Wendell Fertig - World War II - Fighting The Japanese

Fighting The Japanese

Colonel Fertig slowly assumed control over more of the existing, rival 'guerrilla' units on Mindanao and turned them to harassing the Japanese. Over the next two and a half years, Fertig created and commanded the Mindanao segment of the "United States Forces in the Philippines" (USFIP), recruiting escaped prisoners-of-war, and soldiers and American civilians who had refused to surrender. However, his real strength came from the thousands of patriotic Filipinos, many of whom were enraged by Japanese atrocities, who now joined existing or formed new organizations under his command. The Japanese were not unaware of these activities, especially as they began to suffer losses in men and equipment and lose control of large areas.

Between 1942 and 1944, USFIP conducted numerous raids against the Japanese Occupation Forces on Mindanao in order to both sustain Fertig's operation with captured supplies and to carry on harassing operations against the Japanese. This caused discord between Fertig and MacArthur's headquarters. The American South West Pacific Area command wanted Fertig to man coastwatcher units to report on Japanese movements, especially shipping, as its main effort. However, to retain the loyalty of his forces in the wake of Japanese atrocities, Fertig also had to wage an active campaign to kill Japanese and their collaborators, as well as disrupt activities aimed at civilians. Attacks against the Japanese often initiated terrible reprisals by the Japanese against local civilians, so Fertig issued orders that the guerrillas on Mindanao were to avoid situations that would result in such reprisals. However, due to the Japanese callousness toward the local populations, reprisals often still occurred.

Initially, Fertig's forces were able to repel Japanese attempts to recapture territory held by the guerrillas. The Japanese could not take any major actions against USFIP on Mindanao as, not only were they dealing with other resistance movements in the Philippines, but most of their combat troops had been deployed to other areas of the Pacific. However, in late Spring 1943, the Japanese began military actions on a large scale on Mindanao. In those areas affected, USFIP forces had to retreat and give up land, established camps and government infrastructure to the stronger Japanese forces.

As the guerrilla units and government infrastructure fled before the Japanese forces, something occurred which Fertig had hoped for. He called it the "pillow effect." By providing no resistance to a stronger force, the guerrillas survived the Japanese blow. When the Japanese withdrew, the pillow expanded to its original shape. As the company-sized guerrilla units dissolved, the Japanese began breaking up their units into smaller groups—eventually into squads—to track down these smaller units. Then, without any orders from above, first two or three guerrillas, then 10 or more, then platoon and then company-sized units reorganized and struck back at the smaller Japanese units, causing the Japanese heavy casualties in hundreds of small fire fights. The Japanese responded by reforming into battalion-sized units that needed large towns to support them. Eventually, the Japanese, using 15,000 to 18,000 troops on Mindanao, held the large towns on the sea coast while the USFIP held the rest of the countryside, or approximately 95% of the island of Mindanao. The guerrillas were so effective in some areas that local Japanese commanders made separate truces with them. In exchange for the guerrillas not attacking Japanese troops, the Japanese agreed to stay out of those areas.

In August 1943, based upon favorable reports to MacArthur by Parsons and Smith, Fertig was promoted to full Colonel by MacArthur and received the Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts. On 23 August, Fertig received the following message:

In recognition of your meritorious services as District Commander and extraordinary heroism in action during the period of 8 May 42 to 6 August 43, I have awarded you the Distinguished Service Cross, Announcement of your award is published in GO Hqs. USAFFE dtd 18 August. I congratulate you on the distinguished service to your country and to the Filipino people that has so well earned for you such recognition and hope that in it you will find inspiration for even greater future service. Quezon congratulates you on promotion.

