Attack on Clark Field

Attack on Clark Field
Part of the Asia and the Pacific Theater of World War II
Date8 December 1941
Location
Clark Field, Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines
Result Japanese victory
Belligerents

 United States

 Japan
Commanders and leaders
Douglas MacArthur
Lewis H. Brereton
Commonwealth of the Philippines Manuel L. Quezon
Commonwealth of the Philippines Basilio J. Valdez		 Empire of Japan Nishizō Tsukahara
Strength
35 bombers
117 fighters
~155 older aircraft
15,000 U.S. & Filipino troops		 108 bombers
84 fighters
Casualties and losses
12 B-17
40 P-40
~50 older aircraft
80 killed
150 wounded		 7 aircraft shot down

The attack on Clark Field (Filipino: Paglusob sa Kampo ng Clark; Kapampangan: Atake king Kampo ning Clark) was part of a series of morning airstrikes on United States Pacific island military bases opening Japanese participation in World War II. The attack was intended to minimize interference from the Far East Air Force (FEAF) during the subsequent invasion of the Philippines by the Empire of Japan. Capture of the Philippines was essential to control shipping routes between Japan and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Hostilities were initiated by the attack on Pearl Harbor at 07:48 Hawaiian Time (UTC−10:30) on 7 December 1941.[1]

At the same time as the attack on Clark field, a smaller fighter base at Iba in Luzon was also bombed.[2]

As dawn moved westward across the Pacific (and the International Date Line), daylight airstrikes followed at mid-day (UTC+12) on Wake Island, at 09:27 (UTC+10) on Guam, at 06:00 (UTC+8) on Davao, at 09:30 (UTC+8) on Baguio and at 12:35 (UTC+8) on Clark Field.[1] United States Army Air Forces aircraft losses on the ground in the Philippines were similar to those sustained on Oahu despite nine hours available for preparations following the Pearl Harbor attack; but commanding general Douglas MacArthur and other senior commanders avoided the disgrace suffered by Hawaiian commanders, who were relieved of command and forced into retirement after an official investigation.[3]

In contrast, there was no official investigation of events in the Philippines.[3]

  1. ^ a b Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of The Imperial Japanese Navy (1941-1945). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 22–30.
  2. ^ "Disaster in the Philippines". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Disaster in the Philippines". Air Force Magazine. 1 November 2019.