Island
between Leyte to the east,
and Negros
to the west. Offshore is Mactan Island.
Japanese Occupation
Occupied by the Japanese on April 10, 1942. A force of three warships
and eleven transports landed 12,000 troops of the Kawaguchi Detachment
at seven beachheads across southern Cebu. In Toledo especially, Filipino
guerillas resisted the Japanese strongly and inflicted many casualties
on their landing force.
Guerilla Activities & Japanese Defenses
In Cebu, guerillas resisted the Japanese occupation,
and even gained control of the southern part of the island before the
American liberation, and captured Japanese Admiral Fukodome and his battle
plans. Cebu guerillas reportedly killed more Japanese than in any other
part of the Philippines. After the American victory at Leyte, some Japanese
escaped by boat to Cebu. Among them
included General Suzuki, who
reached Cebu City on March 24, 1945 and took command of the 13,000
troops on Cebu. He was later killed when attempting
to get to Mindanao. Troops
in the central and northern parts of the island were under the
command of Major-General Takeo Manjome. Another 1,000 troops
were located in the far north of the island, most survivors from
Leyte. Well
equipped and supplied, the Japanese had prepared excellent
defenses, and planned to abandon the south of the island
where guerillas had control.
Japanese & American Missions Against Cebu
December 8, 1942 - June 2, 1945
American Liberation
The
American liberation was code named operation Victory II. The
US Army Americal Division landed near Cebu City on March 26,
1945 after a large pre-bombardment by the supporting 7th Fleet
ships. The invasion beaches were heavily mined, had anti-tank
ditches barriers. Although
reported by guerillas to the Americans, the minefields were more
of a problem than anticipated, knocking out 10 of the first 15
landing craft ashore, and killed and wounded many men.
Vehicles
crowded the beach and engineers rushed to clear a path. The Japanese
failed to cover the beaches with anything other than small arms
fire and were unable to exploit this. After an hour, the
minefield was adequately cleared and the liberation proceeded.
After liberating Cebu City on March 27, the Americans met stiff resistance
in the hills behind the city.
Japanese Surrender
One
of the first large scale surrenders in the Pacific occurred on Cebu.
On August 19, 1945 Japanese officers commanded
by Lt. General Kataoka of the 35th Army arrived in Cebu city to
begin surrender negotiations. On August 28, 1945 Maj. Gen.
William H. Arnold of the Americal Division accepted the surrender
of 10,000 Japanese on the island. In the course of this grueling
struggle, the Americal Division incurred 410 men killed and 1,700
wounded. Another 8,000 men were classified as non-battle casualties,
most of whom succumbed to an outbreak of infectious hepatitis.
In turn, some 5,500 Japanese soldiers lay dead.
Cebu City
Although
the Japanese had constructed many defenses they choose to abandoned
them and destroyed much of the city when they retreated. Instead,
they took to the hills - into pillboxes and caves behind for their
defense when the Americans landed. The
city was liberated on March 27, 1945 by the Americal Division.
The
hills were targeted by naval gunfire and coordinated tank-infantry
attackers and neutralized them, but the Japanese took up new positions
and continued their resistance and sea-sawing attacks thru early
April, before the Japanese finally withdrew to the north. After
the battle, harbor and storage construction now began at
Cebu City, from which MacArthur planned to stage three divisions
for the invasion of Japan.
Base
S
US Army Letter Base designation located at Cebu City after American occupation.
Sub-base controlled by Base
M (San Fernando)
Today
Cebu is a large city and commercial
center located on Cebu Island. Popular
tourist destination.
Lahug
Airfield
Located in the center of Cebu city, used by Japanese and later US Army.
