31st Infantry Regiment in the Phillipines

IMO what the troops lacked in supplies and ammunition they made up with dedication, bravery and sense of duty.


The 31st Infantry Regiment Gives Its All in the Philippines
By John W. Whitman

The Japanese launched their main invasion of the Philippines on December 22, 1941. The American air forces in the islands had already been destroyed, and the U.S. Navy was completely out of the picture. Only the newly mobilized and poorly equipped Philippine Army stood in the way of the Japanese. General Douglas MacArthur's army had begun training only four months earlier and was completely unprepared to fight the Japanese.

When the Japanese Fourteenth Army came ashore at Lingayen Gulf, MacArthur's beach defense troops, composed solely of recently drafted Philippine Army soldiers, collapsed. After two days of fighting and delaying actions near the beaches, MacArthur decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.
His army fought a series of delaying actions as they withdrew south toward Bataan. The poorly trained Philippine Army soldiers held in some places but fled in others. The elite Philippine Scout 26th Cavalry, American light tanks, and Filipino and Scout artillery were the only units that could successfully fight the Japanese. Because the Japanese were more concerned with capturing Manila, they sent only modest forces against the Philippine Army as it entered Bataan.

The Americans would keep the Japanese out of the peninsula for as long as they could. Any time gained would be put to good use by divisions of Filipinos and Americans as they dug in on their new lines. The only real hope of delaying the Japanese was to position the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment directly in their path.

The 31st Infantry went on line at Layac, with Philippine Army soldiers on its right and the 26th Cavalry on its left. There, at the northern approaches to Bataan, American infantrymen would first face the Japanese.

Subsequently, the 31st fought at the Abucay hacienda, where it launched a counterattack against a Japanese penetration of the II Philippine Corps' left flank. The regiment fought grimly for eight days but could only blunt the Japanese advance. Nothing the American infantrymen tried could evict the determined Japanese 65th Brigade. When MacArthur realized the American counterattack had failed, he decided to withdraw the entire army to its reserve battle position.

The 31st Infantry remained in reserve through February and March 1942, suffering continuously from starvation and sickness. The men were called upon one last time in early April to counterattack Japanese penetrations of Filipino lines. The Americans were now so weak that many could not make the march into combat. The starving men cautiously probed into the Japanese advance force and stalled the enemy for a short time. With only 800 men remaining and both flanks open and threatened, the regiment was forced to retreat, leaving only small groups of men to fight the last, hopeless delaying actions. The Japanese pushed to the southern reaches of Bataan.

By the time Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942, the 31st Infantry had been destroyed. It had, however, fought to the last and had sustained its motto, Pro Patria (for country).

http://www.historynet.com/wwii/bl31regimentgivesitsall/
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Since the 26th Cavalry was mentioned, I recall reading that this unit made the last mounted US cavalry charge. It was just a once sentence mention during a narrative of the Battle of Bataan. The charge was made to take back a position taken by the Japanese.

 

My dad served in Korea during the war, with the 17th Infantry. One of his company commanders was in the 31st Infantry as a company commander during the PI Campaign. He survived the defence of Bataan, the ensuing Bataan Death March and captivity for the duration of the war. He stayed in the army after the war since he was nearing retirement. One of his wishes was to command an infantry company once again before retiring. Fortunately, he survived Korea too, retired and went home.

 

They were also know as the "Thirsty first" Regimental flag in the P. I.

They were America's "Foreign Legion" as they never served in the US.
The only US Infantry regiment stationed in the P.I. before the start of the war for the USA.




31st Infantry band ( All Filipino) , Santa Lucia, Intramuros, 1931​

 

During the first week after the Japanese landing a squadron of cavalry probed to locate the advancing Japanese. A mounted platoon spotted a group of Japanese halted adjacent to a stream & preparing food. Realizing he had suprise the Lt commanding sent a messenger off to alert the other cavalry and ordered a imeadiate charge. His troopers charged across the stream firing galloped thru the Japanese killing some and sending the remainder scrambling in disorder. Halting the US cavalrymen dismounted and exchanged fire with the Japanese survivors, and the reinforments from other small Japanese groups nearby. The other troopers of the squadron advance to the sound of the guns and general fire fight ensued along the stream and amoung the patches of trees and buildings nearby. Eventually the US cavalry withdrew.

 

According to his book, "Lieutenant Ramsey's War", Edwin P. Ramsey was the commanding officer of the cavalry detachment that made the charge.