The battle of bataan
The beginning of American misery in Bataan all started during the actual battle of Bataan. The Battle was the Japanese attempt to capture the Philippines and the confrontation of American and Filipino soldiers against Japanese Imperial Army.
DAte and location
The battle began January 7th, 1942 and ended April 9th the same year. The battle took place at the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines
Army
The Japanese had only put about 75,000 troops on Bataan and were lead by one of their generals: Masaharu Homma. Meanwhile the Americans and Filipinos had teamed up to withstand the Japanese invasion and combined their troops greatly outnumbered the Japanese. (pbs.org)
Japanese honor code
The Japanese enforced the honor code. This meant that you had to fight to the death. Even when the situation is hopeless, you still had to fight.
japanese absolute victory
Despite being outnumbered the Japanese showed extreme military talent and defeated the both the American and Filipino armies.
Even though the Americans seemed to have a good chance of winning, they lost terribly and their casualties outnumbered the ones of the Japanese.
" The Japanese would fight to death. Even when there was no hope, they kept on fighting" (pbs.org)
On April 9th, 1942 the American and Filipino armies realized that they couldn't win, leading to their ultimate surrender.
Even though the Americans seemed to have a good chance of winning, they lost terribly and their casualties outnumbered the ones of the Japanese.
" The Japanese would fight to death. Even when there was no hope, they kept on fighting" (pbs.org)
On April 9th, 1942 the American and Filipino armies realized that they couldn't win, leading to their ultimate surrender.