Rutherford W. Ballantine Campaign Book No. 16 - Fall of the Philippines

New York: Ballantine Books, 1971. - 158 pgs. The Japanese attack on the Philippines started on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. American aircraft were entirely destroyed on the ground. Japanese troops landed at the Lingayen Gulf on December 22 and advanced across central Luzon towards Manila. MacArthur concentrated his troops on the Bataan peninsula to await the relief of reinforcements from the United States that, after the destruction at Pearl Harbor, could never come. Despite a determined defense by the hungry and disease-ridden American and Filipino troops, Bataan was forced to surrender on April 9, 1942. Almost 78,000 troops were captured by the Japanese. But for the defenders of the peninsula, the ordeal was only the beginning. The "Bataan Death March" was to severely test the resolve of Allied soldiers. The Battle of the Philippines lasted until May 6, 1942, when General Wainwright surrendered Corregidor, the last American stronghold in the Philippines.