The Deployment of USAFFE

As early as 12 December, then, General MacArthur was preparing the ground for measures that would have to be taken if he decided that it was necessary to withdraw to Bataan. Within a period of three weeks, from 8 December to 25 December, the Japanese had achieved astounding results in the Philippines. They had completed one major amphibious assault and at least seven 157 minor landing operations; they had placed a large number of troops ashore on Luzon, north and south of Manila, and were ready to move on the capital; they had cut the line of communications between the Philippines and Australia. During this three-week period, the Japanese had also established complete aerial and naval supremacy in the Philippines and forced the Asiatic Fleet and the Far East Air Force to retire to the line Surabaja Darwin, 1,500 miles from Manila. When the Japanese forces began landing on Luzon, Major General Wainwright's forces were deployed to Pangasinan with General Brougher, Brig. General Capinpin and other Filipino officers. The four Infantry divisions were composed of approximately 6,200 - 6,300 men per division. A 22-year-old schoolboy complexion young man was later about to stand in a defensive position to prevent the Japanese landings on Lingayen, Gulf. This was a Military tactic proposed by General MacArthur and other officers, it aims to stop the Japanese frontier on the island of Luzon. General MacArthur theorized that after the Japanese landing on Bataan, the next landing on Luzon could be on Lingayen Gulf. As a degree holder, my grandfather Teddy was already in the rank of Private First Class(PFC) as he also trained in the ROTC program in his College days. When the divisions arrived, there were soldiers already along the seashore, standing on their defensive positions. They are the 71st Infantry Division of Commander Colonel Clyde A. Selleck. My grandfather was looking around the site along the Lingayen beach while walking towards their barracks. He closes his eyes and moves his head up above the night sky. He inhaled the cool breeze coming from the sea, feeling the cold December wind. This will be his first Christmas away from his family. On the evening of their arrival in Lingayen, the divisions took their dinner together in the barracks. Their dinner was composed of grilled fresh fish from the sea, they just impaled the fishes using a stick and grilled with the campfire. My grandfather Teddy brought his favorite snack, Chicharon, and shared it with his comrades. After dinner, he conversed with his fellow Soldiers about what would be the future of the Philippines under the Japanese in case they succeeded. They facing the sea while sitting on the shore under the beautiful stars from the sky. One morning, my grandfather woke up and witnessed the twilight of dawn waiting for the Sunrise. The weather was fine as an ordinary good day to spend with. He described the sky as unusual, as there were shapes of clouds which are very strange for a strato-cumulus type of cloud. The shapes of clouds took his attention, as there are two images that are very odd. He compares the bigger cloud to the mouth of a Gigantic Snake and the other one to a Cat. On another perspective, he tries to describe a Snake chasing a Cat. At that time Filipinos were superstitious, they used to base their Prophecy on what they see or hear. For my grandfather, this is not just an ordinary image. They had to stay in Lingayen for two weeks and able to prepare themselves for possible battle engagement. During the night of the 10th, at Lingayen Gulf, came reports of another Japanese landing. Around midnight "several dark shapes" were observed approaching the mouth of the Agno River. When confirmation was received, one battery of the 3d Battalion, 21st Field Artillery (PA), opened fire. "It was like dropping a match in a warehouse of Fourth of July fireworks," wrote the American instructor assigned to the regiment. "Instantly Lingayen Gulf was ablaze. As far as the eye could see the flashes of artillery, shell-bursts, tracer machine gun bullets, and small arms. . . . Thousands of shadows were killed that night." When morning came, all that was found of the supposed invasion was one life preserver with markings which may have been Japanese characters. The absence of sunken ships did not prevent the 21st Division commander, Brig. Gen. Mateo Capinpin, from reporting to Manila that an attempted hostile landing had been repulsed. What actually happened that night was that the Japanese had sent one motorboat into Lingayen Gulf on a reconnaissance mission. The Japanese had no force near Lingayen then and no plan for a landing in the area at that time. Nevertheless, the news of the frustrated enemy landing was reported in the press as a great victory and the 21st Field Artillery was officially credited with repulsing an enemy landing. The only change in plans made by MacArthur as a result of the Japanese landings was the new mission given the North Luzon Force on 16 December. Before that time General Wainwright had been charged with the defense of all northern Luzon, and his orders were to meet the enemy at the beaches and drive him back into the sea. The main line of resistance was the beach. Such a mission was impossible of execution with the available means and in the absence of air and naval support. On the 16th the North Luzon Force was relieved of responsibility for the defense of that portion of Luzon north of San Fernando, La Union, and required only to hold the enemy north of an east-west line through that city.

