June 14, 1945: US retaking of Philippines during WWII reaches its peak
Bessang Pass | Photo from the PH Veterans Affairs Office.
On Oct. 20, 1944, the retaking of the Philippines by American forces commenced on the island of Leyte. The American troops and Filipino guerrilla forces made steady and deadly progress throughout the Philippines.
On July 4, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur declared that the retaking of the Philippines was completed except for some mopping up.
The Japanese commander, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, did not surrender until Sept. 2, 1945, so the mopping up was more deadly than advertise.
It took nine months of brutal fighting from the beginning of the retaking in October 1944 to MacArthur’s liberation announcement on July 4, 1945.
One of the longest and most dogged fighting during the retaking of the Philippines was the battle at Bessang Pass in Ilocos Sur Province in Northern Luzon. The battle raged on from Jan. 9, 1945, until June 14, 1945.
General Yamashita decided not to defend Manila. The Japanese atrocities committed during the Battle of Manila were caused by the Imperial Japanese Navy not the army. Yamashita led his Japanese Imperial Army forces out of Manila and headed for the mountains in Norther Luzon.
At the precarious and treacherous Bessang Pass, Yamashita’s military engineers designed multiple tunnels, pill boxes and other obstacles to stifle the American and Filipino advance.
At the ridges above the pass, the Japanese placed artillery to fire on the approaching American and Filipino troops. The ridges above the pass were approximately 5,000 feet above sea level. The capture of Bessang Pass proved to be extremely difficult.
The American leaders picked the right person to lead the assault at Bessang Pass. Lt. Colonel Russell Volckman had escaped from Bataan and had organized and led a guerrilla force in Northern Luzon. He had evaded being captured for years by Japanese military, secret police, and civilian Japanese collaborators.
At his peak, Volckman had almost 20,000 guerrillas under his command. The vast majority were Filipinos who had served in the American Army in the Philippines or the Philippine Commonwealth Army.
Prior to Jan. 1, 1945, all guerrilla forces in the Philippines, including Volckman’s troops, were ordered by General MacArthur to avoid aggressive action and focus of intelligence gathering. The valuable intelligence was transmitted by multiple means to MacArthur’s Headquarters in Australia.
On Jan. 1, 1945, all the guerrilla units in the Philippines were ordered to strike out at Japanese troops. Lt. Col. Volckman commenced his assault against the Japanese at Bessang Pass on Jan. 9, 1945.
After five months of bloody conflict, the Japanese were defeated on June 14, 1945.
The Battle of Bassang Pass proved that the Filipino fighters with proper leadership, supplies and equipment could defeat the veteran and tenacious Japanese soldiers.
Dennis Edward Flake is the author of three books on Philippine-American history. He is a Public Historian and a park ranger in interpretation for the National Park Service at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA. He can be contacted at: flakedennis@gmail.com
