Bataan and Gallipoli
BATAAN - Most of the 140,000 defenders of the island were members of the Philippine Army (100,000).The Japanese bombed Clark Field on December 8, 1941. The Japanese followed this attack with a troop landing on the northern coast of Luzon on December 10. They drove steadily south toward Manila. Gen. MacArthur, who commanded all units in the Philippines realized that he could not defend the entire island. While holding back the Japanese as best as possible, he consolidated his remaining forces on the Bataan Peninsula which jutted out into the South China Sea west of Manila to form Manila Bay. Just off the tip of Bataan was the island of Corregidor which guarded the mouth of the bay. MacArthur put his headquarters on the island. Despite desperate fighting, the Japanese pushed the American forces down the peninsula, successively breaking through four defensive lines. On April 9, 1942, Gen. Edward P. King was forced to surrender with 36,000 of his troops. Gen. Wainwright ...