Thread by @pptsapper

Fun fact: all the regimental anti tank companies were pulled out of their divisions in 1941-42 and consolidated into tank destroyer battalions & given the 600-series designation. So, for example, the 603rd Tank Destroyer Bn was composed of the AT pltns of the @3rd_Infantry

https://twitter.com/ThisDayInWWI/status/1388888545947910148

Each division also had a tank company. In 1940, the Army began to strip the tank companies out to form provisional battalions. Two of these, the 192d and 194th, from the OH, WI, IL, KY, and CA National Guard were shipped to the Philippines in September of 1941

Armed with new M3 Stuart light tanks, these units were the first US armor units to see action against enemy armor. In late December, 1941, the battalions engaged Japanese Type 92 tanks near Damortis, Luzon. They continued to support US forces as they fell back towards Bataan

The surviving members of the battalions surrendered on April 9, 1942, along with everyone else on Luzon. They went thru the Bataan Death March, and most were in captivity until 1945 when the US Army recaptured the Philippines.

A sort of touching note is that many of these units' old National Guard parent divisions were the ones retaking Manila: the 37th from Ohio, the 32nd from Wisconsin, the 40th from California, the 33rd from Illinois, for example.

Vengeful parents coming to rescue their own.

Also, this action saw the horse mounted 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) engaged as well. They fought very well against the Japanese invasion, fighting delaying actions. On January 16, 1942, 1LT Edwin Ramsay led Troop G in the last US cavalry charge. It was successful.

Lieutenant Ramsay's older sister became one of the first women to be US Mail pilots, and would ferry fighters and bombers during WWII.

LT Ramsay ended the war with a DSC, Silver Star, and rank of LTC - weighing 93 lbs and malnourished, leading resistance groups

He died in 2013

Cc @acagoldsmith

The Philippine resistance on Luzon was incredible in the period 1942-45. The island was divided into sectors & subsectors, with chains of command for both, with about 260,000 Filipino military, US Army, & civilians in their ranks. They waged guerilla warfare & intel gathering

It's estimated that far more civilians were involved in the resistance, as many were never recognized until the 1990s. They were absolutely instrumental in the capture of the Philippines by the US in 1944-45