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Nicole Summers, MMFN
to remember
Branchaud, Fred Ervin, MM1.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Brainerd, MN
Casualty Date Nov 17, 1942
Cause MIA-Died in Captivity
Reason Illness, Disease
Location China
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)/Battle of Bataan
Location of Interment Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Philippines Campaign (Filipino:Labanan sa Pilipinas (1941–1942)) or the Battle of the Philippines was the invasion of the Philippines by Japan in 1941–1942 and the defense of the islands by Filipino and United States forces.
The defending forces outnumbered the Japanese invaders by 3 to 2, but were a mixed force of non-combat experienced regular, national guard, constabulary, and newly created Commonwealth units; the Japanese used their best first-line troops at the outset of the campaign. The Japanese 14th Army also concentrated its forces in the first month of the campaign, enabling it to swiftly overrun most of Luzon.
The Japanese high command, believing they had won the campaign, made a strategic decision to advance by a month their timetable of operations in Borneo and Indonesia, withdrawing their best division and the bulk of their airpower in early January 1942. This, coupled with the decision of the defenders to withdraw into a defensive holding position in the Bataan Peninsula, enabled the Americans and Filipinos to successfully hold out for four more months.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories After the fall of Bataan, Pigeonā??s crew spent the days on shore and returned to their ship for night operations that included dumping Philippine currency in the channel south of Corregidor. She continued to serve until the afternoon of 4 May 1942 when a bomb from a dive bomber exploded on her starboard quarter. She sank in eight minutes but her crew was on shore.
The Japanese later captured these brave sailors but many survived the war.
Lt. Comdr. Frank Alfred Davis carried on the fighting tradition and valor of his command while interned at the infamous prisoner-of-war camp at Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands. He built a powerful underground organization to obtain food, medicines and communications of all kinds. He volunteered for command of a firewood detail, and despite the constant surveillance of Japanese guards, succeeded in smuggling into camp tremendous amounts of food and other necessities to his fellow prisoners. His great personal valor and grave concern for others at a great risk to his own life contributed to the welfare and morale of all prisoners on Luzon and saved countless lives before he died 14 December 1944. Lt. Comdr. Davis received the Navy Cross for his intrepid fight on Canopus and Pigeon and was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit for his courageous and dedicated service to fellow prisoners.
