California Militia
and National Guard Unit Histories
The 40th Infantry
Division and the Battle of Storm King Mountain
by Rhonie Dela
Cruz
Bamban Historical Society/Bamban Museum of History
At the edge of the Storm
King Mountain (an old name given by the Americans in early 1910
to the Monikayo Mountain), lies the promontory of Lagare; part
of the ancestral domain of the Ayta Mag-Antsi tribe belonging
to the Ramos, Sison and other clans. With the Japanese occupation
in WWII, a plan was outlined by the headquarters of the Japanese
14th Area Army for the defense of Clark Field with the fortifications
of the Bamban Mountains by constructing series of tunnel defenses
on the slopes of the many ridges and hills. General Tomoyuki
Yamashita designated Major General Rikichi Tsukada of the 1st
Raiding Group as the commander of all Japanese Army and Navy
units in Clark-Bamban areas in December 1944. The tasks of setting
up the positions at Clark and Bamban Mountains including the
tunnel fortifications were expedited with the arrival of General
Tsukada in January 10, 1945 in the area to take command of the
Kembu Group, the unit designation given by the 14th Area Army.
The Pine-Tree
Hill Matsuyama
The center force of the
Kembu Group was located in Storm King Mountain the Kembu troops
called Matsuyama, the hill-mass overlooking the Bamban River
and the vast expanse of the airfields of Clark. Several Army
units and a naval guard unit were posted on the entrance to the
middle of the hill-mass. On the western end of Matsuyama, the
Takaya Shitai was holed in position led by Col. Jisaburo Takaya
of the 2nd Glider Regiment (paratroopers), 1st Raiding Group.
Numbering around 750 men, they were the best of the Kembu Group
forces in Bamban Hills and heavily fortified the jungle covered
promontory of Lagare with many foxholes, rifle pits, trenches,
machinegun positions and tunnels. The defense position on top
of Lagare promontory was further enhanced with 70mm field piece,
90mm mortars, light and heavy machine gun and machine cannons
with the 2nd Company (reinforced) of the 2nd Glider Regiment
occupying the various positions.
Battle of
Storm King Mountain
The 3rd Battalion, 160th
Infantry Regiment 40th Division was already employing tactical
advance to the Storm King on the last days of January 1945, clearing
Monikayo with the K and L companies after heavy fighting with
the Okamoto Butai and the naval guard unit. The 3rd Battalion
was heavily supported by the M-4 Sherman Tanks of the 754th Tank
Battalion, the M-10 “Wolverine” of the 637th and 640th
Tank Destroyer Battalions and the M-7 “Priest” howitzer
tank of the Cannon unit attached to the 40th Division in Bamban.
The 222nd Field Artillery, 40th Division provided the 105mm howitzers
in support of the operation at Matsuyama. Captured Japanese Type
10 120mm dual-purpose guns at Clark Field were also utilized
for the operation to destroy Takaya position.
The Last Banzai Suicidal
Attack on Matsuyama Promontory
By the first week of February,
intense fighting between the Japanese Takaya defenders and he
160th Regiment ensued with the advance of the American troops
on the top of the hill-mass. Artillery fires and aerial bombardments
from the US 5th Air Force engulfed the heavy fortifications on
top of the promontory, proceeded by the advance of the 3rd Battalion.
By early February 1945, American troops from the 160th Infantry
were holding positions on top of Matsuyama. The only remaining
Japanese forces from Takaya Shitai were holed on the edge of
the promontory of Lagare. On February 6, 1945, the last of the
Takaya defenders charged the 3rd Battalion, 160th Regiment in
a night suicidal (banzai) attacks, resulting in the 225 Japanese
dead on that 300 meters length and 100 meters wide promontory.
Remnants of the Takaya Shitai retreated to Kalapi area covered
by the Kembu naval last stand position.
Revisiting
the Graves of the War Dead
Seventy-five years after
the war ended in 1945, the Battlefield Recon Team of the Bamban
Historical Society aided by the Ayta Scouts conduced site investigation
and field study of the Matsuyama and the Lagare Promontory, site
of the fiercest battle in Bamban Hills 1945. The once, wooded
and jungle-covered promontory is now devoid of any large trees.
The pine trees that were on the northern edge are also gone.
The name Matsuyama given by the Japanese during the war actually
literally means Pine tree (matsu) forest (yama). On the southwestern
edge of the promontory, we descended for about 50 meters and
located a tunnel used by the Takaya Shitai. Here, the descent
is stiff, as the steep cliff is covered with “buhu”
or bulu bamboo and intense vegetation, much like during the battle
in 1945.
S/Sgt Greer
and Masao Makihara
One American soldier from
the 160th Infantry, S/Sgt. Robert Lyle Greer died in Matsuyama
area in January 30, 1945 during the battle at Grenade Hill. Masao
Makihara, a Japanese soldier from Unit 9306 and posted at the
Matsuyama sector in January 1945 was killed during the fighting
at the promontory. Her granddaughter, Ayako Hasegawa visited
Bamban Museum two years ago and brought many photos of Makihara
that were sent to her family in Japan in late 1944. Several of
the photos of Makihara donated by his granddaughter Ayako are
now in permanent display at the Bamban Museum. We brought the
photos of S/Sgt Greer and Masao Makihara to the Lagare Promontory
and lighted candles for the repose of souls of all those who
died in the tragic battle at Matsuyama in 1945. S/Sgt. Greer
remains were recovered in 1945 but the remains of Masao Makihara
were never recovered even to this day.
May they all rest in eternal
peace.
References:
(1) The 40th Division - The Years of WWII. Nashville, Tennessee:
The Battery Press, Inc., 1995.
(2) Mc Creedy, William Ward. Sunburst Saga – Stories from
the 160th Infantry Regiment. Kentucky: The Bishop’s Press,
1947.
(3) Smith, Robert Ross. United States Army in WWII - The War
in the Pacific, "Triumph in the Philippines". Washington
DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the
Army.
(4) Okada, Yasuji (Colonel, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Kembu
Group). Japanese Monograph No. 9. "Outline of the Kembu
Group Operation - Clark Sector, Record of the Philippine Operations
Record of the Philippine Operation Vol. III Part 3". First
Demobilization Bureau, November 1946.
(5) Akamatsu, Shinjo. Diary of the Last Man Standing - An Epitaph
for the 42,000 Japanese Killed in Clark Area. translated by Hitoshi
Arai. Tokyo, Japan: Kojinsha, 1973.
(6) Hasegawa, Ayako (granddaughter of Masao Makihara). Personal
interview. Bamban Museum, Bamban Tarlac. October 8, 2017.
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