Evening star., 1942-04-11

and Gen. Wainwright's men blew up
the bridge.
Positions Previously Prepared.
The Bataan troops moved into
positions previously prepared con-
siderable distance down the penin-
sula. The first front line ran from
Moron to Abucay, with secondary
| positions below Pillar, criSs- crossing
the transpeninsula road.
In the original main line, the
Americans had Mount Natib at their
backs. giving them an advantage of
observation for artillery fire. The
right flank along Manila Bay was
held by divisions of the Philippine
Army.
American lines were not continu-
Gus, but a series of foxholes, ma
chine-gun nests and strong points
protected by barbed wire.
Huge bulldozers cut two runways
out of the rice fields behind Cacaban
for the remnants of Gen. Mac
Arthur's air force-a handful of
pursuit planes. Two hospitals were
| opened, one indoors at Limao and
the other in the open air near Little
Baguio. Anti-aircraft guns were in
stalled overlooking Corregidor and
Manila Bay. The Navy, with its few
remaining boats including mine
| tenders and three Yangtze River
gunboats, established patrols in Ma
Mia Bay while 1t. John Bulkeley's
torpedoboat squadron of six craft
worked offshore.
Small Boats Haul Supplies.
Small boats carried food supplies
to Bataan from Corregidor, mostly
at night. Men fought, ate and slept
in the open, but the weather was
favorable
The first land attacks on Bataan
began about January Is. They were
partly successful, both of Gen. Mac
Arthur's flanks being beaten back
| and Moron and Abucay lost. Gen.
Macarthur ordered counterattacks
and both positions were retaken and
the line restored.
In the meantime, the Japanese
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Natib and drove a salient a half
mile square into Gen. MacArthur's
defenses. American infantry coun-
terattacked successfully and drove
the japanese from the salient, but
so many snipers had infiltrated that
Gen. Macarthur withdrew his forces
about January 26 to the second
main line.
This was the first phase of the
| battle and, although Gen. MacAr-
thur withdrew, the Japanese were
beaten and lacked the strength to
push an offensive. They then tried
new tactics. attempting to pierce
Gen. MacArthur's flank from the
China Sea.
Mop Up With Japs.
Japanese landing parties came
ashore at four points, seeking to cut
the road on the western side of the
peninsula, but United States sailors
and marines and Filipino scouts
mopped them up in jungle fight.
At one crucial point, 1t. Bulkeley
sank several japanese landing boats.
Pursuit planes with improvised
bomb racks broke up another at
tempt to reinforce the landing
| parties.
From mid-January until near the
end of the month, our artillery kept
up an almost constant night-long
fire on enemy forces. Some artillery
| positions had been hacked out of the
| jungle on the western flank, but
the terrain made widespread use of
big guns impossible and, anyway,
there weren't enough big guns.
After smashing Japanese frontal
and f1anking attacks at the end of
January, there was a lull during
which life on Bataan was calm.
MacArthur's Army had learned it
could beat the Japs and wanted
reinforcementS for counteroffen-
sives. Young Filipino recruits had
become veteran soldiers.
In early February, the Japanese
attacked frontally near the left CEN
| ter of the line, but were driven back.
About the same time a new threat
| appeared with the installation of
| enemy artillery on the southern
shores of Manila Bay, where they
could pound Corregidor and other
island forts. An attempt by the
japanese to assemble fleet of small
boats was smashed by Corregidor'S
guns.
At the time I left Bataan, the sit
uation was stabilized and most of
the japanese pressure was off our
front. However, it was obvious
that, unless American reinforce
ments arrived, the japanese could
crack Bataan anytime they wished
to pay the price, as they have just
done.
| Macarthur Honored