Battle of Bataan

1. Lead

Bataan is remembered for two things: a heroic defence and a terrible crime. From 7 January to 9 April 1942, a force of about 85,000 American and Filipino soldiers held the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines, against a Japanese army that was stronger, better supplied, and supported by air power and artillery that the defenders could not match. The defenders were starving, sick with malaria and dysentery, and short of ammunition, medicine and food. They held on for three months, far longer than anyone had expected, and they tied down Japanese troops that were needed elsewhere. When they finally surrendered, on 9 April 1942, it was the largest surrender of American forces in history. What followed was the Bataan Death March, in which some 60,000–80,000 prisoners of war were marched about 100 kilometres to a prison camp, and thousands of them died on the way, from starvation, disease, and murder by their Japanese guards.

The Battle of Bataan was the first great land battle of the Pacific War for the United States, and it set the tone for much of what followed. The defence of Bataan became a symbol of American and Filipino courage, and the Death March became a symbol of Japanese brutality — and a reason, for many Americans, to fight the war to the end. This article sets out what happened on Bataan, why the defence lasted as long as it did, what the Death March was, and how the battle is remembered today.

2. Key Facts

Date	7 January – 9 April 1942
Location	Bataan Peninsula, Luzon, Philippines
Result	Japanese victory; Allied surrender on 9 April 1942
Allied commanders	Gen. Douglas MacArthur (USAFFE); Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright (North Luzon Force, then overall); Maj. Gen. Edward P. King (Bataan Force)
Japanese commander	Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma (Fourteenth Army)
Allied strength	About 85,000 men (about 15,000 Americans and about 70,000 Filipinos)
Japanese strength	About 75,000–90,000 men of the Fourteenth Army, with air and artillery superiority
Allied losses	About 10,000 killed in the battle; about 76,000 surrendered; thousands more died in the Death March
Japanese losses	Estimated 7,000–10,000 casualties, mostly from combat and disease

3. Background

The Philippines and War Plan Orange

The Philippines, an American colony since 1898, were the most exposed American possession in the Pacific. They lay only a few hundred kilometres from Japanese-held Formosa (Taiwan), and they were the obvious first target of any Japanese attack. The American war plan for the Philippines, War Plan Orange, assumed that the Japanese would invade Luzon, the largest island, and that the American and Filipino forces would retreat to the Bataan Peninsula, a rugged, jungle-covered peninsula on the west coast of Luzon, and hold out there until the US Pacific Fleet could arrive from Hawaii and relieve them. The plan was, in retrospect, unrealistic: the fleet could not arrive in time, and the forces on Bataan could not hold out indefinitely. But it was the plan that the defenders of Bataan were ordered to carry out, and they carried it out for three months.

The American commander in the Philippines was General Douglas MacArthur, who had been the Chief of Staff of the US Army in the 1930s and had retired to the Philippines, where he served as military adviser to the Philippine government. MacArthur commanded the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), which consisted of about 15,000 American troops and about 70,000 Filipino troops, most of them poorly trained and poorly equipped reservists of the Philippine Army. The Filipino troops had little artillery, few anti-tank guns, and almost no air support: the American air force in the Philippines, the Far East Air Force, had been largely destroyed on the ground on 8 December 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese invasion of Luzon

Japan attacked the Philippines on 8 December 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December in Hawaii, 8 December in the Philippines, across the International Date Line). The Japanese Fourteenth Army, under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, landed at Lingayen Gulf, on the west coast of Luzon, on 22 December 1941, with about 43,000 men, and advanced south towards Manila. MacArthur, who had initially planned to defend the beaches, changed his mind and ordered a retreat to Bataan, as War Plan Orange required. The retreat, which began on 24 December, was carried out in good order, and the American and Filipino forces reached Bataan by early January 1942, bringing with them as much food and ammunition as they could carry. But the food was not enough: the forces on Bataan had supplies for only about a month, and they would have to hold out for much longer than that. Manila was declared an open city on 26 December, and the Japanese entered it on 2 January 1942, without a fight.

