Bataan Death March Begins: 75,000 POWs Forced to Walk
U.S. forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula, handing over control of the Philippines to Japan and triggering a brutal forced march that kills thousands of prisoners. Simultaneously, Japanese air raids sink the HMS Hermes and HMAS Vampire off Ceylon, crippling Allied naval power in the Indian Ocean and opening the region to further Axis expansion.
April 9, 1942
84 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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Royal Navy
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Bataan Peninsula
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Sri Lanka
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Ceylon
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Imperial Japanese Navy
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destroyer
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aircraft carrier
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Royal Australian Navy
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Bataan Death March
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Battle of Bataan
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Trincomalee
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HMS Hermes (95)
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HMAS Vampire (D68)
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