On the morning of 21 December, Filipinos near Bauang along the shores of Lingayen Gulf observed a Japanese trawler cruising leisurely offshore. Unmolested, it took soundings and then serenely sailed off to the north. Later on, he wore his uniform and boots then grabbed his Pistol, Grenades and Rifle then joined his comrades on the trench. A Filipino officer took a final speech before the battle. When he reached the location of my grandfather, he asked: "You, Soldier! Why did you join the Army?!". He inhaled a little bit deeper and answered, "For the Filipino people, to defend and liberate our Motherland, Sir!". The officer just smiled and was impressed by his answer. General Capinpin later scattered his army into the shore to ambush the Japanese troops that will possibly land on that day. These were the 14th Army of General Homma. The 1st battalion commander was kept on observing the Japanese approaching through a telescope while the 21st Infantry was waiting for the signal, but there were still no approaching enemies until 09:00 in the evening. Despite the warning, the Americans seem to have been ill-prepared to drive off the invaders. At this time the 120-mile-long coastline of Lingayen Gulf was defended by two Philippine Army divisions, only one of which had divisional artillery. The southern edge of the gulf where the landing was expected and where the bulk of the artillery was emplaced, was in the 21st Division sector. The eastern shore, as far north as San Fernando, was held by the 11th Division. The 71st Infantry (71st Division), with only ten weeks' training, was attached to the 11th Division and posted in the Bauang-Naguilian area. The 26th Cavalry (PS), led by Col. Clinton A. Pierce, had been moved from North Luzon Force reserve at Rosales to Pozorrubio on Route 3 about twelve miles south of Rosario, in the path of the Japanese advance. Only at Bauang were Filipino troops waiting at the beach. Here the Headquarters Battalion, 12th Infantry (PA), with one .50-caliber and several .30-caliber machine guns, faced the oncoming Japanese. As the Kamijima Detachment approached the shore, the Filipinos took it under fire. From the front line, my grandfather was physically numb during the first deployment, he doesn't feel anything but anger. For my grandfather, anger is the most important key to defeat the enemy. Late that night, seventy-six heavily loaded Army types of transport and nine Navy transports, all under strong naval escort, steamed into Lingayen Gulf and dropped anchor. The main assault was on. Aboard the transports was the main strength of General Homma's 14th Army, altogether 43,110 men. The major combat strength of the Lingayen Force was drawn from Lt. Gen. Yuichi Tsuchibashi's 48th Division. As near as 50 meters from the shore, the Japanese started to move out from their boats, later on, the first battle of Lingayen begins. As a holder of the M1917 Browning Machine Gun, my grandfather Teddy was able to kill and incapacitate numerous Japanese troops at that very moment from their machine gun nest. Suddenly, the divisions were shocked when they noticed that there were already Japanese landed on the Eastern and Western parts of the shore. He then hurriedly moved the machine gun fire towards East and West to stop the Banzai attack. He kept on firing, then suddenly the banzai attack lessens because also by the help of the 26th Cavalry regiment which was behind the 21st and 11th Division. But there were also some USAFFE troops who were killed during the first hour of the battle. The .50-caliber gun caused heavy casualties among the Japanese, but the .30s had dropped out of action early with clogged firing mechanisms, due to faulty ammunition. They were eventually ordered to move back, but all of a sudden there were already Japanese troops on the island hiding in bushes and trees. My grandfather Teddy and his comrade dropped the Browning Machine Gun. He moved out of the trench and hold his rifle, then there were Japanese who tried to ambush them from bushes. My grandfather saw a Japanese approaching which is already close to him, he was able to grab the enemy's bayonet with a violent force and knocked the Japanese by hitting the right temple using the bayonet. While the fighting was on the ground, my grandfather was on the top and able to choke the enemy with the bayonet. He grabbed his pistol with his right hand and fired two shots to the body of the enemy, but there was another attacker. He crawled back to shoot another approaching Japanese, he shot the enemy with his pistol right between the eyes. One Filipino USAFFE helped my grandfather Teddy to get up, suddenly he noticed that he got a minor wound on his left leg. Despite the casualties, the Japanese pushed ahead and established a foothold onshore, whereupon the Filipinos withdrew. The vessels that reached Lingayen Gulf on the night of December 21st were organized in three separate convoys. The first to leave had come from Kirun in northern Formosa and had sailed at 09:00 of the 17th. It contained twenty-one transports and had been escorted by the Batan Island Attack Force, which had returned to Formosa after the landing on 8 December. The first battle at Lingayen Gulf lasted for approximately two hours, they had to withdraw from the battleground to avoid total massacre as they were outnumbered by the enemies. It was the first battle of my grandfather that shocked him for an hour. They took their meal together while their hands were dirty after successfully relocated. On the following day, they will be moved to a nearby province immediately, ordered by the Commander, because there were informed that there were Japanese troops that will land at the village called Agoo, a small village in La Union Province on the eastern shore of Lingayen Gulf.

