1st Philippine Army (Regular) Infantry Division
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Note 1: Do not let the designation “Regular” fool you. This division was formed in December 1941 from officer cadets, retired Philippine scouts, and odds and ends.
The Components of the 1st Division came into existence with the formation of the Philippine Army (in 1936). The original authorized strength of the Philippine Army was 10,000 men including the Philippine Constabulary. The Constabulary had been long established, had combat experience and a decent military structure, and an authorized strength of 6,000 men. The remainder of the 10,000 authorized personnel were used by the Philippine Army to establish necessary institutions, form cadres for most units, and to create one standing unit - an Infantry Battalion stationed in Manila and used more for parades and formal guards than combat training.
From it's very inception, the "regular" army was responsible for the training of reservists. This training consumed most of the personnel. Military Academy, Air Force, Off Shore Patrol, Staff College, cadres, supply depots and armory all ate up personnel, leaving virtually nothing for active combat units.
Prior to federalization, the 1st Division consisted of:
1st Regiment: HQ en cadre, 1st Battalion active duty in Manila
2nd Regiment: en cadre on Mindanao (where Moro separatists were a threat).
3rd Regiment and supporting artillery, medical, engineer units existed only on paper, with a few clerks.
The 2nd Regiment remained on Mindanao by design and filled out with newly reporting reservists.
2d Philippine Army (Regular) Infantry Division (PC) – Brig. Gen. Guillermo B. Francisco
This division existed only on paper as a wartime contingency formation. The Philippine Constabulary was dispersed in local garrisons of primarily company and battalion sized units. The units earmarked for the 1st and 2nd regiments were on Luzon, those for the 3rd Regiment on Mindanao. In addition, there were a number of scattered units that were not pre-allocated to any regiment. These were mostly small or remote units of Company size and sometimes smaller. Note that Constabulary Companies were in place at both Aparri and Vigan (along with Company L, 2nd/11th Philippine Army at Aparri) and the first Philippine Army casualties were Constabulary Troops from these units (Company L withdrawing without engaging).
The 4th PC Regiment was formed on Luzon after war began, using unassigned small garrison units and various administrative personnel (and probably reporting reservists). The 3rd PC Regiment remained on Mindanao. The strategy was to abandon the Visayas and hold central Luzon and northern Mindanao – the latter as a springboard for relief/reinforcement of the main units on Luzon.
Philippine Division – 10,233 total (incl 517 officers, 1807 Americans, and 7909 Philippine Scouts)
26th Cavalry – 55 officers and 787 enlisted men
43d Infantry Regiment (PS) – 328 officers and enlisted men (see 91st PA Division)
Neither the 26th Cavalry (PS) nor the 43rd Infantry (PS) were part of the Philippine Division. There was another regiment – 49th Infantry (PS) that was officially assigned to the Philippine Division when it was square. The 49th Infantry, it’s supporting Field Artillery Battalion (2nd/23rd PS) and the 24th Brigade HQ were inactive, leaving the Philippine Division effectively a triangular Division. The 86th Field Artillery Regiment (PS), inactive at time point, would also have been assigned to a square Philippine Division.
Philippine Scouts manned the artillery and Engineer Regiments of the Philippine Division, along with various independent Coast and Field Artillery units. There were also under strength battalions stationed at Baguio, Luzon and Zamboanga, Mindanao. Baguio was the site of the Philippine Government summer Capital, along with multiple installations of both the US and Philippine Armies. Zamboanga was the site of a long-standing US post deep in Moro Country. The troops for these garrisons were the 1st Battalion, 45th Infantry (PS), which were detached from the Philippine Division. When the legal limit for Philippine Scouts was raised to 12,000 (1940), these troops were detached from the 45th and used to create the 43rd (a new 1st/45th was formed). The 43rd PS was never more than an administrative unit, controlling two widely dispersed battalions, each of an minimal battalion headquarters and two companies (which still used the old 85 man OOB). The unit on Mindanao (2nd Battalion with C and E Companies) was heavily used in training Philippine Army units.
Note that the 86th Field Artillery REGIMENT did not exist. The 86th Regiment was inactive between the wars, the number being reserved for the Philippine Scouts. However, when it was finally ordered to be formed, the US Army was in the process of disbanding Field Artillery Regiments and creating stand-alone Field Artillery Battalions. This had been completed for all regular army units, although most National Guard units were still in Regimental form. Therefore, the unit formed was the 86th Field Artillery Battalion.
Visayas and Mindanao
The units of the 6th thru 9th Military Districts were ordered from the Visayas to Luzon (7th and 9th Districts) and Mindanao (6th and 8th Districts). This movement began pre-war and continued as long as possible. One regiment each of the 61st, 71st and 91st Divisions and two regiments of the 81st Division were not able to make the move. The two regiments of the 71st and 91st Divisions that did not move to Luzon went to Mindanao instead.
