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The Philippino people suffered greviously under Japanese occupation. This helped fuel an effective Resistance campaigns carried out by guerillas which had achieved control of substantial areas. The Japanese, however, controlled the population centers, especially on Leyte and Luzaon. The Navy preferred targetting Formosa (Taiwan), but MacArthur eventually prevailed with his insistence that America must retun to the Philippines. He considered his vow to return a pledge to the Philippinp people that had to be honored. Some how his vow, "I shall return" seems less approaptiate than "We shall return", but it was pure MacArthur and he convinced President Roosevelt. Reports from resistance fighters and American pilots revealed that the Japanese were not heavily defending large areas of the Islands. The inasion of Mindanao was considered unecessary and the decession was made to strike first further north at Leyte. It was in this engagement that the Kamakazis first appeared, although still in relatively small numbers. MacArthur President Sergio Osmeņa waded ashore with the invasion force at Leyte Gulf (October 20, 1944). The American Army forces advanced steadily. The Japanese resisted, but could not match American fire power. The most serious Japanese resistence occurred at sea. The resulting naval engaement following on Battle of the Philippones Sea is commonly referred to as the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was the largest sea battle ever fought and resulted in the destruction of the Japanese fleet as an effective fighting force. This opened the way for the land campaign. Further landings occurred at Ormoc (December 7, 1944). Then the fighting moved to Luzon. The Americans finally reach the main island of Luzon with landings at Lingayen Gulf (January 9, 1945). The initial American landings were unopposed. Japanese Imperial Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita had been tasked with the defense of the Philippines.
The Philippino people suffered greviously under Japanese occupation. The Japanese press ganged large numbers of Filipinos into slave labor camps. Filipino women were forced to work in brothels operated by the Japanese military.
The brutality of the Japanese occupation helped fuel an effective Resistance campaigns carried out by guerillas which had achieved control of substantial areas. The Japanese, however, controlled the population centers, especially on Leyte and Luzaon. The Americans delivered some supplies to the Fhilipino guerillas by submarine as well as operatives to help coordinate the canpaign. Most Filipinos were steadfastly loyal to the United States. This was in part because even before the Japanese invasion, America was moving toward Filippino independence. More than any thing it was the stark Japanese brutality that drove the Filippino to resist the Japanese.
The collapse of Japanese air power in the battle of the Philippines Sea open the way for an American strike into the center of the Japanese Empire.
Admiral Chester Nimitz, US Pacific Commander and Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval
Operations, preferred targetting Formosa (Taiwan), but MacArthur eventually prevailed with his insistence that America must retun to the Philippines. He considered his vow to return a pledge to the Philippinp people that had to be honored. Some how his vow, "I shall return." sems less approaptiate than "We shall return", but it was pure MacArthur and he convinced President Roosevelt.
MacArthur had targeted the southern-most Philippine island of Mindanao as te first target. Reports from resistance fighters and American pilots, however, revealed that the Japanese were not heavily defending large areas of the Mindanao. It was thus decided to strike at the more important island of Leyte futher north. After the fighting on Leyte and Luzon, General Robert Eichelberger commanding the U.S. 8th Army landed on Mindanao (March 10) and began the liberation of the southern Philippines, including Panay, Cebu, Negros and Bohol. These operations were much less strongly opposed by the weak Japanese forces on Mindanao and the other southern islands.
It was in the Philippines campaign that the Kamakazis first appeared, although still in relatively small numbers. The greatest use was at Ormoc (December 1945).
