April 9, 1942: The Bataan Death March

April 9, 1942: This was a bad day for the Allies in World War II. The Nazis sank the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, with the loss of 307 men; and the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire, whose crew was luckier, in that only 9 of the 119 on board died, although her commanding officer was one of them.

In tribute, Britain's Royal Navy named an aircraft carrier that was soon to be launched HMS Hermes, and a submarine that was soon to be launched HMS Vampire. Australian would launch a new destroyer named HMAS Vampire in 1956, and it now serves as a museum ship at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.

Also on this day, the Bataan Death March began. It was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles, on the Bataan Peninsula, on the main Philippine island of Luzon, to Camp O'Donnell, via San Fernando.

The transfer began after the 3-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to various camps was 65 miles. Sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: From 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths, and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march.

The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings. If an American or Filipino POW was caught on the ground or fell, he was instantly shot. After the war, the Japanese commander, General Masaharu Homma and 2 of his officers, Major General Yoshitaka Kawane and Colonel Kurataro Hirano, were tried by United States military commissions for war crimes, and sentenced to death on charges of failing to prevent their subordinates from committing atrocities. Homma was executed in 1946, while Kawane and Hirano were executed in 1949.

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April 9, 1942 was a Thursday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There was only 1 score on this historic day, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Wings took a 3-0 lead in the series. But the Leafs shocked the hockey world by winning the next 4. Yes, I have a separate entry for this event.