Wednesday, May 6, 1942. The fall of Corregador

On this date in 1942, US and Filipino forces surrendered to the Japanese at Corregador.

The loss of the island fortress was inevitable, and in many ways the amazing thing was how long the final stages of the conquest of the Philippines took.

Tuesday, May 5, 1942. The beginning of the end for the US at Corregidor and Vichy France on Madagascar.

Today in World War II History—May 5, 1942: First 29 Navajo recruits begin boot camp with the US Marine Corps; they will pioneer code-talking.

Sarah Sundin's blog catalogs a lot of significant Second World War Events for today's date, including the Japanese landing on Corregidor, the beginning of the end of the Battle for the Philippines, as well as the British Commonwealth invasion of Vichy France's colony of Madagascar, the latter undertaken out of fear that the Japanese would land there.

The Germans, it might be noted, had urged the Japanese to do just that.  The Japanese, for their part, had acknowledged that the island was strategically important, but had not committed to landing there, perhaps realizing that by this point they were at the absolute limits of their logistical abilities and such an operation would have been massively exposed to Allied strikes.

The action was at least the third time that the British had attacked the French in the war, which is of note. The French had resisted every time, but up to that point they had not declared war against the United Kingdom in spite of it. This invasion was undoubtedly a massive violation of French neutrality, but would not lead to such a declaration.  Of course, by this point, the Vichy French had sustained a similar usurpation of their sovereignty in Indochina by the Japanese. 

The Germans relieved the Kholm pocket in the Soviet Union.  The German troops there had been encircled since January and had been resupplied by air, something that would make the Germans overconfident about the ability to accomplish that for surrounded troops.  During the long siege the Germans had sustained 3,500 casualties including 1,500 dead, meaning that well over 50% of the surrounded force had become casualties.  The Red Army, however, sustained 20,000 casualties attempting to take the city.

Sundin also note the commencement of sugar rationing in the United States on this date.

Wednesday, March 11, 1942. They Were Expendable

 

Lieutenant, later Admiral, John Bulkeley, who commanded the PT boat unit that evacuated the MacArthurs.  He'd receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for service during the war and served in the Atlantic and Pacific.

Today in World War II History—March 11, 1942: 80 Years Ago—Mar. 11, 1942: In the Philippines, Gen. Douglas MacArthur evacuates Corregidor by PT boat with his family and staff for Mindanao. Col. Karl Bendetsen is appointed director of US Wartime Civil Control Administration to supervise removal of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast. Britain bans sale of white bread, replaced by National Wheatmeal Loaf made of whole wheat and potato flour.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

This is indeed a day in which a famous event in World War Two occurred, that being the evacuation of Douglas MacArthur and his family from Corregidor.  It was done under orders from President Franklin Roosevelt.  While MacArthur was obeying a direct order, the event remained famously controversial among some.

Admiral Francis Rockwell and his family was also included, which for some reason is hardly ever noted.

The event was recorded in the well known book They Were Expendable, which was turned into a movie, both of which were produced during the war, the book in 1942 and the movie in 1945. The movie was released, however, just after the war, in December 1945.  It was directed by John Ford and featured John Wayne.

Brazilian President Getulio Vargas issued a decree that stated his powers to declare war or a state of emergency, which lead to the confiscation of the property of Axis countries in Brazil.