at Ord's urging, he also requests radar. He also requests at least 2 more coast defense artillery regiments (antiaircraft) or sufficient training staff and weapons to form 2 for the Philippine Army.

Meanwhile the PAAF buys another 12 Beechcraft for use as light transport aircraft, which will allow the PAAF to form a third squadron for its 2nd Composite Group. For 1941 requests are made for 48 fighter aircraft, 24 light bombers and 12 float planes to form the 3rd Composite Group. As there are shortages of just about every type of aircraft due to Lend Lease and US military expansion, the request goes to Hap Arnold who is already considering a plan of his own.

 

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Part 2 Countdown to War
While the Philippines shifted from a sleep colonial garrison to an armed force preparing to defend an eventual independent nation and US ally, the Pacific Fleet continued its peace time rituals throughout the 1930s. It is not until the Fall of France and the new aggressive diplomatic moves by Japan aimed at the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina that the US Navy shifts to becoming a deterrent force and preparing for a potential war. The US Military receives even greater resources and the US Navy begins a shooting at German U-Boats in the Atlantic and being shot at as well. President Roosevelt determines that Japan must be deterred from war so that the United States can concentrate on the Nazi threat, and the commanders in the Philippines and Hawaii both take active and indeed aggressive steps to prepare their forces for war in the hopes of deterrence.

That this deterrence failed is of course well known. But the steps commanders took in the Philippines and Hawaii, as well as decisions made in Washington, were to ensure that when war came, the United States and the Republic of the Philippines military forces would put up an effective fight. The Americans and Filipino's developed a very robust defense force in the Philippines, while in Hawaii the development of a unified air defense command and parallel scouting force would lay the important groundwork for joint operations by US Navy and Army forces in the Pacific and Europe for the entirety of World War II and in the years since.

It is the seizure of northern French Indochina in September 1940 and the Japanese signature of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy that made it clear that the United States would have to move more quickly from peace to readiness for war in the Pacific.

 

[Driftless]

A whole lot of plausible small steps that add up to big changes.

i.e.

Parsons puts the Filipinos to work conducting a thorough aerial mapping survey of the island as a review of defense plans determines that there is a severe issue with many of the maps of the islands being outdated or minimal in terms of information to begin with. The first priority is Bataan, the Central Luzon Plain, as well as likely Japanese landing sites. The 2nd Composite Group, Philippine Army Air Force, is formed with one observation squadron and one transport squadron.

Accurate and useful maps are critical for any planning. The dubious accuracy of some maps of rugged country should be no surprise. Even in some parts of the western US, it took the advent of GPS for US Forest Service maps to accurately portray where fire-fighting access roads were.

 

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Chapter 3 The Philippines prepares for war
As part of the general shift in US Military preparedness to deter Japan from war, a major effort is made to develop the Philippines into a base to strike at the Japanese by air should they make further aggressive moves toward the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia or toward the Philippines. Repeated requests for air reinforcements from Parson as well as the new policy toward Japan prompts Marshall and Arnold to respond in October 1940 after the Japanese seizure of northern Indochina.

Some horse trading with the Chinese results in 27 CW21 interceptor aircraft which were en route by ship to China (via Burma) are instead diverted to Manila and the Philippine Air Force. The Chinese are sent 54 P35s fighter aircraft instead, which while old, are sturdy aircraft well suited for local conditions there. The CW21s will be assigned to the Philippine Air Force as the basis of a fighter squadron (with spares). The remaining P26s in the Philippines will be provided to the PAAF as a second fighter / light attack squadron. The remaining ten Martin B10 bombers in the Philippines are transferred to the PAAF as the basis of a patrol squadron. The 4th Composite Group is in effect stripped of aircraft and all personnel are transferred to the PAAF officially as an advisory and support group.

The American Volunteer Group
As an interim measure, to get some additional air power into the Philippines until a final decision is made about what else to send to the Far East, and while discussions are underway concerning the creation of the American Volunteer Group to send to China, Arnold persuades Marshall and then Roosevelt to send the AVG to the Philippines for their training. They can trained at the new airfield at Cebu, which is well away from prying Japanese intelligence agents in Manila and Davao but in an emergency can help defend the Philippines until they complete their training in early December 1941. By adding some DC2 transports to move their ground echelon to the mix, the P40s and transports can ferry the entire force via Singapore to Burma and then to China when the time is ripe. By August 1941 the AVG and Claire Chennault are in Cebu assembling their aircraft and testing them in flights over the central Philippines, well away from prying eyes. In all the AVG will have 100 P40B Warhawk fighters and 12 DC2 transports, as well as nearly 300 personnel by October 1941 and plans to begin shifting to Singapore beginning on December 12, 1941 and to be in China by December 17.

