63rd Infantry Regiment (PA)

63rd Infantry Regiment (PA)
63rd Infantry Regiment (PA)
Active	December 1941 – May 1942
Disbanded	May 12, 1942
Countries	United States of America; Philippine Commonwealth
Allegiance	United States Army; Philippine Commonwealth Army
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Infantry
Size	1,500
Part of	61st Infantry Division
Garrison/HQ	Cabatuan Barracks, Iloilo
Equipment	M1917 Enfield .30 Caliber Rifles, M1918 Browning .30 Caliber Automatic Rifles, M1917 Browning .30 Caliber Machineguns, 3inch Stokes Mortar
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Lieutenant Colonel Lyle Fritzpatrick; Colonel Carter McClennan
Insignia
Identification; symbol

Last updated September 04, 2024

63rd Infantry Regiment is a reserve unit of Philippine Army activated and organized during World War II. I was organized from reservist and recruits high school and college students around the 6th Military District. It is part of the 61st Infantry Division activated to cover the island of Panay.^[1] The regiment fought entirely in Panay island until it was ordered to surrendered on May 12, 1942.

Background

The regiment was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Albert F. Christie upon its activation in October 1941 in Romblon. However, then Colonel Bradford Chynoweth the newly designated commander of the 61st Infantry Division selected Christie as his division Chief of Staff.^[2] He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Carter McClennan as its commander in late November. It was inducted to USAFFE on November 15, 1941. Training and organization was still on going when World War II in the Philippines started in early December 1941. The regiment was ordered to transfer to Panay Island. The island was subject to aerial bombardment on the day it arrived in Panay, after forces in Luzon retreat in Bataan.

On January 1, 1942, General Sharp ordered General Chynoweth to send 61st and 62nd Infantry regiments and the 61st Field Artillery to Mindanao,^[1] leaving only 63rd Infantry as its combat unit in the island.

Order of Battle

Staff
- CO – LCol. Richard A. Kenney | LCol James Bickerton | LCol Carter McLennan
- XO – Major Richard A. Kenney
- S1 & Adjutant
- S2 Intelligence – 1Lt. Donald A. Amend
- S3 Operations – 1Lt. Adolph Newson Albrecht
- S4 Supply
HQ Battalion – Capt. Julian Chaves
1st Battalion – Capt. Lyton | Capt. Julian Chaves
2nd Battalion – Major James Bickerton | Capt. Munroy
3rd Battalion – Captain Woodroof

Change of Command

In March 1942, General Chynoweth assumed the new command Visayan Force and transferred to Cebu island. Division was passed to Colonel Christie and 63rd Infantry Regiment passed on to Lieutenant Colonel Lyle Fritzpatrick after McClennan was ordered by Chynoweth to transfer to Negros to assume command of the island as Colonel Roger Hilsman health is a suspect and ordered him to moved to Cebu to recuperate.^[3] Later Lieutenant Colonel Richard A. Kenney took over the command.

Operation Baus Au

Commander of 61st Division, General Chynoweth, realizing they could not meet the Japanese at the beaches due to no artillery pieces arrived in the island, implemented Baus Au program which would bring foods, weapons,^[1] and other supplies inland and up to the hills which later he will implement in the entire Visayas islands as he assumed the Visayan Force in March.^[4] 63rd Infantry Regiment was the main unit involved in this operations as cargadores adopting the insignia of carabao sled.^[4]^[1]

Japanese Siege of Panay

After Luzon Force capitulated in Bataan Peninsula, 14th Imperial Japanese Army now has available forces to capture the southern islands of the Philippines. Kawamura detachment was ordered by Homma to secure Panay, with 6 transport and 4 destroyer escorts arrived in Panay on April 16, 1942.^[5] Landed in the three sites of the Panay island Jaro southeast of Panay just south of Iloilo City, Capiz town on the northwest, and in San Jose in Antique province at the west of the island.^[5]

63rd Infantry and other regiments did not opposed these landings but melted inland and waited for the Japanese to go inland where they laid ambuscades resulting to heavy casualties to the Japanese. 63rd also conducted night raids in Iloilo City destroying and burning warehouses where Japanese supplies are stored.^[4] Because of this the Japanese could not penetrate inland of Panay island only concentrated their forces at the coast town and Iloilo City.

