Masaharu Homma
During World War II, the Lingayen Gulf proved a strategically important theater of war between American and Japanese forces. Shown in the center of the figure left, on 22 December 1941, the Japanese 14th Army—under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma—landed on the Northeastern shores of the gulf, at Agoo, Caba, Santiago and Bauang, where they engaged in a number of relatively minor skirmishes with the defenders, a poorly equipped contingent of predominantly American and Filipino troops. Facing limited opposition, the larger Japanese forces managed to successfully invade and occupy the gulf.