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  US Army March 26, 1945 |
Location Lat 10° 14' 40N Long 123° 50' 50E Talisay is located at sea level on the east coast of Cebu Island in Cebu Province in the Central Visayas (Region VII) in the Visayas (Visayas Islands) in the central Philippines. To the northeast is Cebu (Cebu City) and to the east is Cebu Harbor and beyond Mactan Island and the Bohol Strait (Cebu Strait). Today known as Talisay City, Ciudad ti Talisay or Ciudad ti Talisay. Wartime History On March 24, 1945 General Sosaku Suzuki took command of all forces on Cebu Island and appointed General Manjome in command of Cebu City and planned a defense in depth to the north and northwest of the city with a forward line over the high ground anchored on two fortified hills. At the likely landing beaches at Talisay and Liloan, the Japanese planted land mines above the surf line with a 50kg aerial bomb beneath the mine capable of disabling a landing vehicle or tank. The Japanese also built tank barriers, tank traps and mined roads to the city. A defensive line of bunkers, pillboxes and caves with machine guns were emplaced in naturally camouflaged positions. On March 26, 1945 in the early morning U.S. Navy (USN) Task Force 74 (TF-74) under the command of Admiral Berkey arrive from Leyte and bombarded the beaches with gunfire from three light cruisers and six destroyers. At 8:30am LVTs landed the U.S. Army U.S. Army Americal Division, 132nd Infantry Regiment and 182nd Infantry Regiment on the beach north of Talisay and began to detonate land mines that disabled 15 LVTs and the advance halted with 5 KIA and 15 WIA from land mines. Although the first wave included mine disposal teams, the mine field was too large and complex. Despite the chaos caused by the mine field on the beach, the Japanese had withdrawn from the area and were unable to exploit the confusion or inflict further damage. As the second wave landed, the beach became jammed and the advance inland stalled when Brig. Gen. Eugene W. Ridings, Assistant Division Commander landed and tasked men from the 132nd Infantry Regiment with clearing routes but took until 10:00am before the traffic on the beach cleared and the advance inland continued. Had Japanese defenders been present in the area and lost an opportunity to inflict casualties or repel the U.S. landing. The mine field at Talisay was one of the few extensive mine fields encountered by the Americans during the Pacific War. References U.S. Army in World War II - Triumph in the Philippines Chapter XXXI The Central Visayan Islands pages 610, 611 (map), 612 Contribute
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 Map March 1945 Cebu Area Map Mar 26-April 18, 1945 Map Fallingrain |
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