The Deterrent Force
In July 1941 General Hap Arnold proposes that a force of 340 B17 heavy bombers and 260 fighters be stationed in the Philippines as a deterrent force against Japan as tensions continue to rise between the US and Japan. He selects Major General Walter Frank, who has formerly commanded the Hawaiian Air Department and currently commanding Air Army Force units involved in the Louisiana Maneuvers and has gotten along very well with ground force commanders. He is ordered to the Philippines right away, along with the 5th Air Base Group, reinforcements for the 20th Air Base Group (the tenant unit at Clark Field) and personnel and equipment to form the 4th Air Base Group (using Filipino and American personnel).

By early August General Frank reports that the Philippines is not ready for the mass deployment of B17s, and that there is a critical need for oxygen plants (among other things). He urges that the first reinforcements consist of 2 fighter groups and 1 light bombardment group, with the first B17s to arrive in October and for them to be fitted out for long range reconnaissance as target data for Japanese bases in Formosa is very limited and almost unknown for their bases in Indochina and in the Palau Islands. He also makes his own plea for antiaircraft units. That plea is met in part by the arrival of guns stripped from the 197th, 198th and 200th Coast Artillery regiments (National Guard) which are broken up to provide personnel to other anti aircraft units in the United States. This provides the Philippine Army with 36 3-inch guns (older models with a range of only 27,000 feet as that is what can be spared), searchlights, 96 37mm AA guns, and dozens of heavy machine guns. Two of the PA regiments are assigned to air field defense with the third assigned to defend Manila.

The first air units to arrive are the 24th Fighter Group (Colonel Harold George commanding) with sufficient pilots and support personnel to reform the 17th Pursuit squadron (with 31 P40Bs). Additional fighters are already one the way, but the first thing General Frank orders upon the arrival of Colonel George is his promotion to commander V Fighter Command and for George to work with Claire Chennault in setting up an air warning network for Luzon using a company from the Department's signal battalion as well as training Filipino volunteers and setting up special lines with the telephone company and telegraph company. The American fighters are assigned to Del Carmen Field, which is undergoing improvements, including a 6,000 foot concrete runway and revetments built by the Philippine Army engineers.

Of pressing concern is the terrible conditions at Nichols Field. A typhoon has inflicted serious damage to the base, making more clear than ever its vulnerability. As the principal depot for the Department's aviation element, including those of the Asiatic Fleet, its vulnerability is no longer acceptable. General Frank orders that the supplies and parts be dispersed so that none are concentrated at any airfield, with Navy stores sent to their naval station at Mariveles and a fortified facility be constructed at the Army field built at Mariveles which can transport needed bulk supplies by barge to Manila and then by road and rail to other bases in Luzon. He also orders a secondary facilities be constructed at Cebu and Del Monte and that revetments be constructed for all airfields.

Philippine Army Air Force growth
With the arrival of sufficient aircraft the 3rd Composite Group has been formed, and the PAAF is now up to 2,500 men. The 1st Group (training) remains at Zablan Field (Lipa, Batangas) and continues as a flight training organization. The 2nd Group with its transport aircraft is headquartered at Clark Field, but has detachments in Mindanao, Cebu, as well as the various fields around Luzon. Regular transport service is greatly easing the movement of critical supplies and couriers throughout the islands for the military. The new 3rd Group is formed at Nichols Field and has a fighter squadron of CW21 interceptors while the other squadron of P26 light attack aircraft is sent to the new field at Baguio. The new B18 patrol squadron is assigned to Clark Field and the 2nd Group, as the Douglas bombers are sufficiently similar to the DC2 assigned to the AVG (which are also there) and DC3s assigned to the PAAF to ease maintenance. The bombers are all old cast offs from the Hawaiian Department and prone to break down.

Final aviation reinforcements Fall 1941
In October 1941 more reinforcements arrive in the form of sufficient P40Cs and personnel to reform the 17th Pursuit Squadron, as well as 28th Reconnaissance Squadron (reformed from the 28th Bombardment squadron) equipped with 6 B17C. After consultation with Captain Pappy Gunn (whose has joined the PAAF as a civilian advisor and is its senior engineering officer with a handsome salary), the aircraft are converted using field expedient measures that strip them their guns, their waist blister mounts removed and additional skin added to improve streamlining and their bomb bays converted into fuel tanks. With these modifications, based out of Del Monte, the B17s can reach the Palau Islands and from Clark can easily reach anywhere in Indochina or Formosa. It also improves their cruising speed by 10% and their top speed by 5%, and giving that aircraft a speed of 325 miles per hour as a top dash speed. It also can fly somewhat higher giving it a ceiling of 37,000 feet (allowing it to fly well above the A6M Zero fighter).