Fertig even created a "navy" by arming several small merchant vessels which he used to protect convoys of small vessels that helped distribute supplies brought in by submarine. These vessels also attacked Japanese shipping, primarily small inter-coastal vessels and patrol boats. The USFIP navy was armed with various machine guns salvaged off downed bombers, home-made cannons and even mortars. Later some used 20 mm cannons supplied by the U.S. Navy. One vessel was even "armored" using large, circular forestry saws taken from abandoned plantations. Some of the actions these vessels participated in were heroic to the extreme, as when one small vessel deliberately engaged in a running battle with a large Japanese steamer, and another, a sailing ship armed with 20 mm cannon, fought off Japanese aircraft and actually shot one down, perhaps establishing a record for being the only sailing ship to shoot down an airplane—a Japanese Mitsubishi medium bomber. More importantly, the crew salvaged a new Japanese bomb sight from the wreckage and sent it out on the next submarine to Australia. One of Fertig's most audacious ship captains was Waldo Neveling, a German civilian, soldier of fortune and an 'enemy alien' that Fertig had commissioned into the U.S. Army. Another ship, called The Bastard, was actually a 26-foot whaleboat captained by Australian Robert "Jock" McLaren, an escaped prisoner-of-war from the Sandakan POW camp on Borneo. McLaren would sail his boat into Japanese controlled ports in broad daylight, shoot up the supply vessels and piers with machine guns and a mortar, then turn tail and run.

To help prepare for the eventual invasion of American forces, Fertig even had airstrips prepared and disguised, one as long as 7,000 feet which took over a year to build. The airstrips were built and then covered with topsoil and planted with crops. All that was needed was a bulldozer to scrape off the topsoil and the airstrip would then be ready for planes. Some of these airstrips were later used by U.S. Marine Corps squadrons to provide close-air support during the invasion.

Early in 1945, the Japanese army once again launched a major effort in an attempt to destroy the guerrillas on Mindanao. Although essentially a repeat of their previous failed efforts, they came close to destroying the guerrillas, not by eliminating them, but by cutting off their sources of supplies. This effort came to an abrupt end when the American army and navy launched their long-awaited offensive against the Philippines, with a landing, first on Leyte, and then, on 18 April 1945, on Mindanao. As the Japanese army pulled its troops out of Mindanao to defend other portions of the Philippines, American air and naval forces extracted a terrible toll on Japanese shipping, killing untold thousands of Japanese troops. When many of the survivors of the sinking ships swam ashore, they found Filipino guerrillas and civilians waiting for them on the beaches, armed with bolos. Exhausted from the swim, the Japanese were unable to fight back against the terrible retribution the Filipinos then extracted for the atrocities the Japanese had perpetrated against them during the years of occupation.

The USFIP also contributed heavily to coastwatching activities as requested by MacArthur's headquarters. Fertig's coastwatchers provided information leading to the victories in the first Battle of the Philippine Sea (the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot") and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Other intelligence gathered by Fertig's guerrillas was so accurate that aerial reconnaissance flights before attacks were often canceled so as not to warn the Japanese. The guerrillas often went to great risks to secure accurate information. For example, they would make pencil-and-paper rubbings of the serial numbers on enemy artillery to prove the accuracy of their information. However, estimates of enemy strength in an area were sometimes unreliable, as, with the American forces now in the Philippines, the Japanese were constantly moving their forces around to meet the threat. Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, commanding the U.S. Eighth Army, often downplayed guerrilla intelligence, but this was throughout the Philippines as a whole. For the 10th Military District, commanded by Fertig, he had this to say:

We did have considerable information about dispositions of enemy troop, since guerrilla forces on Mindanao were the most effective and best organized in the Philippines.

But probably the best estimate of the value of guerrilla intelligence came from the Japanese, when they released an official communique stating that the Americans had "perfected a new aerial bomb which was attracted by concentrations of ammunition and fuel." The 'bomb' was simply accurate information on Japanese installations supplied by the guerrillas.

