They brought all the fire they could to bear but failed to stop its advance right through one of their battalion command posts. This exposed a Type 97 tank that drove right at the Americans, causing numerous casualties.

On August 2, 1944, the US Army 77th Infantry Division was attacking dug-in Japanese defenders near Barrigada, Guam, when it set afire a hut. Over the past 40 years, I have seen numerous accounts of this Division's tank operations and battles in the Philippines, so it should not be difficult to find material on the subject. By 8 February, the Division had lost some 180 of its 200 tanks and its remnants became more of an infantry force than an armored unit. It fought numerous engagements over the next month, but because the terrain was mostly rice paddies it could not use its tanks in the traditional way and was forced to dig them in at road junctions and other key positions. On 8 January it was ordered to the Tarlac area to block and defeat any enemy attempt to push southeast toward the Clark Field complex and Manila. By early January 1945, it was deployed in the Cabanatuan - San Miguel area with approximately 200 tanks prepared to counter the expected Allied invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf. Iwanaka) with 6th, 7th and 10th Tank Regiments was transferred from Manchuria to Luzon/Philippines in late July/early August 1944 and began arriving in September for assignment to 14th Area Army. The Japanese 2d Armored Division (Lt.Gen.

Biggest tank battle in ww2