After the last American holdouts on the rocky island of Corregidor surrendered in April 1942 the Philippines had to endure a pitiless Japanese occupation that stretched 40 months. Ending it was a matter of honour and principle for General Douglas MacArthur and his staff, all of them exiled after defeat in the Philippines, and they were raring to go after achieving victory in the South Pacific and the crucial New Guinea archipelago. For three days in late July 1944, a high-level conference in the Hawaiian islands attended by President Franklin D Roosevelt settled the endless deliberations of whether to retake Formosa (now called Taiwan) from the Japanese or rush headlong to the Philippines.
MacArthur's faction prevailed with the reluctant endorsement of Admiral Chester Nimitz, whose staff were strong advocates for taking Formosa given the US Navy's reconstituted fleets and battle-hardened Marines. It was decided the Philippines was far more important - not just because of its emotional significance for MacArthur, who lived much of his adulthood in Manila - but also from a strategic perspective. It was clear that aircraft stationed in the Philippines could range as far as the Singapore Strait and the southern edge of Japan, effectively neutralising the enemy's maritime links. This would starve Japan's industrial base of fuel and raw material, causing shortages that would reduce its capacity to prolong the war.
この記事は History of War の Issue 138 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は History of War の Issue 138 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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THE RUHR POCKET
The world's largest industrial complex, the Ruhr was where Nazi Germany's war machine was forged. If the Allies could capture it the conflict in Europe would effectively be over
HITLER'S 'ALPINE FORTRESS
With the Rhine crossed and the Ruhr taken, Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D Eisenhower had to decide what came next. His orders would help shape the fate of Europe for decades to come
BLUNTING THE SULTAN'S SPEAR
During his 1532 invasion, Suleiman the Magnificent faced a seemingly simple obstacle in the small fortress of Koszeg, Hungary. What ensued was a bloody struggle between Ottoman firepower and imperial grit
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In 1798, Britain's most celebrated admiral pursued the French across the Mediterranean, attempting to thwart General Bonaparte's mission to Egypt. The pursuit culminated in what was arguably the most strategically important naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars
FREDERICKSBURG
The Confederate invasion of the north had been repulsed in Maryland by the Army of the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln now urged his military to seize the initiative and crush the Confederates in the east and capture their capital Richmond. It would culminate in another catastrophic defeat
REMAGEN GATEWAY TO THE REICH
On 7 March 1945 the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine at Remagen was still standing - capturing it intact was vital to the Allied advance into Nazi Germany
A13 MK III CRUISER COVENANTER TANK
Plagued with mechanical issues, the Covenanter was envisioned as an improved cruiser design but never deployed for overseas service
INSIDE PICKETT'S CHARGE
On 3 July 1863 a Confederate regiment – the 19th Virginia Infantry – marched into the jaws of Hell in one of the most infamous events in American military history
Heroes of the Victoria Cross: MILTON FOWLER GREGG
On 28 September, 1918, this Royal Canadian Regiment officer led his men through uncut barbed wire into enemy trenches
MARCH 1945
To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War will be taking a look at some of the key events taking place during each month of the conflict
