65th Infantry Regiment (PA)

65th Infantry (Provisional) Regiment (PA)
65th Infantry (Provisional) Regiment (PA)
Active	January 1942 - May 1942
Disbanded	May 16, 1942
Country	Commonwealth of the Philippines
Allegiance	United States Army; Philippine Commonwealth Army
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Light Infantry
Size	1,000 ~ 1,500
Part of	61st Infantry Division
Garrison/HQ	Cabatuan, Iloilo
Equipment	M1917 Enfield Rifles, M1923 Thompson Submachineguns, Bolo
Engagements	Japanese Invasion of Panay
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Lieutenant Colonel Leopoldo Relunia ; LCol Juan C. Quimbo ; LCol. Amos Francia ; LCol Grino

Last updated September 07, 2024

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.

Background

After General Sharp moved his headquarters in Mindanao, he ordered bulked of his units to Mindanao as well. 61st Division units was ordered to released 61st Infantry under Colonel Mitchell based in Negros, 62nd Infantry under Colonel Thayer, and 61st Field Artillery under Colonel Tarkington and transfer to Mindanao via Negros. This leaving only one regiment in the island, General Bradford Chynoweth commander of 61st Division without delay, organized 2 new regiments out from trainees and new recruits in the island.^[1]

Initially it was named 61st Provisional Infantry and 62nd Provisional Infantry to replace the previous regiments who left the island. However, in order not to create confusion it was renamed to 65th Infantry (Provisional) initially under Lieutenant Colonel Juan Quimbo former Division Chief of Staff,. After reorganization of the division brought Lieutenant Amos Francia.^[1]

The regiment participated in the Operation Baus Au initiated by General Chynoweth before he was ordered to assumed command of the new Visayas Force base in Cebu.^[1] The command of the island was passed on to Colonel Albert Christie as commander of Panay Force and 61st Infantry Division.^[2]^[1]

Japanese Invasion

On April 18, 1942, two days after the Kawaguchi Detachment invaded Cebu, the Kawamura detachment invaded Panay in three different landing zones. 64th Infantry was assigned to Antique Province to thwart any Japanese landings but Naval and Air bombardment prevented them to do so due to absence of a single artillery gun in the Island. They retreated inland and resorted to ambuscades and raids to Japanese warehouses inflicting heavy casualties to the Japanese. However, this did not prevent Kawamura Detachment turnover Panay to 10th Independent Garrison to leave for Mindanao.^[2]

On May 11, 1942, order came from Mindanao to surrender at daybreak, Lieutenant Colonel Allen Thayer a representative from General Sharp from Visayas-Mindanao Force Headquarters in Mindanao to enforce the order. On May 12, 1942, Colonel Christie surrendered his Division to the Japanese forces in Cabatuan, Iloilo. Lieutenant Colonel Leopoldo Relunia commander of 61st Engineers and concurrent commander of 65th Provisional Infantry, continued the fight together with Macario Peralta Jr as commander of the island known as Free Panay Guerilla Forces.^[3]

Related Research Articles

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

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.

Mindanao Force is a corps size military unit defending the island of Mindanao the second largest Island of the Philippines from March 17, 1942, to its surrender on May 9, 1942. The force was already created when the Visayas-Mindanao Force was split into two in March 1942. It was initiated in February 1942 in the headquarters of US Army Forces in the Far East but took effect when General Douglas MacArthur departed for Australia on March 17, 1942.

61st Infantry Regiment was a military unit and formation of the Philippine Army, activated in August 1941 in Panay Island. It is under the command of 61st Infantry Division. The regiment collapsed in May 1942 with its commanding officer captured by the Japanese Army in Lanao.

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.

94th Provisional Infantry Regiment is a territorial defense organized by Colonel Theodore Cornell to defend the island of Leyte in 1942. On September 1, 1941, 91st Infantry Division under Colonel Luther R. Stevens, PA was ordered to moved to Luzon island to bolster the defense of the main island of the Philippines. The only remaining combat unit was 93rd Infantry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Ben-Hur Chastaine which was still organizing. To bolster is defense Visayas-Mindanao Force commander ordered 81st Infantry Division commander then Colonel Guy O. Fort to transfer 81st Infantry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Ruperto Kangleon to Samar. The 81st Infantry Regiment and 93rd Infantry comprises now the Samar Brigade under the command of Colonel Ben-Hur Chastaine.

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.

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. The regiment fought entirely in Panay island until it was ordered to surrendered on May 12, 1942.

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.

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.

Hiram Wendell Tarkington was a Colonel in United States Army known for commanding 61st Field Artillery Regiment of the Philippine Army from November 1941 to May 1942. He was captured and became POW after the surrender of US Forces in the Philippines. He was imprisoned in Mukden, Manchuria in 1942 and released in 1945.

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.

References

1 2 3 4 Tarkington, Hiram (November 1941 – May 1942). There Where Others (PDF). pp. 50–53.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
1 2 Morton, Louis (1953). The Fall of the Philippines, November 1941 – May 1942 (1st ed.). Washington, D.C: US Government Printing Press (published June 26, 1953). pp. 502–503.
↑ 10 surviving WWII veterans in Panay to be honored | Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

External links

There Were Others, Unpublished Papers of Colonel Hiram Tarkington, CO 61st Field Artillery
The Fall of the Philippines, by Louis Morton
A Brief History of 61st Infantry Division, Philippine Army

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 Tarkington, Hiram (November 1941 – May 1942). There Where Others (PDF). pp. 50–53.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)

[:1-2] 1 2 Morton, Louis (1953). The Fall of the Philippines, November 1941 – May 1942 (1st ed.). Washington, D.C: US Government Printing Press (published June 26, 1953). pp. 502–503.

[3] 10 surviving WWII veterans in Panay to be honored | Philippine News Agency (pna.gov.ph)

[1]

[2]

[3]