Chronicling the Fall of Bataan
Viewing, readings, and things to listen to during your vacation
April 9 is Bataan Day, euphemistically called Day of Valor since the Marcos era. In observance of this anniversary, here are some links for your Holy Week consumption.
Inquirer Briefing: Valor and Suffering in Bataan
This is an infographic we produced in the Inquirer. Check it out; click on the link and click, in turn, on the images to view the elements of the page, which gives a visual summary of the events of Bataan and Corregidor.
April 1942: WW2PH 80 Years After
A special page for The Philippine Diary Pprject, each day has a summary of events, some pictures and documents, and then diary entries written on that day.
See also December 1941, January 1942, February 1942, March 1942 and May 1942
Video Preludes:
Some video presentations on YouTube also make for informative and interesting watching. Here are three I’ve found worthwhile.
“This video is best to view as a collection of events that expands the World War Two to the Asia-Pacific. It is heavily focused on events that happen in China, followed closely by Japan, as well as events that occurred on Islands in the Pacific, in some way play a significant role in the arm conflicts. To understand what motivated Japan to started the War in the Pacific, we must first understand what happened in China, where at the time are under the constants state of unbalanced. We started in the era of the beginning of the fall of the Qing dynasty, followed by the events in which ends the period of isolation in Japan. Following these events led to the other events, and eventually led to World War II in the pacific.”
“By August 1941, Japan’s military situation looked grim, what started as a border skirmish around Beijing had evolved into full-scale war, draining more and more resources from the Empire. Although it was far superior to its Chinese counterpart, the Japanese army had a hard time coping with logistics and was subject to an intense guerilla war. Chinese forces moved rather easily in the countryside and avoided pitched battles limiting Japanese occupation to heavily fortified cities and railways. Even worse, the Allies, unwilling to see Japan threaten their local interests while they were busy dealing with Germany, supplied the united front with oil and equipment. After opportunistically occupying Vichy Indochina to secure the Chinese supply lines Japan was placed under a total embargo of its economy by the Western powers, paving the way to further escalation. With its strategic oil reserve half way to depletion and oil supplies from the USA and Dutch East Indies halted, Japan needed to do something fast. Still nursing wounds after their defeat against the Soviets, the army had decided to join the navy’s doctrine of southern expansion, oil and rubber beckoning them on. In order to cut china from its suppliers they planned to launch a sudden Southern Campaign, using the already seized French Indochina as a springboard. With western colonizers distracted by the war in Europe it was the perfect moment to seize the resource-rich South East Asia. Reluctant to leave an American threat along their flank, and certain that the US would defend the region, Japan started planning an assault upon the islands, the goal: defeat the American forces and occupy the Philippines The Philipines Campaign was the invasion of the Philippines by Imperial Japan and the defense of the islands by the United States and Philippine forces during the Second World War In the Pacific. This video focused on the early planning and strategy of both forces, the Japanese with Operation M, and The united states with War Plan ORANGE and later war plan RAINBOW. Also, include in this video is the Composition of IJA 16th Army and orders of battle and the United States Army Force in the Far East with its composition and Order of Battle.”
“Kings and Generals' historical animated documentary series covering the Pacific War week by week continues with a another video on the simultaneous Japanese attacks against multiple targets in the Pacific region including Philippines, Wake island and Guam. The Japanese kicked off the Pacific War with a simultaneous attack and brought the US into the World War II by attacking Malaya, Pearl Harbor, Guam, Philippines, Wake Island, Honk Kong and Borneo”
Listening in
A series I’ve recently listened to with tremendous interest is from the History of WWII Podcast As far as it goes it gives a pretty fair and balanced, though of course from the American perspective, review of events. I do think the effort of the podcast to give credit to Filipinos is noteworthy and commendable. Here are the episodes:
Prelude to the Fall of the Philippines
MacArthur: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
December 22, 1941: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
Gen. Douglas MacArthur: Defending the Indefensible
How Do You Solve a Problem Like MacArthur
The Battling Bastards of Bataan
Bataan —The Beginning of the End
Film History
During WW2 a morale-boosting movie was made in which Anthony Quinn played a Filipino: the character was supposed to be the grandson of Andres Bonifacio, fighting in Bataan! Here’s a modern take on this WWII classic: