192nd Tank Battalion

The 192nd Tank Battalion of the United States Army was a federalized Army National Guard unit activated in November 1940. Deployed to the Philippines, the battalion was engaged in combat during the Japanese invasion and the US retreat to the Bataan Peninsula; being part of the force that surrendered to the Japanese there, it subsequently ceased to exist as an active unit.

In 1941, the US Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, directed that the army's new M3 Stuart light tanks, then just rolling off the assembly lines, were to have the highest priority in reinforcing General MacArthur's command in the Pacific. The activated Army National Guard 194th and 192nd Tank Battalions were each equipped with 54 of the newly manufactured M3 Stuart light tanks, along with 23 half-tracks per battalion. The federalized California Army Guard 194th Tank Battalion deployed from San Francisco on 8 September 1941, arriving in the Philippines on 26 September. That deployment was followed by the 192nd Tank Battalion, which reached Manila in November. The 192nd Tank Battalion was composed of tank companies from:

On 21 November 1941 the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions were combined to form the Provisional Tank Group under the command of Colonel James R. N. Weaver. With the subsequent commencement of hostilities, and Japanese landings along the coastlines in December, the Provisional Tank Group was ordered to counter attack the landing forces, and to cover the allied retreat towards the Bataan Peninsula.

On 21 December 1941, the 192nd Tank Battalion, under the command of Major Theodore F. Wickord, was ordered to move north. Major Wickord sent Company B, commanded by Captain Donald Hanes, ahead, most likely as an advanced guard. During B company's advance, they had planned to refuel their gasoline powered M3's at Gerona and then again at Bauang. However, upon reaching Gerona, no fuel was available, and word reached Captain Hanes that the enemy was fast approaching Bauang.

...
Wikipedia