4. Opposing Forces

The Allied defenders

The Allied force on Bataan consisted of about 85,000 men, of whom about 15,000 were Americans and about 70,000 were Filipinos. The Americans were mostly regular army troops: the 31st Infantry Regiment, the 4th Marine Regiment, and the artillery and support units of the Philippine Division. The Filipinos were mostly reservists of the Philippine Army, organised into the 1st, 11th, 21st, 31st, 41st, 51st, 61st, 71st, 81st, 91st and 101st Divisions, most of which were under-strength, poorly trained, and poorly equipped. Many of the Filipino soldiers had never fired a rifle before, and their officers were inexperienced. The defenders had about 100 artillery pieces, few anti-tank guns, and almost no air support. They also had about 26,000 civilians — refugees, dependents, and Philippine government officials — who had fled to Bataan with the army, and who had to be fed from the same inadequate supplies.

	Allies	Japan
Infantry	US 31st Infantry Regiment; 4th Marine Regiment; 11 Philippine divisions (under-strength)	16th and 48th Divisions; 65th Brigade; later reinforcements
Artillery	About 100 guns, mostly old and short of ammunition	Modern artillery, including 150 mm howitzers and 240 mm mortars
Tanks	54 light tanks (M3 Stuart) of the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions	Type 97 medium tanks and Type 95 light tanks
Air support	Almost none after 8 December 1941	5th Air Group, with air superiority throughout the battle
Supply	Food for about one month; no resupply possible	Supplied by sea from Japan and Formosa

The American troops included the 31st Infantry Regiment, one of the few American regiments stationed overseas, and the 4th Marine Regiment, which had been withdrawn from Shanghai. Both regiments were regulars, and they fought well, but they were too few to hold the whole peninsula, and they depended on the Filipino divisions, which were brave but poorly trained, and which bore the brunt of the fighting in the first weeks of the battle.

The Japanese Fourteenth Army

The Japanese Fourteenth Army, under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, was a veteran force that had fought in China and was well trained, well equipped, and well led. Homma’s army initially consisted of the 16th and 48th Divisions and the 65th Brigade, about 43,000 men, but it was reinforced during the battle, and by April 1942 it numbered about 75,000–90,000 men. The Japanese had complete air superiority, modern artillery, and tanks that were superior to the American light tanks. They also had a great advantage in supply: they were supplied by sea from Japan and Formosa, while the defenders of Bataan were cut off from the outside world and had to live on what they had brought with them. The Japanese were also, man for man, better trained and more experienced than the Filipino reservists who made up most of the defending force. The wonder is not that Bataan fell, but that it held out for as long as it did.

5. The Battle

The first Japanese offensive, January 1942

The Japanese attacked Bataan on 7 January 1942, advancing from the north along the east and west coasts of the peninsula. The Allied defence was organised in two corps: I Corps, under Major General Jonathan Wainwright, held the western side of the peninsula, and II Corps, under Major General George Parker, held the eastern side. The Japanese attacked first on the eastern side, where the ground was flatter and the roads were better, and they made steady progress, pushing the Filipino divisions back. But the defence held: the Filipinos, stiffened by American officers and by the regulars of the Philippine Division, fought hard, and the Japanese, who had expected a quick victory, were surprised by the resistance. By the end of January, the Japanese had advanced about 15 kilometres into the peninsula, but they had not broken through, and Homma, the Japanese commander, was running short of supplies and men. He called a halt to the offensive and asked Tokyo for reinforcements.

The halt gave the defenders a breathing space, but it did not solve their problems. The men on Bataan were already on half rations, and they were falling sick in large numbers: malaria, dysentery and beriberi were rife, and the hospitals were overflowing. The food situation was desperate: the defenders had brought with them about a month’s supply of food, and by February it was running out. The men were reduced to eating horsemeat, mules, and eventually dogs, monkeys and iguanas. The American and Filipino soldiers lost weight rapidly, and their resistance to disease collapsed. By March, about 75 per cent of the men on Bataan were suffering from malaria, and the hospitals could not cope. The defence was held together by discipline and by the knowledge that there was nowhere to retreat to: behind them was the sea, and the only way out was by boat to Corregidor, the island fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay, which could hold only a few thousand men.