The landing of Japanese troops at Agoo, where Col. Isamu Yanagi's 47th Infantry with a battalion of the 48th Mountain Artillery had come ashore, was unopposed initially. The Takao convoy was scheduled to land at Agoo, beginning at 05:00 on 22 December at the same day, General Homma has landed at Bauang after the withdrawal of USAFEE to Agoo. The Mako convoy was intended to start landing at 05:50 hours at Caba, seven miles north of Agoo, and the Kamijima Detachment was to land at Bauang, seven miles north of Caba from 07:30. This was intended to give the IJA 14th Army a fifteen -mile wide landing zone along the narrow coastal plain just north of the central plains of Luzon and protected from flanking counterattack from the east by the Cordillera Mountains. Once ashore, the troops were to move inland without consolidating the landing zone. The Kamijima Detachment, in particular, was to strike north to occupy San Fernando, and Baguio and to consolidate with the Vigan invasion force under Colonel Tanaka which was moving south along the coast. The remaining two forces were to press south past Rosario to secure the bank of the Agno River, the first major geographic obstacle on the road to Manila. Without waiting for motor transportation, Colonel Yanagi moved inland toward the Aringay Road, thence south to Rosario. By this time the 48th Reconnaissance and 4th Tank Regiments were ashore, and in the brush that followed easily routed the Philippine Army troops who beat a hasty retreat to Damortis, La Union. Thus, by the afternoon of the 22nd, the Japanese had pushed ashore elements of three infantry regiments, with supporting artillery and tanks; the main force of the 14th Army was still aboard the transports. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. William E. Brougher, the 11th Division commander, had sent forward a battalion of infantry to meet the Japanese coming down the coast and, if possible, disrupt the landing at Agoo. Later on, the 21st Division also moved to Agoo to reinforce the 11th Division and the Infantry Division was divided into four groups. The group of my grandfather halted at the northern part of the coast, and they hide into the bushes to become invisible to the enemy. The plan was to ambush the Japanese as the group of my grandfather Teddy was outnumbered. Ambush is the best way to survive at this point. The Browning Machine Gun was disregarded in this mission to remain incognito as the machine-gun fire could be easily located by the enemy through its loud noise. At 20:00, they heard a group of Japanese marching while singing a Japanese folk song. My grandfather signalized the group while they were scattered on the coast. They aim their rifles to the target and the ambush begins. During the last minute of the battle, my grandfather Teddy uses two grenades to distract the approaching enemies and at the same time, to secure himself as his group was totally outnumbered by the enemy tank. He was reinforced by a fellow from another group then had to continue the brutal battle. Hundreds of USAFFE Soldiers were killed during the battle at Agoo. Even totally outnumbered, my grandfather with the Division was able to defend themselves from the fury of the Japanese War Machines. It was a totally exhausting battle and had continued on the following day, even there was no source of energy, only water. Hard fighting lay ahead before the initial objectives of the Lingayen Force would be attained and the Japanese freed from the danger of being driven back into the sea. While his troops at Lingayen were pushing ahead, General Homma remained aboard ship in Lingayen Gulf. He had done all he could in the planning and preparation for the invasion. Now his troops were committed and their failure or success was out of his hands. His anxieties, a lot of any commander during the amphibious stages of an operation, were increased by lack of communications with the men ashore and the confusion caused by high seas and heavy surf. He had no knowledge of the disposition of his troops, moving in many columns in all directions, and no way of controlling the action. He had pushed his infantry and approximately half his armor ashore between Bauang and Agoo, but all the artillery save one regiment was still aboard the transports in the Gulf. Cut off from his troop commanders, he had no way to lessen his apprehension by assurances that all was well. The fighting in North Luzon on 22 and 23 December and the rapid advance by the Japanese to Rosario apparently convinced MacArthur that the time had come to put the scheme for withdrawal into effect. General Wainwright's request on the afternoon of the 23d for permission to withdraw behind the Agno River must have confirmed this decision. To these military considerations must be added General MacArthur's desire to save the city of Manila from destruction. But the chief reason for the withdrawal order was the failure of the troops to hold the enemy. Up to this time, General MacArthur seems to have had the greatest confidence in the fighting qualities of the Philippine Army reservists and in the ability of his forces to hold the central Luzon plain. The events of the 22d and 23d forced a revision of this view. "General MacArthur, viewing the broken, fleeing North Luzon Force," wrote Colonel Collier, a sympathetic observer, "realized that his cherished plan of defeating an enemy attempt to advance toward Manila from the north was not now possible.

