![]() ![]() MacArthur assumed command of the Allied army in July 1941 and rejected WPO-3 as defeatist, preferring a more aggressive course of action. It was to be defended to the "last extremity". If the enemy prevailed, the Americans were to hold back the Japanese advance while withdrawing to the Bataan Peninsula, which was recognized as the key to the control of Manila Bay. ![]() Under WPO-3, the mission of the Philippine garrison was to hold the entrance to Manila Bay and deny its use to Japanese naval forces. However, the plan was tactically sound, and its provisions for defense were applicable under any local situation. ![]() When General Douglas MacArthur returned to active duty, the latest revision of plans for the defense of the Philippine Islands- War Plan Orange 3 (WPO-3)-was politically unrealistic, as it assumed a conflict only involving the United States and Japan, not the combined Axis powers. King discusses surrender terms with Japanese officers to end the Battle of Bataan Prelude Homma was executed in 1946, while Kawane and Hirano were executed in 1949.īackground General Edward P. After the war, the Japanese commander, General Masaharu Homma and two of his officers, Major General Yoshitaka Kawane and Colonel Kurataro Hirano, were tried by United States military commissions for war crimes and sentenced to death on charges of failing to prevent their subordinates from committing atrocities. If an American or Filipino POW was caught on the ground or fell, he would be instantly shot. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings. Sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to various camps was 65 miles (105 km). The transfer began on 9 April 1942 after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The Bataan Death March ( Filipino: Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan Spanish: Marcha fatal de Bataán Kapampangan: Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: Batān Shi no Kōshin) was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POW) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando. Estimates range from 5,500 to 18,650 POW deaths. ![]()
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