The fall of Singapore and the Japanese reinforcements, February – March 1942

In February and March 1942, the Japanese received the reinforcements that Homma had asked for. The fall of Singapore on 15 February freed up Japanese troops, and the 4th Division and the 21st Division were sent to the Philippines, along with heavy artillery, including 150 mm howitzers and 240 mm mortars, and more aircraft. The Japanese also brought in fresh supplies, and they prepared for a final offensive. The defenders of Bataan, meanwhile, received no reinforcements at all: the United States was committed to a “Europe first” strategy, and the Philippines were, in the words of one American officer, “written off”. President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave the Philippines on 11 March 1942, and MacArthur flew to Australia, leaving Wainwright in command. MacArthur’s departure was a blow to morale, but it was also a recognition of reality: the Philippines could not be held, and MacArthur was needed to command the Allied forces in the south-west Pacific. His famous words, “I shall return”, became a promise that he would keep, two and a half years later, at Leyte.

The reinforcements that arrived in February and March included the 4th Division, a veteran formation that had fought in China, and heavy artillery that would prove decisive in the final offensive. The Japanese also brought in more aircraft, and they stepped up their bombing of the American and Filipino positions, which were already short of food, medicine and ammunition, and whose men were weakened by hunger and disease.

The final offensive and the surrender, 3–9 April 1942

The final Japanese offensive began on 3 April 1942, Good Friday, with a massive artillery bombardment — the heaviest of the campaign — followed by an attack by the 4th Division and the 65th Brigade on the eastern side of the peninsula. The defenders, weakened by hunger and disease, could not hold: the Filipino divisions broke, and the Japanese advanced rapidly. By 6 April, the Japanese had reached the centre of the peninsula, and the Allied line had collapsed. On 8 April, Major General Edward P. King, the commander of the Bataan Force, decided that further resistance was hopeless: his men were starving, sick, and out of ammunition, and the hospitals were full of wounded men who could not be moved. He asked Wainwright, on Corregidor, for permission to surrender, and Wainwright, who was himself under attack, told King to do what he thought best. On 9 April 1942, King surrendered the Bataan Force — about 76,000 men, of whom about 12,000 were Americans and 64,000 were Filipinos — to the Japanese. It was the largest surrender of American forces in history, and it marked the end of the Battle of Bataan. Corregidor held out for another month, until 6 May 1942, when Wainwright surrendered the remaining American and Filipino forces in the Philippines.

The surrender at Lamao

King surrendered at Lamao, on the east coast of Bataan, on the morning of 9 April 1942. He met the Japanese commander, Colonel Motoo Nakayama, and handed over his sword. The surrender was not, strictly speaking, authorised by Wainwright, who had ordered King to fight on, but King believed that further resistance would only lead to a massacre of his men, and that surrender was the only humane course. The Japanese, for their part, were surprised by the number of prisoners: they had expected about 40,000, and they found about 76,000, many of them sick and starving, and they had made no preparations to feed them or to transport them. The result was the Bataan Death March, which began the next day.

King’s decision to surrender has been debated ever since: some historians argue that he should have fought on, while others argue that further resistance would only have led to a massacre of his men, who were starving, sick, and out of ammunition. King himself believed that surrender was the only humane course, and he accepted the responsibility for it, knowing that he would be criticised for it for the rest of his life.