At the outbreak of World War II, Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr., who later became the seventh President of the Philippines, joined the motor pool of the 31st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. Magsaysay later organized the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces and was commissioned captain on April 5, 1942. For three years, Magsaysay operated under Col. Merrill's famed guerrilla outfit & saw action at Sawang, San Marcelino, Zambales, first as a supply officer codenamed Chow and later as commander of a 10,000 strong force. And my grandfather Teddy also mentioned another Soldier, Lieutenant Ferdinand Edralin Marcos a Bar top-notcher who later became the tenth President of the Philippines was his comrade in USAFFE(later USAFIP, under General Wainwright). On the 22nd, the day on which the Japanese landed at Lingayen Gulf, General MacArthur observed that enemy air and naval forces were threatening his line of communications southward and called for some American naval effort to limit the enemy's freedom of movement along the vital sea lanes. Pointedly he asked for "any inkling" of the strategic plans for the Pacific Fleet and reminded Marshall that carriers could bring pursuit planes within the operating radius of the Philippines. "Can I expect anything along that line," he asked. The answer was no. Admiral Stark asserted that the use of aircraft carriers as transports was "impracticable in the existing strategic situation," and Marshall was forced to tell MacArthur that he would have to rely on the ability of cargo ships and aircraft to make their way northward from Australia by way of Torres Strait and the Netherlands Indies. When General Homma landed his 14th Army at Lingayen Gulf ten days later, on 22 December, MacArthur still made no change in his plan. But his message to General Marshall on that date shows that he now believed he might have to withdraw quickly. He estimated that the Japanese disembarking from the seventy to eighty types of transport in Lingayen Gulf had a strength of 80,000 to 100,000 men, and reported that he had on Luzon only about 40,000 men "in units partially equipped." He anticipated that "this enormous tactical discrepancy" would force him "to operate in delaying action on successive lines through the Central Luzon plain to a final defensive position on Bataan." When forced to do so, he told General Marshall, he would declare Manila an open city to save the civilian population and move his headquarters, together with the Philippine Commonwealth Government and the High Commissioner's office, to Corregidor, which, he said, "I intend to hold." General Marshall immediately replied that his proposed line of action was approved and that he was doing his utmost to send aid. On the 24th of December, at 12:00, the USAFFE staff was called to a conference. General Sutherland announced the decision and stated that the headquarters was to be moved to Corregidor that evening. Each man was to take with him only field equipment and one suitcase or bedroll. By special order, all officers in the headquarters, except those of high rank had been promoted one grade. To the War Department, General MacArthur sent news of his decision, as well as the further information that the Japanese had landed at Atimonan and Mauban that morning. "Tonight I plan to disengage my forces under cover of darkness," he wrote. "For the present, I am remaining in Manila, establishing an advanced headquarters on Corregidor." After evacuating the High Commissioner and the Commonwealth Government, he told the Chief of Staff, he would declare Manila an open city. On the afternoon of the 24th, President Quezon and High Commissioner Sayre, with their personal and official families, sailed to Corregidor aboard the inter-island steamer Mayan. Many Philippine officials simply packed a few belongings and left the city, despite the order that all Commonwealth officials would remain at their posts. The headquarters began to move out on the Don Esteban after 19:00 that day. "It was a beautiful moonlit night," wrote Colonel Collier, "and the cheerful, peaceful murmuring of the rippling waves from the jutting prow of the ship belied the havoc of war." It was Christmas Eve, and the men sat around on deck talking in hushed tones and watching the flames rising from the Navy's fuel dump where over 1,000,000 gallons of oil had been fired earlier in the day. The Don Esteban docked at Corregidor at 21:30, and the next morning Headquarters, USAFFE, opened on the island. That day, MacArthur reported to the War Department that his headquarters had moved. A rear echelon, headed by Brig. Gen. Richard J. Marshall, Deputy Chief of Staff, remained behind in Manila to close out the headquarters and supervise the shipment of supplies and the evacuation of the remaining troops.

