Major Guerrilla Formations107 The guerrilla movement within the Philippines was the net result of individual men and women deciding to resist. However, the geography of the islands of the Philippines ensured that each movement would start in isolation from one another. In all, over fifty different known 107 This section is representative, but not all inclusive of the groups that existed during the war. The Japanese destroyed a significant number of guerrilla groups or as attrition took its toll, remaining guerrillas joined larger, remaining groups. The groups listed below were some of those that participated in the liberation of the Philippines and assisted General MacArthur’s forces as they battled the Japanese. These groups represent the end of a Darwinian process where earlier guerrilla groups and members did not survive the Japanese efforts to destroy them. This process, while unfortunate, refined the guerrilla groups into becoming an effective forcerecognized guerrilla groups operated within the Philippines during World War II.108 General MacArthur attempted to organize these groups within ten military districts that mirrored the organization of the pre-war Philippine Army with significant, but not total success. The guerrilla groups would control what they could, but the imposition of unit boundaries from the outside did not match realities within the islands. Despite the initial isolation of one guerrilla movement from another and later attempts to organize these groups from the outside, it is possible to categorize the guerrilla movements in three broad categories based on the three major island groups of the Philippine Archipelago. The three categories can be described as, groups that formed and operated while in contact with the Japanese on Luzon , those that formed on small islands initially bypassed by the Japanese, and on Mindanao where a large contingent of American forces were preparing themselves for continued operations. These three categories serve to illustrate the different environments that spawned the spontaneous growth of the various guerrilla movements. The Philippines, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, can be broken down into three island groups. From north to south, they are named; the Luzon region, the Visayas island chain, and the Mindanao region. These three regions contain over 7,000 islands within the archipelago. The first island group, the Luzon region, contains the northern most islands and includes the capitol of Manila. During the Japanese invasion, a majority of the fighting took place in this area and during the occupation; the Japanese garrisoned the majority of its forces here. The large number of United States and Filipino forces defending Luzon resulted in a majority of the guerrillas coming from the ranks of isolated soldiers and bypassed units such as .the 26th United States Cavalry Regiment, the “Philippine Scouts.”109 The large number of bypassed units and isolated officers, contributed to a plethora of guerrilla units perpetually squabbling in an attempt to assert their authority over one another. The large density of both guerrillas and Japanese forces created an environment that resulted in a turnover of guerrilla leadership as the Japanese conducted counter guerrilla operations. Three significant guerrilla groups already operated within the Luzon region by the time of the Americans invaded. The first and largest group on Luzon was the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines, North Luzon (USAFIP-NL) under then Lieutenant Colonel Russell Volckmann. Volckmann’s forces numbered over 20,000 guerrillas.110 Volckmann came to assume command of the group after the capture of Colonels Moses and Noble by the Japanese in June of 1943.111 The Japanese captured the Colonels after they tortured the information out of a scout that the Colonels had dispatched.112 The second group was the East Central Luzon Guerilla Area (ECLGA) under the command of Major Edwin Ramsey, from the 26th United States Cavalry Regiment.113 Ramsey commanded over 13,000 guerrillas.114 The third group was The Luzon Guerrilla Armed Forces (LGAF) under the command of Major Robert Lapham.115 His forces 109 The Philippine Scouts was an elite unit and contained the best that both the United States Army and Philippine Army had to offer. It was predominately made up of American officers and Filipino NonCommissioned Officers and soldiers. For more information on the subject of the Philippine scouts, the recently released work by Peter F. Stevens, The Twilight Riders: the Last Charge of the 26th Cavalry, (Guilford, CN: Lyons press, 2011) can provide further information. 110 Norling, The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon,179. 111 Russell W. Volckmann, We Remained: Three years behind enemy lines in the Philippines (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.), 119. 112 Ibid. 113 Ramsey, et al, Lieutenant Ramsey’s War,176. 114 Norling, The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon, 179. Additionaly, according to Stevens, Ramsey also holds the distinction of carrying out the last mounted cavalry charge in United States Army history. 115 Lapham, et al., Laphams Raiders,viii.numbered over 13,000 guerrillas as well.116 Another group that served to complicate the efforts of the guerrillas on Luzon was the Hukblajaps or Huks for short. These communist guerrillas fought against both the Japanese and other guerrilla bands. The Huks posed a significant threat to the guerrilla groups as that they would attempt to deliberately interfere with operations or prey upon guerrilla units after they came into contact with Japanese forces. 117 Despite this threat, the guerilla efforts were able to overcome the resistance of the Huks and were able to concentrate on fighting the Japanese. The second island group is the Visayas. It contains the islands of Negros, Leyte, Samar, and Cebu, amongst others. The Japanese bypassed these islands during the initial invasion, and during the occupation, only garrisoned them with token forces. Consisting primarily of former Philippine soldiers and constabulary members, the guerrilla movement that grew on the island of Negros occurred by accident. Silliman University was the nexus for the movement that followed. Military age males, who had that attended ROTC classes together and played college football, took to fighting the Japanese that landed on the island almost immediately. American missionaries who were on the faculty of the university felt compelled to provide direction to this movement, lest youthful enthusiasm for fighting the Japanese trump good sense and provoke a violent response from the Japanese.118 Eventually, Colonel Abcede, a 31-year-old officer from the Philippine Army, commanded the groups on the island and they numbered over 12,000 in total.119 Colonel Ruperto Kangelon, Philippine Army, commanded the guerrilla movement on Leyte.120 He escaped Japanese captivity and was in hiding with his family on the island when others asked him to assume command of the guerrilla effort. Kangelon was finally convinced to come out of retirement and hiding by an AIB agent on a penetration mission to become a leader again. It was through his leadership as the senior officer on the island that he unified the various guerrilla groups and restored discipline to their ranks. Kangelon commanded over 3,000 guerrillas on Leyte and his forces helped provide intelligence used in the liberation of the island in October 1944.121 By the time of the liberation of the Philippines, the guerrilla movement on Cebu was led by LTC James Cushing, who along with his two brothers, made the transition from civilian mining engineers to guerrillas. He and his brothers each led their own group on different parts of the Philippines. At its peak, Cushing’s command numbered over 5,500 and contained Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines.122 The last and southernmost island group is the Mindanao region. Mindanao’s separation from the other islands, concentration of American and Philippine units, and the relatively late investment by Japanese forces allowed a guerrilla movement to grow and rapidly flourish. The commander of the forces on the island was a former civilian mining engineer by the name of Wendell Fertig. After evading capture, he encountered a local guerrilla band that wanted to name him as their leader and appoint him to the rank of Brigadier General. Realizing that he had no other way to control the excesses of some of the guerrillas on the island, Fertig accepted theappointment. Fertig had to deal with the constant scheming of Captain Luis Morgan as Morgan attempted to undermine Fertig’s authority and take over the guerrilla group for himself. Fertig exercised his newfound authority and personality to neutralize disaffected guerrilla bands. Fertig commanded over 33,000 guerrillas at one time on Mindanao.123 Fertig also had to contend with the Moro population in southwest Mindanao. His solution to the difficulties in dealing with a population mixed along religious lines was to organize them into Muslim and Christian units. Fertig appointed a fellow American expatriate, Charles Hedges, to lead the Moro guerrilla unit.124 Hedges was able to maintain the loyalty of the Moros and channeled their efforts into fighting the Japanese; this, however was rumored to be due to a promise made by Hedges to the Moros for the establishment of their own government after the war.125
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:33:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015