Forward Defense PTO (id:#56726)

ASL News (ASL News # 27 ID: NEWS51)   [next]   [previous]

Moron, Bataan, Philippines 1942-01-16 (9 others)

Overview:

After the retreat to Bataan, Wainwright’s I Corps was responsible for the west section of the peninsula’s defense, essentially an almost uninhabited region of impossibly thick jungle and other formidable natural obstacles. Just north of the 1st Division’s (Philippine Army) main line of resistance lay the fishing barrio of Moron, a cluster of thirty to forty huts, left undefended because of the invasion potential of the long sandy beach south of the town. From Moron to the south ran the small but critical all-weather West Road. Given the even more difficult terrain inland, it was along the Moron-West Road axis that Wainwright expected the main Japanese effort. Sure enough, the Kimura Detachment’s 122nd Infantry opened this part of the campaign by crossing the Bataan River just north of the village and hitting the waiting 1st Infantry’s I Company. The Filipinos managed to stall the Japanese attack, and despite Moron’s exposure, General Segundo decided to counter-attack immediately. He sent a composite force of cavalry, engineers and infantry north to retake the village.

Defender: Japanese (Elements of the 122nd Infantry, 65th Summer Brigade)  

Errata (source)