Bataan peninsula, siege of

Bataan peninsula, siege of, a strip of land 40 km. (25 mi.) long and 32 km. (20 mi.) wide at its base, on the Filipino island of Luzon, the last refuge for 67,500 Filipino troops, 12,500 US service personnel, and 26,000 civilians after Lt-General Homma's Fourteenth Army landed on the island in December 1941 (see also Philippines campaigns).

The US commander, Lt-General MacArthur, ordered the withdrawal to begin on 24 December. Manila was declared an open city and MacArthur moved with his HQ to Corregidor, an island at the peninsula's tip. One Japanese general compared the withdrawal to a cat entering a sack, and a quick victory was expected. But the peninsula, though isolated by Japanese air and sea forces, was ideal defensive country, and the withdrawal was a planned one. Supplies had been stockpiled there and hospitals and other key installations constructed. However, insufficient food meant the besieged existed on half rations.

Before he could attack, Homma's best division was withdrawn for the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. But, confident of immediate success, he assigned the Kimura Detachment and the inexperienced 65th Brigade to take the peninsula. These broke through MacArthur's defences after they attacked on 9 January, but failed to breach his secondary line to which his two corps withdrew, and attempts to land behind American lines were eradicated. The offensive then stalled, and on 8 February Homma was forced to call a halt. With 2,700 dead, more than 4,000 wounded, and 13,000 sick, his command had all but ceased to exist.

On 11 March MacArthur obeyed Roosevelt's order to go to Australia. His successor, Maj-General Wainwright, inherited an army debilitated by malnutrition and disease (see alsomedicine), and its morale had plummeted when it was realized no help would be forthcoming. The end, when it came, was swift. Homma's reinforcements smashed through Wainwright's forces a few days after Homma attacked on 3 April. A counter-attack failed. Wainwright, ordered by MacArthur not to surrender, could not authorize his ground commander, Maj-General Edward King, to do so. But King, to prevent unnecessary slaughter, ignored MacArthur's orders and on 9 April he capitulated.

Only about 2,000 of the defenders escaped to Corregidor. The rest, some 78,000, were herded out of the peninsula in what became known as the Bataan Death March on which, beaten, clubbed, and bayoneted, they were forced to walk the 105 km. (65 m.) from Mariveles to San Fernando. Many died before they got there and after the war Homma was arraigned before a regional court (see Far East war crimes trials) and accused of being responsible for the Death March.