United States• In May 1940, the main part of the US

fleet was transferred to Pearl Harbor from the west coast• In preparation for war, on July 26, 1941,

General Douglas MacArthur brought the 12,000 strong Philippine Scouts under his command with the 16,000 American soldiers stationed in the Philippines. • Even these combined forces were poorly

trained and equipped for an adequate defense of the islands against a Japanese invasion.

• Japan saw the US as a threat to its influence in Asia and began developing plans to destroy the US Navy in Hawaii• On Dec 7, 1941,

the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor

Tactical Damage

• Eight battleships were damaged, with five sunk • Three light cruisers, three destroyers, three smaller vessels, and 188 aircraft were destroyed• 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed • 1,178 wounded • 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona were killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions.

Broader Results

• In spite of the tactical success, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an operational and strategic failure for the Japanese• The attack failed to

destroy the American aircraft carriers, fleet repair facilities, or fuel reserves

• The “sneak attack” galvanized American support for entry into the war

• US declared war on Japan the next day, December 8

• December 11, Germany & Italy declared war on US

• Britain declared war on Japan to come to America’s aid

Fall of the Philippines• The attack on the Philippines started on

December 8, 1941 ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As at Pearl Harbor, the American aircraft were entirely destroyed on the ground.

• MacArthur concentrated his troops on the Bataan peninsula to await the relief of reinforcements from the United States that, after the destruction at Pearl Harbor, could never come.

• The Japanese succeeded in penetrating Bataan's first line of defense and MacArthur had no alternative but to organize a slow and desperate retreat down the peninsula.

• General MacArthur escaped on the night of March 11, 1942 in PT-41 bound for Australia

• The 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino defenders in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942.

• The Japanese led their captives on a cruel and criminal 60-mile-long Death March in which 7-10,000 died or were murdered before arriving at the internment camps ten days later.

• For over three years and right to the day of Japan's surrender, the Philippines were to suffer grievously under the Japanese military occupation.