As first American carrier planes, then long-distance land-based planes began raids on the Philippines, the guerrillas became important for yet another reason. As American pilots bailed out when their planes were hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, they often found Filipino guerrillas waiting for them even before they hit the ground. Pilots who landed in the water were picked up quickly by Filipinos in small, swift boats. Often the pilots would be expressing their appreciation of the guerrillas to their ships' debriefing officers within a day or two. Fertig soon issued orders that pilots were not allowed to go on patrol with the guerrillas, as some of the more enthusiastic pilots were doing. He knew they were more important flying missions against Japanese targets. Besides, Col. Fertig now had a good supply of experienced, battle-hardened American and Filipino leaders for his combat patrols.

From its humble beginnings, USFIP became one of the best equipped and most effective irregular units operating in World War II. When the submarine USS Narwhal arrived at Mindanao in 1944 to deliver supplies, the crew was met by a uniformed band playing "Stars and Stripes Forever." Although submarines had already delivered supplies to Fertig and other guerrilla leaders, the Narwhal's large size enabled it to deliver 100 tons of supplies at a time, whereas other submarines could only deliver four tons or less. This greatly increased the ability of the guerrilla forces not only to inflict damage to the enemy, but also provide the necessary supplies to care for the medical health and well-being of the guerrilla forces and their civilian supporters. In addition, USS Narwhal had the room to evacuate guerrillas needing critical medical care, as well as American civilians, primarily women and children, who had been hiding out in the Philippines and were suffering from malnutrition and diseases. According to U.S. Navy records, 16 of 41 resupply missions to the Philippines were directed to Mindanao between 14 January 1943 and 1 January 1945. For all of the Philippines, a total of 1,325 tons of supplies were landed, with 331 people landed and another 472 evacuated.

As an indicator of USFIP strength on Mindanao, during January and February 1945, in preparation for the return of regular American forces, the guerrillas seized the Dipolog airstrip in northern Zamboanga and held it while surrounded by the Japanese. With the arrival of regular American forces in March 1945, Fertig's guerrilla forces participated in the Battle of Mindanao that effectively ended organized Japanese resistance on that island. They then disbanded. On 15 September 1945, the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was reactivated, and its ranks were heavily seeded with Filipino veterans of the USFIP at all levels of command.

By late 1944, Fertig commanded a force estimated at between 25,000 to 40,000 effectives, with most sources agreeing on 36,000—the equivalent of an Army Corps—with 16,500 of them armed. Officers with responsibility for corps command usually hold the rank of major general. In addition, Fertig created and help administer the civilian government of Mindanao while at the same time conducting the guerrilla war against the Japanese. The USFIP killed at least 7,000 Japanese soldiers and, while a constant drain on Japanese resources, they also prevented the Japanese from fully utilizing Mindanao's resources in support of its war efforts. At one time, the Japanese committed approximately 60,000 troops in an attempt to crush guerrilla resistance on Mindanao, troops that were desperately needed elsewhere. Throughout the entire Philippines, the guerrillas managed to tie down a Japanese army of 288,000 troops, of which approximately 43,000–60,000 were on Mindanao, depending on the time period.

After the war, examination of Japanese records indicated that the Japanese high command felt that 24 battalions of troops would be needed to guard rear areas against guerrillas once the American invasion of the Philippines began. Since seven divisions were slated to resist the invasion, this resulted in a ratio of one rear-area soldier to every three front-line troops. Ultimately, the Japanese concluded that, "It is impossible to fight the enemy and at the same time suppress the activities of the guerrillas."

While summarizing Colonel Wendall Fertig's contributions to the American war effort and his leadership of the USFIP on Mindanao, Keats (1990) states:

...apart from his insistence on honesty and justice, and the idea that the guerrilla army be a process of a responsible civil government, his fundamental contribution to Mindanao was his concern that the reward for performance should always be increased responsibility. In his command, demonstrated competence was the sole means to promotion, and no man was denied an opportunity to prove himself. This concept built a nation in North America, and it built another on Mindanao... It was Fertig, more than any other man, who gave the Filipinos of Mindanao increasing reason to believe in themselves. This, rather than a military victory, was Fertig's triumph.