6. Turning Point

Hunger and disease

The turning point of the Battle of Bataan was not a battle but a slow collapse — the collapse of the defenders’ bodies. By March 1942, the men on Bataan were starving, and they were sick: about 75 per cent of them had malaria, and many had dysentery and beriberi as well. They were on half rations, then on quarter rations, and they were losing weight rapidly. A soldier who could not march, could not dig, and could not fight, was no longer a soldier, and by April 1942, many of the men on Bataan could do none of those things. The Japanese, by contrast, were well fed, well supplied, and healthy. The battle was lost, not on the battlefield, but in the hospitals and the kitchens of Bataan. The defenders had held out for three months, far longer than anyone had expected, but they could not hold out for ever on empty stomachs and with no medicine.

The fall of Singapore and the arrival of reinforcements

The second turning point was the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, which freed up Japanese troops and allowed Homma to receive the reinforcements he needed for a final offensive. Before Singapore fell, Homma had too few troops to break through the Bataan defences, and he had called a halt to his offensive in January. After Singapore, he had the 4th Division, the 21st Division, heavy artillery, and more aircraft, and he could attack with overwhelming force. The defenders of Bataan, who had received no reinforcements at all, could not match him. The fall of Singapore, which was itself a disaster for the Allies, sealed the fate of Bataan: it meant that the Japanese could concentrate their forces in the Philippines, and that the defenders, who were already starving and sick, would face an enemy who was stronger than ever.

The fall of Singapore also had a wider strategic effect: it freed the Japanese to concentrate their forces in the Philippines and in the south-west Pacific, and it removed the last British stronghold in South-East Asia. The defenders of Bataan, who had hoped for relief from Singapore or from Australia, now knew that no help was coming, and that they would have to hold out alone, on empty stomachs, until they could hold out no longer.

7. Casualties and Losses

The battle

The casualty figures for the Battle of Bataan are estimates, and sources differ. The figures below should be read as informed estimates, not exact counts. About 10,000 Allied soldiers were killed in the battle, of whom about 2,000 were Americans and about 8,000 were Filipinos. The Japanese lost an estimated 7,000–10,000 men, mostly from combat and disease. The figures for the battle itself, however, are only part of the story: the real cost of Bataan was paid after the surrender, in the Death March and in the prison camps.

	Allies	Japan
Killed in battle	About 10,000 (about 2,000 Americans, 8,000 Filipinos)	Estimated 7,000–10,000
Surrendered	About 76,000 (about 12,000 Americans, 64,000 Filipinos)	—
Died in the Death March	Estimated 5,000–10,000 Filipinos and 500–650 Americans (see below)	—
Died in prison camps	Thousands more, from disease, starvation and ill-treatment	—

The battle itself cost the Allies about 10,000 men killed, and the Japanese an estimated 7,000–10,000, but the real cost was paid after the surrender, in the Death March and in the prison camps, where thousands more died of disease, starvation and ill-treatment. The figures for the battle are only part of the story, and they should be read alongside the figures for the march and the camps, which are set out in the section below.

The Bataan Death March

The Bataan Death March began on 10 April 1942, the day after the surrender. The Japanese, who had expected about 40,000 prisoners and had made no preparations for 76,000, marched the prisoners about 100 kilometres, from Mariveles, at the southern tip of Bataan, to San Fernando, and then by train to Capas, and then on foot to Camp O’Donnell, the prison camp. The march took about a week, and the prisoners were given almost no food or water, and they were beaten, bayoneted, and shot by their guards if they fell behind or tried to drink from puddles. The number of prisoners who died on the march is not known with certainty, and estimates vary widely: the commonly cited figures are 500–650 Americans and 5,000–10,000 Filipinos, but some estimates are higher, and the true number may never be known. What is certain is that thousands of men died, that many of them were murdered by their guards, and that the Death March was a war crime. The Japanese commander, General Homma, was tried after the war and executed in 1946 for his responsibility for the Death March and for other war crimes in the Philippines.