The most serious Japanese resistence occurred at sea. The resulting naval engaement following on Battle of the Philippones Sea is commonly referred to as the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Imperial Navy which had been mauled in the Philippines Sea months earlier felt compeled to resist the American invasion of the Pgilippines. The result was the largest and most complex sea battle ever fought. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, deployed the still pperful Japanese Navy in three groups. Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita commanded the central force. Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa commanded the northern force. The Japanese hoped that Ozawa's fleet of carriers but few planes would draw the poweful elements of the 3rd Fleet away from Leyte so the central and southern force could attack the American landing force at Leyte Gulf. The ruse worked. While Admiral Thomas Kinkaid's 7th Fleet destroyed the southern force, Admiral William Halsey with virtually his entire forece of 64 ships raced to engage Ozawa (October 24). Halsey took all his heavy elements with him and left the San Bernardino Strait unprotected. Kurita who had initially been turned back with heavy losses, raced through the Straits and south toward the invasion beaches where a 175,000 man invasion force and cargo ships were vulnerable. Aight force of destroyers and escort carriers (Taffy 1, 2, 1nd 3) engaged the Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers at great loss and somehow turned Kurita back in one of the most daring engagements in naval history. The outcome of the battle was the virtual destruction of the Japanese fleet as an effective fighting force. The Imperial Navy not only failed in its efforts to halt the American invasion, but was forced to withdraw from Philippine waters (October 25). This meant that the Japanese Army in the Philippines could no longer be supplied. Without the Imperial Navy, the Japanese position in the Philippines was untenable. In addition, the Japanese lost 40 ships sunk (including four carriers, three battleships, and ten cruisers) and 46 damaged as well as 405 planes destroyed.
U.S. Army rangers began the invasion of Leyte (October 17). As the U.S. Army invasion proceeded inland the soldiers were supported by the planes from Taffy 1,
2, and 3. A 2- day naval bombardment was followed by landings of the 6th Army under
General Walter Krueger (October 22). MacArthur President Sergio Osmeņa waded ashore with the main invasion force at Leyte Gulf (October 20??, 1944). The American Army forces advanced steadily. The Japanese resisted, but could not match American fire power. The destriction of the Japaese fleet in the naval engagement opened the way for the land campaign. The Armericans pushed the Japanese 35th Army out of Luzon's central valley and into Leyte's mountain backbone. Bitter fighting ensued as the Americans pushed the Japanese north. Further landings occurred at Ormoc, an important port (December 7, 1944). The kamikazes appeared in substantial numbers at Ormoc. The Japanese had prepared fortified positions supported with heavy artillery. Ormoc fell (December 10).
The Americans finally reach the main island of Luzon with landings at Lingayen Gulf
(January 9, 1945). The initial American landings were unopposed. Japanese Imperial Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita had been tasked with the defense of the Philippines. He was one of the Japanese's most effective generals. He devised the plan for defeating Percivel at Singapore and became jnown as tghe Tiger of Malayia. He has been side tracked because of differences with Tojo, but was assigned to defend the Phippines. He realized that he could not stop the Americam landings at Lingayen Gulf and to oppose them would exposed his force to devestating air attacks when they retired into the hills. He conceived of a defense based using the mountaneous teraine in the interior using caves, pillboxes, and artillery to shield his force from American firepower and to cause as high American casualties as possible. The Japanese strategy at this point had become to make the American pursuit of the War so costly that they would not dare invade the Home Islands. MacArthur pushed toward Manila. Yamashita conducted a skillfull defense, but within a month the Americans had crossed Luzon's Central Plain and were approaching Manila. Yamashita at this time evacuated Manila for defenses prepared in the mountains. He left troops in Manila to take a toll on and tie down the advancing Americans. Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi commanded the force of 16,000-19,000 mostly Royal Marines in Manila. I am not sure what his prders were. What ever the orders, cut off by the Americans, the Japanese turned on the defenseless civilian population of Manila. The Japanese targeted and killed an estimated 100,000 Fhilippino civilians in an outporing of mindless violence which has become known as the Rape of Manila. The city had to be taken block by block in vicious hand to hand combat. Iwabuchi and almost his entire force were killed. Manila finally fell March 4). Yamashita with a force of about 50,000-65,000 soldiers resisted in the hills north of Manila. MacArthur declared the Philippines secure (June 30, 1945). Yamashita continued fighting, however, until the the Emperor ended the War (August 15). Yamashita surrendered (September 2).
Yamashita was tried for war crimes in 1946. The trial was held before the larger Japanese War Crimes trials and were under MacArthur's control. Yamashita was blamed for Iwabuchi's attrocities in Manila. He was found guilty and hanged.
The Philippines was to be a staging area for Operation Olympus, the planned invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. After the War ended, the United States granted substantial sums to the new Filippino Government. The United States kept its committment and the Philippines became an independent country on July 4, 1946.
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