The 17th Pursuit squadron is moved to Del Monte, along with a battalion from the 4th PA Coast Artillery (AA) as it is a critical stop on the air ferry route from Darwin and General Frank decides it needs protection. The B17s are to be dispersed so that no more than 3 are present at any single airfield. They also begin flying very high altitude missions over Formosa and French Indochina in late November and at their height and speed generally remain undetected although on a couple of occasions the Japanese attempt in vain to intercept them on their departure from the area.

The needed oxygen equipment arrives along with the 27th Bomb Group and 54 A24 (Army versions of the Navy Dauntless dive bomber), along with their crews and ground echelon arrive in November 1941. Also arriving are planes and pilots for the 3rd Pursuit squadron which is reactivated and has 24 P40E Kittyhawks. The fighter squadron is assigned to Cabantuan Field, while the 27th Bomb Group disperses its dive bombers to Nichols, Del Carmen and makes its headquarters (along with 1 squadron) at Iba Field. The first radar sets have also arrived, and one is placed at Clark Field and the other is set up at Nielson Field (near Cavite) which is headquarters for the Far East Air Force and has an air strip but no aircraft permanently assigned except for a detachment of PAAF Beechcraft light transports. It is however the location of the air defense headquarters and this allows radar coverage for Cavite, Manila and Nichols Field. The remaining sets are quickly raided for parts to keep those two working but the air transports of the PAAF are able to make frequent trips to Australia and Singapore, where air transports from the United States can quickly bring urgent spares.

Strung out between Port Moresby, Darwin and Del Monte is the air element of the 19th Bombardment Group, which has 30 B17s organized into 30th and 94th Squadron. Additional B17s for another Bomb Group are approaching Hawaii when it is attacked while their ground element was still in California loading aboard ships.

Expansion of the Philippine Army
An infusion of money so that this new air force can be defended allows the Philippine Army to call up over 30,000 conscripts in January 1941, enough to bring all 14 brigades of the Philippine Army up to strength as well as replace those who volunteer for service in the Philippine Scouts. The work over the last years to expand training camps and make them habitable pays off this year as well as the efforts to obtain sufficient weapons for the troops. The Army is able to raise an additional 2 MP brigades, and with the arrival of heavier guns fro the US Army and Philippine Scouts, as well as stripping 120 75 mm guns from formations elsewhere (plus those released from the Scouts) the Philippine Army is able to form 10 light artillery battalions of 12 guns each. With the addition of artillery, the 20 MP regiments are reorganized into 6 light infantry divisions (3 regiments infantry, 1 battalion light artillery, 1 engineer/pioneer battalion each) with 1 division each (31st and 41st) at Mindanao and Cebu, and the remaining 4 (11th, 21st, 51st, and 61st) organized into 2 small corps. Each corps is also assigned an engineer brigade (1st and 2nd), while the remaining 2 MP regiments are assigned to Manila and far northern Luzon, while 1 engineer brigade (3rd) is assigned to the Del Monte area and another continues work on improving airfields in Bataan (along with an American aviation engineer battalion) as well as providing engineer companies to continue work improving airfields in Luzon.

Another division, the 1st Division, is raised from cadres supplied by the Philippine Army and Philippine Scouts. Sufficient artillery is found to raise a full regiment of guns (36 75 mm guns) for this division, and sufficient trucks for them as well plus move one of its three regiments at a time. More trucks are on order but they will not reach the Philippines until sometime in 1942. It is assigned to the Mobile Force providing that formation with a third division, although one less well equipped or trained than the other two.

What is missing though are sufficient machine guns and any anti tank artillery for the other 6 divisions of the Philippine Army. Lacking any other choices, the 2.95 inch mountain gun, dating back to the last century, are given trucks and although they have wooden wheels they can be broken down they are mobile enough to move to a vital area although once placed will likely not be able to withdraw. With this expedient a total of 48 anti tank guns are put into service, enough that each of the 4 divisions in Luzon is able to field an anti tank battalion of 12 guns each, which are also were the bulk of the few heavy machine guns that the Philippine Army has available are concentrated (aside from those assigned to air defense). However each company has only 3 light machine guns, and each platoon only 3 BARs, although a few old Lewis guns are found to put into service by companies lucky enough to find them.

