9 January 1945
U.S. Forces Land on Luzon
The unexpectedly stiff resistance encountered by U.S. troops on Leyte caused MacArthur to push back his planned invasion of Luzon to early January 1945. This would be a far more difficult operation, as 250,000 Japanese troops controlled the island. At the same time, thanks to the crushing victory at Leyte Gulf (location #29), the defenders were cut off from any hope of resupply or reinforcement, while American forces had the additional advantages of complete air and naval superiority in the area.

The first landings on Luzon occurred at Lingayen Gulf, on the northwest side of the island, and additional landings took place in the following weeks at various locations along the western and southern coasts. On March 3 Manila, the Philippine capital, was liberated in an operation that cost 6,500 American casualties—but which also saw the deaths of 100,000 Filipinos, many of them civilians slaughtered by the Japanese.

Combat in the Philippines continued until the end of the war; however, by the end of March Luzon was clearly in Allied hands, and attention shifted to operations further north—and closer to Japan.

History:
Luzon

Campaign Maps:
Reconquest of the Philippines, 1945
Invasion of Luzon and the Advance to Manila, 1945
The Luzon Campaign, 1945

Personal Accounts:
Oral Histories: Luzon Operation
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Robert D. MacDougall
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Morton Rosenberg

Photographs:
The gun crews of a Navy cruiser covering American landing on the island of Mindoro, Dec. 15, 1944, scan the skies in an effort to identify a plane overhead
A line of Coast Guard landing barges, sweeping through the waters of Lingayen Gulf, carries the first wave of invaders to the beaches of Luzon
Veteran Artillery men of the `C' Battery, 90th Field Artillery, lay down a murderous barrage on troublesome Jap artillery positions in Balete Pass, Luzon