largest tank battle in ww2 battle of leyte gulf

By December, however, the Sixth Army had captured the island.įour months before MacArthur's Leyte landings, at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese Navy staged its final major effort to defeat the U.S.

Starting on October 25, 1944, and for more than a month, Japanese re-supply groups called TA convoys headed for Ormoc Bay (west of Leyte), and brought to the defenders of Leyte Island the reinforcements needed to prolong the resistance well beyond what the Allies had expected.

General Douglas MacArthur and his staff waded ashore at Tacloban about five hours following the first landings - the old warrior had fulfilled his promise to return. It confronted a 270,000-man Japanese army and air force in the Philippines, commanded by Field Marshal Count Hisaichi Terauchi. Sixth Army gained two beachheads on the central island of Leyte. Naval, air and ground forces had joined hands to bring the Allies to the Japanese-held Philippines.

The Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia was hit on October 21, and suicide attacks by the 'Special Attack Force' began on October 25th. Leyte Gulf also was the scene of the first organized use of Kamikaze (suicide) aircraft by the Japanese. It was the largest naval battle ever fought - ending in the eclipse of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and its last sortie in force. The Battle of Leyte Gulf raged from October 23 through 25, 1944.

Largest tank battle in ww2 battle of leyte gulf