The rest of the North Luzon Force spent a less peaceful Christmas. The enemy, prevented from reaching the Agno on 24 December by the stiff defense of the 26th Cavalry, continued his efforts the next day. With Binalonan in his possession, General Tsuchibashi, the 48th Division commander, could now split his force into two columns. One he sent south on Route 3 to Urdaneta, Pangasinan where the 11th Division was posted; the other went east toward Tayug. The column along Route 3 would consist of the 1st and 2d Formosa Infantry with the 4th Tank Regiment. The remainder of the 48th Division (less 1st Battalion, 47th Infantry at Damortis), concentrated in the Pozorrubio-Binalonan area during the night of 24-25 December. At 02:00 of Christmas morning, the 1st and 2d Formosa and the 4th Tank Regiment moved out against Urdaneta, which was defended by elements of the 11th Division's 13th Infantry (PA). The advancing Japanese has spread throughout the entire town of Urdaneta, and at approximately 02:15 am, the bloody battle has started. In this mission, my grandfather Teddy had to use the M1917 Browning Machine Gun while in the crouch position with his five comrades. Suddenly, there was a suicide bomber approaching. My grandfather shouted, "Look! The Jap is approaching on the right side! Shoot him!". His comrade nearby was nervous and shaking, he doesn't know what to do. My grandfather could not turn the machine-gun fire to the right side as there were also approaching enemies on the front. The interval was just a few seconds to reach their location, then suddenly a brave Filipino stood up on his left side to engage the enemy attack. He knocked the Japanese into the ground right before them and locked his body then he shouted the word, "Kalayaan!"(Freedom). The grenade exploded with the bodies of the enemy and the brave Filipino Soldier. My grandfather was shocked, he witnessed his bravery. Suddenly he uttered a long furious scream while shooting the approaching enemies, and the tears fell from his eyes. The fight lasted all morning but the Japanese proved too strong for the Filipinos and by noon had control of the town. The 11th with the 21st Division then began falling back toward the Agno. On Christmas Eve, the 11th Division, in the center, stood on the Agno River and was in its D- 2 positions. Defense of Carmen and its important bridge, rebuilt by the 91st Engineer Battalion, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, in force reserve since the second week of hostilities. To the left (west) along with a 2,000-yard front west of Carmen, was the 13th Infantry. The rest of the 11th Division sector, extending to Bautista, was held by the 11th Infantry. The 21st Division was on the left, the 92d Combat Team, and the 26th Cavalry on the right of the D-2 line. Spread thin along the Agno River between Carmen and Route 13, a distance of twenty-five miles was the 194th Tank Battalion (less Company C) which had reached the river at 19:00 the previous night. Tank's support on the right side of the line was provided by the 192d Tank Battalion, which covered the sixteen miles from Carmen to Tayug. Brig. General Capinpin then had to greet the Division, "Merry Christmas, boys!". The Soldiers replied in Tagalog, "Maligayang Pasko din sa Iyo, Señor!". My grandfather and his Comrades then sang the First Noel while standing, waiting for an order. From that moment, silence surrounded the area with grief and longing feeling. It was a totally saddest Christmas Day for my grandfather as he is away from his family. On the following day, late in the afternoon of the 26th, when news of the withdrawal of the 26th Cavalry on the right reached Wainwright, he ordered the 11th Division to fall back through Carmen to Route 3, then south to the D-3 line. Before the move could get underway, the Japanese shattered the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, at Carmen. The 21st Infantry Battalion was under attack before the withdrawal begins. They moved out from the trucks and the heavy fight to counter-attack the enemy has begun. The Allies lost the battle as they were outnumbered by the better-equipped Japanese troops, inflicting two hundred casualties and capturing Maj. Robert Besson, the battalion commander. Some of the troops were survived and they had to continue the withdrawal and by 19:30, Carmen was in enemy hands. The Japanese pushed on vigorously, a battalion of the 1st Formosa striking the 92d Combat Team on the right of the 11th Division line. Two hours later the enemy was in Rosales, three miles to the east of Carmen. With Route 3 in Japanese hands, the 11th Division was forced to fall back via the Manila Railroad, which extended along with the western (left) edge of its sector. There was no other route of retreat in this area. Behind the division, the front was a large, roadless area covered with rice fields. The only routes leading to the rear were on the division flanks-Route 3 on the east and the Manila Railroad on the west. Swift action on the part of General Brougher in commandeering and dispatching a locomotive and several freight cars from Tarlac that night made possible the escape of the troops. At about 23:00, General Brougher arrived at San Manuel. He explained that his division was moving back by rail and asked that the tanks cover the railroad until the Filipino troops could pass through to safety. It was finally agreed that the block would be held as long as possible before the tanks and the SPM fell back five miles to Moncada, where the railroad crossed Route 3. The troop trains carrying the 11th Division were expected to pass through that town at 04:00 on the following day. All was quiet at the roadblock until a few hours before dawn.