largest tank battle in ww2 corregidor ww2

In early May, a naval force sailed south to seize the southern peninsula of New Guinea while Admiral Yamamoto planned a mid-Pacific offensive. This was the limit of Japanese expansion, though the assault had been so successful and rapid that senior commanders sought to capitalize on their advantage with further advances. A Japanese aircraft carrier raided the northern Australian port of Darwin on February 19, and in April Japanese aircraft sank British shipping on the Indian coast. By early June, nearly all American forces in the Philippines had surrendered.įurther west, a Japanese force overran Burma and entered the capital, Rangoon, on March 8.

The American headquarters in the fortress of Corregidor, in Manila Bay, fell on May 6, 1942, after a fierce defense. The Japanese captured the peninsula in April. The northern Philippines, with a mixed native and American force, was quickly overrun except for the Bataan Peninsula, where 100,000 soldiers and refugees were bottled up. In the Dutch East Indies, the 140,000-man colonial army was overwhelmed.

They would defend the perimeter while the rich resources of the region were incorporated into the Japanese war effort. The Japanese armed forces aimed to capture a broad area in the south.

Largest tank battle in ww2 corregidor ww2