The campaign in Luzon gave breathing space to the Visayas and Mindanao Commands. Considerable reorganization was done to units there. Can’t give exact details without digging out the books, but in general:
6th Military District rebuilt the 61st Division, using the one regiment that did not go to Mindanao (63rd) and the newly recruited 64th and 65th Regiments.
8th Military District retained two regiments and build provisional units from Constabulary Troops and reporting reservists.
10th Military District reorganized the 101st Division to replace the barely formed 103th Regiment with slightly better trained units from the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Districts. The 103th, other units from the other districts, and several newly formed 10th District units were used to form the 102nd Division.
7th and 9th Districts had only provisional units and some small constabulary garrisons.
Other Regular US Army Units.
The provisional Tank group was a temporary organization consisting of the 192nd and 194th (-) Light Tank Battalions and the 17th Ordnance Company. A battalion of medium tanks (probably 70th) was scheduled to join them to form a complete armored regiment. Since the 192nd had four companies and the 194th only two, Company D/192nd may have been transferred to the 194th to balance the battalions. The missing company of the 194th was “B” Company (ex 35th Tank Company, Missouri National Guard), which was sent to Alaska and eventually became the 602nd Independent Tank Company.
200th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA) was newly stationed at Clark Field for anti-aircraft defense. There were only a few MGs defending airfields in and around Manila. About mid December, a battalion of the 200th was detached to form the Provisional AA Regiment. This unit was fleshed out with available personnel and guns that had been stored in armories and sent to defend Manila. It was later designated 515th CA(AA).
4th Marines had been withdrawn from China just before the war began. This unit had been significantly reduced by attrition as replacements had been held up in the Philippines for some time (long story). The replacements were used to form the 1st Separate Battalion, USMC, which manned AA defenses at Cavite. The 4th Regiment, 1st Separate Battalion, Cavite and Subic Bay Marine Barracks, and infantry units formed from naval and air corps troops eventually formed the oversized 4th Marines.
803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, at Clark Field, eventually withdrew to Bataan, where it did amazing work expanding airfield facilities.
Provisional Units.
A number of provisional units were formed, as listed in the post above. Some of these were pre-planned Corps troops but most were ad-hoc formations created to use available resources.
The Provisional Field Artillery Group was formed to utilize the 50 half-track mounted 75mm Anti-Tank guns that had just arrived in the Philippines but had not been allocated. The unit had Regular US Army, Philippine Scout, and Philippine Army troops. It also used some of the Bren Carriers enroute to Hong Kong aboard the Don Jose but taken over when that ship sought refuge in Manila Bay (others went to the Provisional Tank Group).
301st Field Artillery was a unit of the Philippine Army, formed to utilize 155mm Coast Defense guns that had been sent to the Philippines to create coastal batteries in various southern Luzan passages and in the Visayas. When war began, only two of these guns had been emplaced (in southern Batangas). These were withdrawn to Bataan and the remaining guns evacuated there from armories. Two 155mm Howitzers from Fort Wint (Grande Island, Subic Bay) were withdrawn when that post was evacuated and were added to the 155mm GPFs to form the 301st.
301st Engineers. A unit formed using a large number of professional miners that had withdrawn into Bataan. Many of these men were World War I veterans or Philippine Army reservists. Available personnel were added to flesh out the regiment. This regiment did outstanding work in fortifying Bataan.
201st Engineer Battalion. A pre-planned corps unit of the Philippine Army. May have been en cadre when war began.
202nd Engineer Battalion. Less sure about this unit. It appears to have been formed but may have been immediately disbanded due to lack of equipment.
14th Infantry (Philippine Army). A provisional unit formed in North Luzon from cut off detachments of the 11th Division (mostly 1st Battalion) and newly reporting reservists. Officially disbanded upon surrender but most personnel became part of guerilla organizations.
The Philippine Army used a distinct numbering system.
Single Digit units numbers were reserved for the Regular Army.
Unit Numbers 11 thru 109 were reserved for reserve units of Military Districts
Unit Numbers in the 200 range were reserved for corps level units
Unit Numbers in the 300 range were reserved for army level units.
The full mobilization plan called for each military district to three division. The district number was used with each unit, so the first division formed in the 3rd Military District would be the 31st Division (with 31st, 32nd, 33rd Regiments). The second would be the 32nd Division (34th, 35th, 36th Regiments) and the third the 33rd Division (37th, 38th, and 39th Regiments). Some creativity would have been required had more reserve divisions been formed.