However the Coast Artillery finally gets weapons that it needs. A sufficient number of 8 inch guns are found for use by the 1st and 2nd Coast Artillery, Philippine Army, giving each 3 firing batteries and spare tubes. The other 6 batteries in each regiment are given World War I era 155 mm guns. The 1st Coast Artillery is assigned Lingayen Gulf, while the 2nd Coast Artillery is deployed so that a battalion each covers the Iba/Palauig area, Lamon Bay, and Balayan Bay. The Marines of the 1st Provisional Battalion (USMC) and elements of the US 59th Coast Artillery cover Subic Bay, while the remaining US and all of the Philippine Scout units are manning the Manila Bay fortifications.

US Army reinforcements
The most important arrivals are the 192nd and 194th tank battalions organized into the 1st Provisional Armored Group, which has in all 108 M3 Stuart tanks and 46 halftracks fitted with 75 mm guns and the provisional tank group also has an armor ordinance company as well. General Weaver is assigned command of a provisional brigade sized force called 6th Cavalry Brigade (provisional) consisting of the 1st Provisional Armored Group, the 26th Cavalry (PS) Regiment, and the newly arrived 112th Cavalry Regiment (Texas National Guard) giving him nearly 2,600 armored and cavalry troops. The remaining reinforcements are sufficient personnel to bring the US units in the islands up to strength.

Two regiments of 105 mm guns, as well an infantry regiment are en route, as well as an aviation engineer brigade and heavy equipment such as bulldozers and other earth moving equipment and vehicles are aboard the Pensacola convoy. These reinforcements would not reach the Philippines before the war broke out and would see service in the South Pacific.

A new commander October 1941
In September, now past retirement age and in increasingly poor health, General Parsons is forced to ask for relief. Although General Grunnert is briefly considered for the position, in the end it is decided that as General Krueger has done very well in the recent Louisiana Maneuvers, and has the rank and experience commanding an army, he will be sent. With him is sent his Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower. Both men get a brevet promotion with the job, Krueger to four star general and Eisenhower to Major General.

They arrive aboard the Manila Clipper and the change of command ceremony occurs on October 21, 1941. Sent home with Parsons is General Grunnert who is being given an assignment in the US and General Wainwright is given command of the US I Corps, while General Ord remains commander of the Philippine Army.

Further Expansion of the Philippine Coast Guard 1941
In early 1941, the Philippine Coast Guard gains the old hydrographic vessel “Pathfinder” from US Coast and Geoditic Survey office, which is converted into an officer training ship, and orders are placed for 4 minesweepers to be delivered in 1942 (former USN vessels). The Coast Guard also acquires 8 J2F Duck amphibious aircraft, enough to start a detachment at Cebu and another at Davao to patrol over the southern and central islands.

In late 1941, the light cruiser Boise escorting a convoy, and the heavy cruiser Louisville escorting a different convoy, arrive in the Philippines and are assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. The Louisville gives Admiral Hart a heavy cruiser division (along with the heavy cruiser Houston), while the light cruiser Boise is a very modern light cruiser. The older and obsolescent light cruiser Marblehead is detached as it has orders to proceed to the Atlantic Fleet to join her sisters there. She escorts the convoy out of the Southwest Pacific and is near the Santa Cruz Islands when war begins, along with her charges.

As the Marblehead leaves, the Yangtze Patrol Gunboats, as well as the 4th Marine Regiment arrives over the week between December 1 and December 5. The Marine Regiment (with its 2 battalions) is moved to Subic Bay, where it joins the 1st Separate battalion, which is organized as an air defense artillery battalion and has its own radar. The gunboats are assigned to assist the Philippine Coast Guard, although many of their senior petty officers and indeed most of the crew members are quickly reassigned to help out with seriously undermanned ships of the Asiatic Fleet, however orders have barely been cut when the war begins.

The British Deterrent Force and final Allied naval reinforcements
In the fall of 1941, worried about growing tensions with Japan, Winston Churchill proposes reinforcing the Eastern Fleet with a pair of fast heavy warships, as well as a carrier for air support. Initially he proposes sending the Prince of Wales, the Repulse and the Indomitable, along with 4 destroyers. However fate soon deals a blow to that plan. On September 27, the Prince of Wales, covering a convoy to Malta, is torpedoed by Italian aircraft, and while she survives, has suffered sufficient damage to knock her out of action for several months. The carrier Indomitable hits an uncharted rock in the Caribbean on her maiden voyage, requiring repair time for her as well.