Surrender

On May 12, 1942, Colonel Alberto F. Christie surrendered the Panay Garrison as ordered by Major General William F. Sharp commander of reconstituted Visayas-Mindanao Force due to no communication of Visayan Force HQ.^[6] Only handful of his men surrendered and the rest opted to stay in the mountains and continue the fight as guerillas.

Related Research Articles

The 61st Division of the Philippine Army was an infantry division from the 1941 to 1942.

The 81st Infantry Division was a reserve division of the Philippine Army under the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). It was established in the prewar period and fought 1941–1942. Its troops are from Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte but most of its troops are Americans and junior officers are Filipinos coming mostly from Luzon. The division served in defense of Mindanao but it never commanded the 4 of its maneuver regiments but was supplemented with 61st Infantry from Panay and 73rd Infantry from Negros. Also, 2nd Regular Regiment was transferred to its command in the early part of Japanese invasion of Mindanao.

The 102nd Infantry Division was a division of the Philippine Army under the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE).

Visayas-Mindanao Force was a military formation created in November 1941 to command all soldiers of US Army, US Philippine Scouts, Philippine Army, and Philippine Constabulary in the southern islands of the Philippines. Colonel William F. Sharp was appointed as commanding general and was promoted to Brigadier General in November 1941 and later Major General. His executive officer is Major Howard Edmands. He was just starting to organize his command and train his soldiers into a fighting unit when the war started on December 7, 1941.

Visayan Force is a US Forces in the Philippines subcommand which was created and took effect on March 17, 1942, after General Douglas MacArthur departed for Australia. It was disintegrated in the month after its creation due to the loss of contact of Visayan Force headquarters during the Japanese invasion of Cebu in April 16 to 19, 1942, it resorted to guerilla warfare. Eventually all forces in the Visayas was ordered to surrender on May 11, 1942.

82nd Infantry Regiment is a unit activated by the Philippine Commonwealth Army for the defense of the Philippine during World War II. It defended the Cebu Island particularly in the southern part of Cebu during the Japanese landings in Cebu island on April 16, 1942. It surrendered on May 12, 1942, after it was ordered by Visayas-Mindanao Force commander General Sharp to surrender.

Cebu Brigade is a military unit and formation organized in January 1942 by Visayas-Mindanao Force to defend the island of Cebu after ordering 81st Infantry Division Headquarters moved to Mindanao to bolster its defenses. USAFFE and later USFIP saw the island vital for the transport of the supplies to Bataan and Corregidor. Colonel Irvine Scudder was appointed as its commander until its surrender to Japanese.

Negros Force was activated by USAFFE on September 1, 1941, to May 12, 1942. The force did not fought during the war but played in organizing units deployed to different sector. The force also continued to fight as a guerilla after the surrender. Although the two provinces was never united due to different affiliation of the commanders.

62nd Infantry Regiment was Philippine Army Reserve unit activated in November 1941 in Panay Island. It was organized from the Army reservist in that area with officers mostly coming from Luzon and Americans. I was based and trained in Cabatuan, Iloilo and was placed as part of 61st Infantry Division activated on November 1, 1941, in preparation for Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) is a unified command in the Philippines during World War II. It was the successor to the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) which General Douglas MacArthur commanded. He moved to Australia as he evacuated as ordered by President Roosevelt in March 1942. The command only lasted two months as it surrendered by Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright to Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu commander of 14th Army of the Imperial Japanese Army.

On April 14, 1942 Kawaguchi Detachment who just landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan intended as reinforcement of the 14th Imperial Japanese Army to finally subdue Philippine-American forces in Bataan. However, General King surrendered days earlier before they arrived. Instead, General Homma Masaharu commander of 14th Army ordered them south to secure Cebu island in the Visayas intended as launching place for invasion of Mindanao after it is secured.