8. Map and Geography

The peninsula

The Bataan Peninsula is a rugged, jungle-covered peninsula on the west coast of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. It is about 50 kilometres long and about 30 kilometres wide at its base, and it is dominated by two extinct volcanoes, Mount Natib in the north and Mount Mariveles in the south. The peninsula is covered in jungle, broken by rivers and by steep ridges, and it is crossed by only two roads, one along the east coast and one along the west coast. The ground was ideal for defence: the jungle gave the defenders cover, the ridges gave them high ground, and the narrow roads channelled the attackers into killing zones. But the ground was also a curse: the jungle bred malaria and dysentery, the heat and humidity exhausted the men, and the peninsula was cut off from the outside world, with no way in or out except by sea — and the sea was controlled by the Japanese.

Corregidor and Manila Bay

At the southern tip of Bataan, across a narrow channel, lies the island of Corregidor, a tadpole-shaped island that guards the entrance to Manila Bay. Corregidor was the strongest fortress in the Philippines, with concrete gun emplacements, tunnels, and a garrison of about 13,000 men. It was the headquarters of General Wainwright after MacArthur left, and it held out for a month after Bataan fell, until 6 May 1942. The island is a symbol of the defence of the Philippines, and it is now a memorial and a museum. Manila Bay itself, to the east of Bataan, was the reason the peninsula mattered: whoever held Bataan and Corregidor controlled the bay, and whoever controlled the bay controlled Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Corregidor was the last American position in the Philippines to fall, on 6 May 1942, a month after Bataan. Its garrison, under General Wainwright, held out against Japanese artillery and air attacks until it could hold out no longer, and its surrender marked the end of organised American resistance in the Philippines, until MacArthur’s return in October 1944, two and a half years later.

9. Outcome and Legacy of the Battle of Bataan

The surrender and the Death March

The surrender of Bataan on 9 April 1942 was a disaster for the Allies, and it was the largest surrender of American forces in history. But it was not the end of the story: the defence of Bataan had tied down Japanese troops for three months, and it had delayed the Japanese timetable for the conquest of the south-west Pacific. The Japanese had expected to take the Philippines in 50 days; it took them more than four months. The delay mattered: it gave the Allies time to prepare the defences of Australia and to build up their forces in the Pacific. The Death March, which followed the surrender, became one of the most notorious war crimes of the Pacific War, and it hardened American attitudes towards Japan. The men who survived the march and the prison camps — and many did not — became a symbol of endurance, and their story was told and retold in the United States throughout the war.

“I shall return” and the liberation

MacArthur’s promise, “I shall return”, became the motto of the American effort in the Pacific, and he kept it on 20 October 1944, when he landed at Leyte, in the Philippines, and began the liberation of the islands. The Philippines were not fully liberated until 1945, and the fighting was bitter: Manila was destroyed in the battle for the city in February 1945, and many thousands of Filipino civilians were killed. But the liberation was, for the men who had fought on Bataan, a vindication: they had held out for three months, they had suffered terribly, and they had not been forgotten. The Battle of Bataan is remembered today in the Philippines and in the United States as a symbol of courage and of sacrifice, and the Death March is remembered as a warning about what war can do to men.

The memorials

Bataan is remembered in the memorials that stand on the peninsula today: the Dambana ng Kagitingan, the Shrine of Valour, on Mount Samat, a huge cross that can be seen for miles, and the Capas National Shrine, at the site of Camp O’Donnell, where the Death March ended. In the United States, the Bataan Memorial Death March, a 26-mile march held every year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, honours the men who died on the march. The battle is also remembered in the words of the men who fought it, and in the histories that have been written about it. Bataan was a defeat, but it was a defeat that mattered, and it is remembered as such.

The memorials at Bataan are visited every year by the families of the men who died there, and by Filipino and American veterans, who remember the battle as a symbol of courage and of sacrifice. The Bataan Memorial Death March, held every year in New Mexico, is one of the largest marching events in the United States, and it honours the men who died on the march and in the camps, and the men who survived them.

10. Commanders

Allied commanders

General Douglas MacArthur (United States). Commander of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), and the overall Allied commander in the Philippines. MacArthur ordered the retreat to Bataan and directed the defence until he was ordered to leave for Australia on 11 March 1942. He later commanded the Allied forces in the south-west Pacific and returned to the Philippines in October 1944.

