24th March
The Japanese begin an intense air and artillery bombardment of Bataan. Luzon-based Japanese Army and Navy aircraft begin a thorough bombardment of Corregidor, continuing through the end of March. Night air attacks are conducted for the first time.
In Malaya Blamey has decided that the Japanese pocket has been pushed far enough south. While allowing it to deepen will trap more troops, he is concerned that the Japanese might break out if his defence is stretched further. He informs Alexander that the planned envelopment and counterattack will begin tomorrow. Alexander agrees, and also issues instructions for the 17th Indian Division (currently under Slim in Burma) to attack across the Three Pagoda Pass and down the coast towards Malaya. This operation will expose the troops, however Alexander thinks that the Japanese will be busy with other things tomorrow.
25th March
The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1 Reconnaissance Seaplane to reconnoitre Kiska and Amchitka Islands.
The Allied counterattack and envelopment starts in northern Malaya, aided by every available RAF and RAAF aircraft. The plan is simple; the Japanese have pushed south to form a pocket, but that pocket is contained by the 8th Indian Division, supported by part of the 1st Armoured. The 'neck' of the pocket is now attacked by the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions, again supplemented by tanks. The Japanese have no weapon capable of countering the British infantry tanks, and the counterattack is supported by all available artillery. Attempts by the Japanese to counter with fresh troops is frustrated by the Allied air support and artillery. By the evening the Australians have nearly closed the neck of the pocket. Yamashita is in a quandary. His instinct is to pull as many as possible of his troops out of the trap, but his orders are to push south as hard as possible. Unable to manage these two conflicting ideas, he compromises - fatally, as it turns out. He orders the troops at the neck of the pocket to hold and counterattack while he tries to reinforce them, but the British armour keeps forcing them back with very heavy casualties. The main problem the British armour has is running out of machine gun ammunition, although a number of tanks are overrun when they break down. Meanwhile Slim is pushing a Brigade group south along the coast, hoping to catch the Japanese while they are preoccupied with the Australians, and Ghurka units are moving east through Three Pagoda pass.
26th March
At a meeting with the Australian Advisory War Council, General MacArthur gives his views on the situation in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific. He doubts that the Japanese are able to undertake an invasion of Australia, and believes that it would be a great blunder on their part if they attempted it. He suggests that the main danger is from isolated raids and attempts to secure air bases in the country and therefore, the first step is to make Australia secure. The War Council listen politely, but after the reports they have received from Blamey, Alexander and Somerville think MacArthur's ideas of Japanese expansion have been coloured by his experiences in the Phillipines.
General MacArthur receives the citation for his Medal of Honor at a formal dinner in Melbourne, Victoria. He tells the audience, "I have come as a soldier in a great crusade of personal liberty as opposed to perpetual slavery. My faith in our ultimate victory is invincible, and I bring you tonight the unbreakable spirit of the free man's military code in support of our joint cause." The Australians are non-military men in the audiance are impressed; the military and ex-military less so. MacArthur continues, that the medal is not "intended so much for me personally as it is a recognition of the indomitable courage of the gallant army which it was my honor to command
That night three B-17's based at Townsville, Queensland, evacuate Philippine President Manual Quezon and his family to Australia. This extraction is seen as politically necessary by the USA.
Admiral King relieves Admiral Starkas Chief of Naval Operations and thus becomes Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; Vice Admiral Horne (Vice Chief of Naval Operations) and Vice Admiral Willson (COMINCH Chief of Staff) are his principal assistants. There has been considerable controversy over King's appointment after the fiasco of the US coastal convoys and anti-submarine operations, and the administration intends to keep hiom on a short least for the moment.
Rear Admiral Wilcox commanding Task Force 39 with the battleship USS Washington (BB-56), the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, the heavy cruisers USS Wichita and Tuscaloosa and six destroyers, sails from Portland, Maine, for Gibralter. It is intended to include them in the Allied naval force starting to build up to support amphibious operations. Originally they had been tasked for the Pacific, but Roosevelt wants to have ships in place as part of the allied fleet. It is intended to replace the Washington with one of the older, slower battleships as soon as one can be sent to the Mediterranean
27th March
General Sir Thomas Blamey is named Commander-in-Chief of Australian Military Force, and given command of what is currently being called the central Malay barrier (including Australia). He will take command once he is satisfied as to the progress of his counterattack in Malaya. This is a blow to General MacArthur who had hopes he would have been given the job.
In Malaya, the two Australian divisions finally make contact. The bag is not completely closed; the terrain and jungle make it possible for small groups of Japanese to escape north, however to the surprise of the Allies few attempt to do so. Casualties have been heavy for the allies - some 6,000 men killed and wounded, but far heavier for the Japanese.
The U.S. Army’s War Plans Division Issues “Plan for Operations in Northwest Europe,” in which a tentative timetable for an invasion of France is offered. The plan calls for (1) a limited cross-Channel attack in the autumn of 1942 (Operation SLEDGEHAMMER) as an emergency measure if Soviet forces show signs of collapsing or (2) the main Anglo-American invasion (Operation ROUNDUP) in the spring of 1943 if SLEDGEHAMMER is not required. The build-up of U.S. forces and supplies in the U.K. for the major cross-Channel attack is coded Operation BOLERO. The Imperial Chiefs of Staff view SLEDGEHAMMER in particular as a fantasy, the shipping and landing craft simply are not available, and even an attack in 1943 seems far beyond allied capabilities, especially as hardly any US troops are yet in Europe.
The Imperial Staff in Tokyo commences an evaluation of the status of the war so far, in particular the need to modify some of the objectives and forces provided in view of some of the problems encountered, in particular the lack of oil fields captured. This debate will go on for some time.