Recapture of the Philippines
Fight on Leyte
| date | October 20, 1944 to September 2, 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | Philippines |
| output | American victory |
| consequences | Surrender of all Japanese units in the Philippines and securing of the most important islands |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Douglas MacArthur ( USA ) |
Yamashita Tomoyuki |
| Troop strength | |
| 600,000 US Army soldiers , 100,000 seamen 9 battleships 30 aircraft carriers 13 cruisers 153 destroyers 280 transport ships. |
around 500,000 soldiers of the 14th regional army |
| losses | |
|
14,291 soldiers killed |
approx. 430,000 dead and wounded, |
Leyte - Operation Te and Operation Wa - Gulf of Leyte - Mindoro - Luzon - Manila - Palawan - Visayas - Mindanao
The Recapture of the Philippines was a military operation during World War II , which was fought in 1944 and 1945 as part of the Pacific War by the American forces and the Imperial Japanese Army . The setting was the islands of the Philippines , which had been occupied by the Japanese in 1942 and have now been recaptured by US troops.
Strategic importance of the Philippines
For the Japanese, keeping the Philippines under their control was crucial because American troops were able to isolate the Japanese units in the Pacific from the rest of the Imperial Japanese forces in China , Burma and Indochina . In the event of a later reconquest of Borneo or Singapore , the Philippines could be used by the Americans as an advanced base of operations and also serve as a base for air strikes. In addition, the archipelago was a very important source of supplies for the Japanese war industry, especially rubber and linen . Strategically, the Philippines were a key position for Japan on the sea routes from Borneo and Sumatra , on which the essential oil was transported to Japan.
Island campaigns
Overall, fighting took place on all the islands of the archipelago, but the most important battles were fought on the islands of Luzon , Leyte , Mindoro , Mindanao and the Visayas islands:
- The Battle of Leyte began in October and ended in December 1944 and marked the beginning of the reconquest of the Philippines. In addition to the American amphibious landing, there was also a naval battle between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy . The Japanese fleet was almost completely destroyed.
- The Battle of Mindoro took place in December 1944. The island of Mindoro was liberated from the Japanese within three days.
- The Battle of Luzon began in January 1945 with the US landing in the Gulf of Lingayen and lasted more than six months. The Luzon jungle offered the Japanese many hiding places and defenses. On February 2nd, Manila - the capital of the Philippines - was reached and occupied by units of the 1st US Cavalry Division . Fighting on the island ended on September 2, 1945 when General Yamashita Tomoyuki , commander in chief of Japanese forces on the island, signed their unconditional surrender.
- The Battle of Mindanao began in March 1945 and ended in August when the Japanese occupiers of the island finally surrendered.
- The Battle of the Visayas also began in March 1945 and ended in May when the four islands of Cebu , Negros , Panay and Bohol were considered secure . But the surviving Japanese soldiers did not surrender until August.
literature
- Terrance C. McGovern, Mark A. Berhow: American Defenses of Corregidor and Manila Bay 1898-1945. Osprey Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84176-427-2 .
- Bernard Millot: The Pacific War. BUR, Montreuil 1967.
- Samuel Eliot Morison : The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas 1944-1945. Castle Books, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7858-1314-9 .
- Robert R. Smith: Triumph in the Philippines , ( United States Army in World War II. ) United States Army Command of Military History, Washington DC 1963.
