Bataan Peninsula, peninsula, western Luzon, Philippines,

sheltering Manila Bay (to the east) from the South China Sea. It is

about 30 miles (50 km) long and 15 miles (25 km) wide. Corregidor
Island lies just off its southern tip at the entrance of the bay. Bataan is
largely covered by jungle and is traversed north to south by steep
mountains culminating in Mount Natib (4,224 feet [1,287 metres]) in
the north and Mount Bataan (4,701 feet [1,433 metres]) in the south.
The peninsula was the scene of fierce fighting during the Pacific phase
of World War II. After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in
December 1941 and the fall of Manila to them (January 2, 1942), the
defending U.S. and Filipino troops withdrew to Bataan, defeating
Japanese efforts to split the forces of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur.
His troops fought a fierce delaying action until April 9, 1942, and
remnants, led by Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright,
escaped to Corregidor Island, where they surrendered about a month
later. The surviving captured troops were then subjected to the
infamous Bataan Death March, during which thousands of prisoners
died. On January 9, 1945, U.S. forces under MacArthur sealed off the
Bataan Peninsula. Landings were then made at Mariveles Harbor in
the south and on Corregidor Island, thus securing Manila Bay for the
U.S. Navy.