Awaiting Macarthur's Return - (Modern War Studies) by James Villanueva (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Over the course of World War II, guerrillas from across the Philippines opposed Imperial Japan's occupation of the archipelago. Although the guerrillas never possessed the combat strength to overcome the Japanese occupation on their own, they disrupted operations, kept the spirit of resistance alive, provided important intelligence to the Allies, and assumed frontline duties fighting the Japanese. By examining the organization, motivations, capabilities, and operations of the guerrillas, James Villanueva argues that the guerrillas were effective because Japanese punitive measures, along with a strong sense of obligation and loyalty to the United States, pushed most of the population to support the guerrillas. Unlike their predecessors opposing the Americans in 1899, the guerrillas during World War II benefited from the leadership of American and Filipino military personnel and received significant aid and direction from General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) Headquarters, conducting one of the most effective and sophisticated resistance campaigns in World War II. Awaiting the Allies' Return is the first comprehensive examination of major World War II guerrilla groups across the Philippine Archipelago, providing a fuller picture of the nature of the war in the South and Southwest Pacific and revealing the extent to which the guerrilla movement affected operations throughout the area"--

Book Synopsis

Over the course of World War II, guerrillas from across the Philippines opposed Imperial Japan's occupation of the archipelago. Although the guerrillas never possessed the combat strength to overcome the Japanese occupation on their own, they disrupted operations, kept the spirit of resistance alive, provided important intelligence to the Allies, and assumed frontline duties fighting the Japanese. By examining the organization, motivations, capabilities, and operations of the guerrillas, James Villanueva argues that the guerrillas were effective because Japanese punitive measures, along with a strong sense of obligation and loyalty to the United States, pushed most of the population to support the guerrillas. Unlike their predecessors opposing the Americans in 1899, the guerrillas during World War II benefited from the leadership of US and Filipino military personnel and received significant aid and direction from General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) Headquarters, conducting one of the most effective and sophisticated resistance campaigns in World War II.

Awaiting MacArthur's Return is the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the major World War II guerrilla groups across the Philippine Archipelago, providing a fuller picture of the nature of the war in the Southwest Pacific and revealing the extent to which the guerrilla movement affected operations for both Allied and Imperial Japanese forces.

Analyzing the organizational effectiveness of the guerrillas resisting the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, this book alternates narrative chapters with thematic chapters examining the guerrillas' organization, logistics, administration, intelligence gathering, and the support they received from Allied forces and provided the Allies in turn. Villanueva offers the most in-depth analysis of the guerrillas' military organization and effectiveness in the context of existing theories of insurgency and counterinsurgency while using an extensive body of memoirs, archival guerrilla and US Army and Navy records, and translations of Japanese documents and interviews with Japanese officers.

Review Quotes

"As the American military returns to a focus on large-scale combat operations after two decades of irregular warfare, James Villanueva has created a revealing study about a successful application of compound warfare, where guerrilla forces made major contributions to a conventional campaign. He provides a valuable reminder that war often involves a combination of both approaches."--Conrad C. Crane, author of Cassandra in Oz: Counterinsurgency and Future War

"James A. Villanueva tosses out Hollywood myths and digs into a rich array of untapped sources to examine a critical moment in World War II. More so than any previous scholar, Villanueva puts the experience of Filipino guerrillas at the center of his story. Based on intense research in previously untapped sources, Awaiting MacArthur's Return is a work that will endure for decades."--Christopher Capozzola, professor of history, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America's First Pacific Century