Battle of Bataan 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 7 January 1942 – 9 April 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Philippines | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Philippines Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 14.6667, 120.4170 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Bataan (Filipino: Labanan sa Bataan; 7 January – 9 April 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II. In January 1942, forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.
The commander in chief of the U.S. and Filipino forces in the islands, General Douglas MacArthur, consolidated all of his Luzon-based units on the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the Japanese army. By this time, the Japanese controlled nearly all of Southeast Asia. The Bataan Peninsula and the island of Corregidor were the only remaining Allied strongholds in the region.
Despite their lack of supplies, American and Filipino forces managed to fight the Japanese for three months, engaging them initially in a fighting retreat southward. As the combined American and Filipino forces made a last stand, the delay cost the Japanese valuable time and prevented immediate victory across the Pacific.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bataan (revision 1381252102), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Corregidor 1942 · 0 km
- Battle of Corregidor (1945) 1945 · 0 km
- Battle of Puerto de Cavite 1647 · 39 km
- Battle of Marilao River 1899 · 58 km
- Battle of Manila Bay 1898 · 59 km
- Battle of Caloocan 1899 · 59 km
Browse more: battles in Philippines · Asia · World War II era battles