The Use of American Artillery in the Battle of Manila
Christopher Dodd, Curtis Hoard, Jared Cawthon, John Daniels
United States Noncommissioned Officer Academy Advanced Leader Course
The Use of American Artillery in the Battle of Manila
As a group, we decided that Manila was a very interesting battle that incorporated the use of artillery in a manner that had a profound effect on the history of a people, their country, and how the use of artillery fires devastated the Japanese forces in Manila. To begin, we are going to discuss how the United States turned its attention to Manila from the island of Luzon. Secondly, we will go in depth on how the utilization of artillery helped to shape and win the Battle of Manila by completely devasting …show more content…
The objective was to seize the island of Luzon and rescue 800 American prisoners of war being held captive in a prison in Cabanatuan as well as to use the 1st Calvary Division to rescue the 3,766 internees being held at the University of Santo Tomas. Once this was achieved, the American Forces were pushed toward Manila to advance on a withdrawing and retrograding Japanese force that was limited and struggling to hold the capital. The Japanese were not prepared to fight in an urban environment yet alone be able to defend Manila with a mostly untrained and very disorganized force operating with a force of 12,500 naval personnel, 4,500 army personnel, no armor, little artillery, and a limited supply of close combat weapons, most of which were found or taken during previous engagements. The Japanese used 600 machine guns of 7.7mm and other calibers, and sixty 120mm dual-purpose naval guns. The artillery pieces being used by the Japanese ranged from ten 100 and 105mm guns and …show more content…
The 1st Cav. and the 37th ID had trained to fight in an urban environment according to US Army doctrine. American forces had a casualty avoidance policy that made the battle difficult in the fact that no airstrikes were allowed within the perimeter of the city and artillery indirect fires were prohibited except against observed targets known to be enemy positions. The Battle of Manila started on the 3rd of February when General MacArthur visited the 1st Cav Div. on the 31st of January where they began the advance into Manila traveling over 100 miles within 66 hours. General MacArthur visited the 37th Infantry Division and had them advance into Manila where they arrived on the 4th of February. Although the Japanese were setting up a hasty defense in and around the city, American forces had planned on fighting a well-prepared and formidable adversary. On the 7th of February, the 148th Infantry regiment of the 37th ID began the crossing of the Pasig and were successful due to the smoke screens and the obscuration fires provided by 1st Cav’s artillery. The 37th ID could only advance approximately 300 yards due to intense indirect fires as well as heavy machine gun fire. It was at this time, the 37th ID requested that the restrictions to artillery indirect fires within the city be lifted due to the intense fighting they were involved in. The division received
Christopher Dodd, Curtis Hoard, Jared Cawthon, John Daniels
United States Noncommissioned Officer Academy Advanced Leader Course
The Use of American Artillery in the Battle of Manila
As a group, we decided that Manila was a very interesting battle that incorporated the use of artillery in a manner that had a profound effect on the history of a people, their country, and how the use of artillery fires devastated the Japanese forces in Manila. To begin, we are going to discuss how the United States turned its attention to Manila from the island of Luzon. Secondly, we will go in depth on how the utilization of artillery helped to shape and win the Battle of Manila by completely devasting …show more content…
The objective was to seize the island of Luzon and rescue 800 American prisoners of war being held captive in a prison in Cabanatuan as well as to use the 1st Calvary Division to rescue the 3,766 internees being held at the University of Santo Tomas. Once this was achieved, the American Forces were pushed toward Manila to advance on a withdrawing and retrograding Japanese force that was limited and struggling to hold the capital. The Japanese were not prepared to fight in an urban environment yet alone be able to defend Manila with a mostly untrained and very disorganized force operating with a force of 12,500 naval personnel, 4,500 army personnel, no armor, little artillery, and a limited supply of close combat weapons, most of which were found or taken during previous engagements. The Japanese used 600 machine guns of 7.7mm and other calibers, and sixty 120mm dual-purpose naval guns. The artillery pieces being used by the Japanese ranged from ten 100 and 105mm guns and …show more content…
The 1st Cav. and the 37th ID had trained to fight in an urban environment according to US Army doctrine. American forces had a casualty avoidance policy that made the battle difficult in the fact that no airstrikes were allowed within the perimeter of the city and artillery indirect fires were prohibited except against observed targets known to be enemy positions. The Battle of Manila started on the 3rd of February when General MacArthur visited the 1st Cav Div. on the 31st of January where they began the advance into Manila traveling over 100 miles within 66 hours. General MacArthur visited the 37th Infantry Division and had them advance into Manila where they arrived on the 4th of February. Although the Japanese were setting up a hasty defense in and around the city, American forces had planned on fighting a well-prepared and formidable adversary. On the 7th of February, the 148th Infantry regiment of the 37th ID began the crossing of the Pasig and were successful due to the smoke screens and the obscuration fires provided by 1st Cav’s artillery. The 37th ID could only advance approximately 300 yards due to intense indirect fires as well as heavy machine gun fire. It was at this time, the 37th ID requested that the restrictions to artillery indirect fires within the city be lifted due to the intense fighting they were involved in. The division received