Japanese invasion of Panay on April 16–18, 1942 was the second landing in the Visayas Islands after Fil-American forces surrendered in Bataan on April 9, 1942. It is the next step to prevent any supplies reach Corregidor Island and control the Visayas waters and established bases for the campaign to invade island of Mindanao to complete the invasion of the Philippines.

83rd Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Army is a reserve unit activated and organized in late 1941 few months before WW II commenced in the Philippines. It fought in Cebu Island during Japanese landings in April 1942 but ordered surrendered in May 1942. It was disbanded after all soldiers were POWs but some escaped and joined the guerilla movement in Cebu.

75th (Provisional) Infantry Regiment was a reserve unit of Philippine Commonwealth Army activated under Negros Force in January 1942. It saw no action as it was disbanded in May 1942 after it surrendered to Japanese during World War II. Most of its soldiers escaped and joined guerilla movement organized by Major Salvador Abcede.

Leyte Force is a brigade size unit that was organized in Leyte Island in the Philippines during World War II. It was commanded by Colonel Theodore Cornell of US Army until its surrender in May 1942 upon orders of General William Sharp commander of Visayas-Mindanao Force.

61st Field Artillery Regiment was a reserve unit of Philippine Army activated in August 1941 as part of 61st Infantry Division based in Panay Island. It fought as infantry as the SS Corregidor, the ship transporting their guns, was sunk when it hit a landmine in Manila Bay.

Bohol Force was an island garrison force on Bohol during World War II. The island is centrally located in southern Visayas, making it strategically important due to its proximity to Cebu, Leyte, and Mindanao.

Samar-Leyte Force is garrison during World War II in the Philippines, the main objective is to prevent any invasion of the Japanese for the islands of Samar and Leyte located in the eastern Visayas Islands. The Garrison was not able to see action directly but provided troops to Luzon and Mindanao fronts. The Japanese did not land until the US Forces Philippines surrendered in May 1942. However, the sector was the highest guerilla activity in the entire country after the surrender.

64th Infantry Regiment, is a provisional unit of Philippine Commonwealth Army under 61st Infantry Division activated and organized in Panay Island. It fought the Japanese invaders in the island from April 18, 1942, to May 12, 1942, after ordered to surrender by Visayas-Mindanao Force commander Major General William F. Sharp.

65th Infantry (Provisional) Regiment, is a reserve unit of Philippine Commonwealth Army under 61st Infantry Division to cover Panay Island. It was organized entirely with trainees and recruits from Panay Island. It fought during the Invasion of the Japanese of Panay Island and resorted to guerilla warfare after the 61st Division surrendered on May 16, 1942.

References

1 2 3 4 Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office (published June 26, 1952). pp. 502–503.
↑ Tarkington, Hiram. There Were Others (PDF). p. 57.
↑ Segura, Manuel (November 1941 – October 1945). Tabunan (1st ed.). Cebu City, Philippines: M.F. Segura Publications (published May 1975). pp. 10–20.
1 2 3 Tarkington, Hiram. There were others (PDF). p. 47.
1 2 Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office (published June 26, 1953). p. 506.
↑ Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Press (published June 26, 1952). pp. 574–582.

External links

There were others, unpublished papers of Colonel Hiram Tarkington, CO 61st Field Artillery
Unpublished papers of Colonel Carter McLennan CO 63rd Infantry, Negros Force

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office (published June 26, 1952). pp. 502–503.

[2] Tarkington, Hiram. There Were Others (PDF). p. 57.

[3] Segura, Manuel (November 1941 – October 1945). Tabunan (1st ed.). Cebu City, Philippines: M.F. Segura Publications (published May 1975). pp. 10–20.

[:1-4] 1 2 3 Tarkington, Hiram. There were others (PDF). p. 47.

[:2-5] 1 2 Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office (published June 26, 1953). p. 506.

[6] Morton, Louis (November 1, 1941 – May 12, 1942). The Fall of the Philippines (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Press (published June 26, 1952). pp. 574–582.

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