Frustrated in his initial plan Churchill decides that a force of fast battle cruisers and heavy cruisers would serve as the deterrent force, being able to make fast slashing raids against any Japanese invasion forces and then escape before the older Japanese battle line could catch them and thus they would serve as the deterrent force he wants. He is gambling, but considering how desperate the situation is looking in late November 1941, with the possibility of Soviet defeat as well as the critical situation in North Africa, he feels a gamble is justified. On November 27, the Renown and light cruiser Trinidad are ordered to the Indian Ocean where they will join the Repulse and form the basis of Force Z, which will be commanded by Admiral Phillips. It it expected that the three ships, along with what cruisers and destroyers can be scraped up from the Eastern Fleet will arrive in Singapore no later than December 12, 1941.

Informal discussions between Roosevelt and Churchill (and their staff) during the meeting at Argentan Bay propose that in the event of war, British, Australian, and American surface forces will combine to defend the Malay Barrier alongside the Free Dutch. A command structure is still being determined even as war comes. However, the clear importance of air cover after the losses and damage suffered by the Royal Navy off Norway and in the Mediterranean makes it clear that clear that additional air reinforcements are needed to cover the Eastern Fleet if it is to operate out of Singapore and 5 squadrons of Hurricanes are sent to Malaya, arriving on December 6. They are still being uncrated and the squadrons are still forming when war begins.

Mounting Urgency in the Pacific
The arrival of General Krueger and his staff, along with a increased tensions between the United States and Japan brings with it a new urgency to the Philippine Department. After a few days of inspections by General Krueger and analysis of plans by General Eisenhower, a flurry of orders begins flowing out of the Manila Hotel where both Admiral Hart and General Krueger (for a brief time) live. Both commanders agree to move their headquarters initially to Fort McKinley, adjacent to Nichols Field and within a few miles of Cavite after Eisenhower convinces Generals Krueger and Frank that it would be highly desirable for Admiral Hart to have use of a DC3 or Beechcraft at his beck and call, and that such a gift would improve cooperation. For the first time in the history of the Department the two services have staff working at the same location.

Eisenhower persuades Krueger, who needs little such, that the best thing to do is to get the USAFE out in the field for some field training, including the entire I Corps. Live fire training is particularly needed for support weapons and artillery, and on November 11th, for over a week, the units of I Corps do just that, while it is the first such ever for the Philippine Army Divisions. Many problems are found, but some of the more pressing are that nearly 80% of the mortar ammunition for the 3 inch mortars that provide the bulk of company and battalion firepower for the Philippine Army are duds. An urgent message is sent to the United States for immediate resupply, while every available ordinance sergeant in the Far East is put to work looking for solutions that can be done locally.

Eisenhower meanwhile discovers that little has been done to prepare the movement of supplies to Bataan in the event that War Plan 3 (the back up plan) gets put into effect, and he bargains with the Navy, Army Air Force and just flat out strips I Corps of their medium and heavy trucks, and organizes them into truck companies with Philippine Army drivers, along with Military Police Companies. These companies remain assigned to their units but on the issue of a code word, they are assigned to the Quartermasters who will use them to move supplies from base areas on the Luzon plain as well as government warehouses such as the NARIC warehouse as well as corporate warehouses along the south harbor of Manila will be seized on issue of that same code word. Supplies will then be moved to Bataan by barge, craft and ship. Eisenhower also orders General Moore to immediately fill his warehouses for his harbor forts and ensure that stocks for 12 months are on hand at all times.

Another maneuver is set for January 1942, where the I Corps will prepare in cooperation with the newly arrived 27th Bombardment Group (and their A24 dive bombers) as well as naval forces to practice a counterattack on a potential Japanese landing at Lingayen Gulf. However, the first war warning on November 30 makes it clear that time is increasingly running out. Krueger orders his troops to hurry their maintenance stand downs and get everything back up and running as quickly as possible. He also finalizes his command structure. He remains as theater commander, but he places Eisenhower as commander of all forces in Luzon. Under him is General Wainwright, commanding the US I Corps, General Ord, commanding the II Corps, and General King, commanding the III Corps, plus General Moore commanding the Harbor Defenses of Manila Bay, Subic Bay, Lingayan Gulf, Lamon Bay and Balayan Bay. General Frank commands US Army Air Forces Far East (USAAFFE) but his responsibilities have been expanded to include liaison and cooperation with the Australians, Dutch and British. After an inspection of the American Volunteer Group, Generals Frank and Eisenhower send a cable to Washington urging that Claire Chennault be given a reserve commission of Brigadier General and Eisenhower, Frank and Hart quietly work out a plan to make use of that organization in case war comes before it leaves.

 

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Hawaii will be next

 

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Map of Hawaiian Islands including Midway Island. Note that there was not a wildlife refuge in 1941 but note how big this area is

 

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American airfields and radar installations December 7, 1941