Major General Jonathan Wainwright (United States). Commander of the North Luzon Force, and, after MacArthur’s departure, the overall Allied commander in the Philippines. Wainwright commanded the defence of Bataan and Corregidor, and he surrendered the remaining American and Filipino forces on 6 May 1942. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war, and he was awarded the Medal of Honor after the war.

Major General Edward P. King (United States). Commander of the Bataan Force, which surrendered on 9 April 1942. King made the decision to surrender, believing that further resistance would only lead to a massacre of his men. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war, and he died in 1958.

Japanese commanders

Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma (Japan). Commander of the Fourteenth Army, which invaded the Philippines and captured Bataan and Corregidor. Homma was tried after the war for war crimes, including his responsibility for the Bataan Death March, and he was executed in 1946. Historians still debate the extent of his personal responsibility for the Death March, but there is no doubt that the march took place under his command, and that he failed to prevent it.

Colonel Motoo Nakayama (Japan). Senior staff officer of the Fourteenth Army, who accepted General King’s surrender at Lamao on 9 April 1942. Nakayama was present at the surrender, and he was responsible, in part, for the arrangements for the prisoners, which proved so inadequate that thousands of them died on the march that followed.

Homma was replaced as commander of the Fourteenth Army in June 1942, after the fall of Corregidor, and he was retired from active service. He was tried by an American military tribunal in Manila in 1946, convicted of war crimes, and executed by firing squad on 3 April 1946, four years to the day after the final Japanese offensive on Bataan began.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the Battle of Bataan?
From 7 January to 9 April 1942, when the Allied forces on the Bataan Peninsula surrendered to the Japanese.

How many men surrendered at Bataan?
About 76,000 men, of whom about 12,000 were Americans and about 64,000 were Filipinos. It was the largest surrender of American forces in history.

What was the Bataan Death March?
The forced march of about 60,000–80,000 prisoners of war, about 100 kilometres from Mariveles to Camp O’Donnell, beginning on 10 April 1942. Thousands of prisoners died on the way, from starvation, disease, and murder by their guards. The number of dead is not known with certainty; commonly cited figures are 500–650 Americans and 5,000–10,000 Filipinos.

Why did the defenders of Bataan run out of food?
They had brought with them only about a month’s supply of food, and they were cut off from the outside world, with no way to resupply. The United States was committed to a “Europe first” strategy, and no reinforcements or supplies could be sent to the Philippines.

Who was General Homma?
Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma commanded the Japanese Fourteenth Army, which invaded the Philippines and captured Bataan and Corregidor. He was tried after the war for war crimes, including his responsibility for the Bataan Death March, and executed in 1946.

Did MacArthur abandon his men on Bataan?
MacArthur was ordered by President Roosevelt to leave the Philippines for Australia on 11 March 1942. He did not choose to leave, and he promised “I shall return” — a promise he kept in October 1944, when he landed at Leyte. Historians still debate whether he should have stayed, but the order came from the President, and MacArthur obeyed it.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Battle of Bataan” — dates, strength, casualty figures and commanders.
2. Wikipedia, “Bataan Death March” — the march, the number of prisoners, and the estimates of the dead.
3. Encyclopædia Britannica, “Bataan, Battle of” — background and outcome.
4. US Army Center of Military History, The Fall of the Philippines, by Louis Morton — the official history of the Philippine campaign.
5. Hampton Sides, Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission (Doubleday, 2001) — Bataan, the Death March, and the prison camps.
6. John Whitman, Bataan: Our Last Ditch (Hippocrene, 1990) — the defence of Bataan and the surrender.
7. American Battle Monuments Commission, Manila American Cemetery — the men who died in the Philippines.

Further reading

• William E. Dyess, The Dyess Story (Putnam, 1944) — a first-hand account of the Death March.
• Michael and Elizabeth Norman, Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009).