Despite the formal capitulation from Toyko, Japanese forces on Cebu continued to hold out for several days. This flyer was dropped all over the island in an attempt to convince the thousands of remaining Japanese soldiers to give up.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
I Surrender
Despite the formal capitulation from Toyko, Japanese forces on Cebu continued to hold out for several days. This flyer was dropped all over the island in an attempt to convince the thousands of remaining Japanese soldiers to give up.
Combined Arms
For the first time in the war, the 182nd Infantry operated with significant armored support. The open coastal plains of Cebu provided room to maneuver, unlike the cramped jungles of Guadalcanal and Bougainville. Here, men of the 2nd Battalion of the 182nd advance with tanks from the Americal's 716th Tank Battalion.
A Formal Ceremony of Surrender
This document ordered the 182nd Infantry to prepare for a large, formal surrender ceremony by the remaining Japanese forces on Cebu.
Network of Caves
The Japanese retreated to caves and fixed positions in the hills of Cebu. Here, soldiers of the 182nd Infantry rifle through Japanese materials left behind in a cave on Babag Ridge.
182nd Infantry Regiment: Unit Citation
The 182nd Infantry Regiment was awarded the only Unit Citation at the regimental level in the history of the American Division for its actions in the hills of Cebu. The Regiment was also recommended for a prestigious Distinguished Unit Citation, though this award was never granted.
182nd American Infantry Map of Invasion
This map overlay shows the progress of the 182nd Infantry during the first few days of the invasion of Cebu. It progresses from the beachhead, through the Cebu City area, and on to the base of the heavily defended Japanese-held hills.
Taking the Capitol Building
The damaged capitol building of Cebu. Behind it loom the hills and mountains that the American Division took by force from fierce Japanese resistance.
Wave After Wave of Landing Craft s
The first wave of troops ashore met with limited Japanese resistance.
This photo shows soldiers of the 132nd Infantry coming ashore. The 132nd was responsible for the right sector of the beach, the 182nd the left side - behind the photographer in this photo.
One of the American landings in Cebu's shores
The first wave of troops ashore met with limited Japanese resistance.
This photo shows soldiers of the 132nd Infantry coming ashore. The 132nd was responsible for the right sector of the beach, the 182nd the left side - behind the photographer in this photo.
H-Hour
On the morning of March 26, 1945, the flotilla bearing the troops of the American arrived off the shores of Cebu. The transport ships were protected by cruisers, destroyers, and other supporting craft. A deafening salvo of naval gunfire and rockets hammered the shores of the island. In the photo at right, tracked landing vehicles swarm in towards the shore. The larger ships are infantry landing craft. Smoke masks the landing beach, and an explosion can be seen at the waterline towards the right edge of the photo.
Invasion Plans
Without time to even catch their breath from the fighting on Leyte, the Americal Division was selected for a series of amphibious assaults on other Philippines Islands. The 132nd and 182nd Infantry Regiments were assigned to capture the island of Cebu, just west of Leyte. American intelligence knew the island was occupied by a sizeable Japanese force, but they dramatically underestimated its size. Two regiments of American infantry - perhaps 5,000 men - were headed into a heavily fortified island defended by 15,000 Japanese soldiers.
Talisay Landing
American soldiers landing in a beach in Talisay. This event is commemorated annually by the city. These photos were from the US National Archives.
Cebu's port area - Post War
An aerial view of the port area with the gutted warehouses, the Aduana, and Plaza Independencia.
Downtown Cebu - Post War
Aerial view of downtown Cebu, completely devastated except for a handful of buildings.
B-25J 44-29760 in flight, 1945
Mission History
Crashed near Consolacion on Cebu Island. There was no fire during the crash.
Wreckage
After the crash, a US Army patrol was advised to look for survivors. The next day civilians found Lt. Ehrhardt alive but he died soon after. Another body was found in a swamp.
Pre-invasion bombardment of Cebu, Philippines, Mar. 1945 (Video)
Aerial bombardment of Cebu, Philippines by USAF aircraft in preparation for the March 26, 1945 landing of US ground forces (Americal Division, US Army) at Talisay, near Cebu City. From digital video recording of screen-projected 16mm movie in the U.S. National Archives.
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 American Division.
American landing in Cebu
US Army American Division 132nd Infantry Land at Cebu
Credit: US Army Date: March 26, 1945
The chaos on the beach was soon rectified, and by late morning, Americal forces began pushing inland towards their objectives. They met only limited resistance. Most Japanese outposts had been abandoned. One unit from the 182nd discovered an empty shack, full of explosives, with a telephone ringing. But the Japanese were mostly nowhere to be found. There was only scattered resistance, and all objectives were met by the end of the day. The invasion had been a success.
The photo at right is taken in the 132nd Infantry sector of the beach, looking off towards the 182nd sector. Note the tracked landing vehicles parked all over the beach.
Aerial view of Lahug Airfield
1945Today: Asiatown IT Park
Lahug Airfield is no longer used, and has been redeveloped.
Japanese Surrender
Japanese SurrenderOne 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 American Division accepted the surrender of 10,000 Japanese on the island. In the course of this grueling struggle, the American 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.
American Troopers in Mactan Airfield
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lapu-Lapu City
The presence of oil tank in Opon made the town an object of Japanese raids a week after the outbreak of World War II in December 1941. The enemy planes succeded in blowing up two of about fourteen oil tanks in Opon.
A unit of the Kawaguchi Detachment of the Japanese Imperial Forces landed on the east coast of Cebu on April 10, 1942. Later, the resistance movement was organized by Colonel James F. Cushing, leader of the southern and central units, and Harry Fenton of the northern unit of the Cebu Resistance Movement.
The Victor II operations of the American Division led by Major General William Arnold landed in Cebu on March 26, 1945, and subsequently liberated the province.
The Cebu Cathedral took about a century to complete because of frequent interruptions. One of three diocese created in 1595 (the other two being Nueva Segovia and Nueva Caceres), Cebu was raised to the status of archdiocese in 1934 with the dioceses of Calbayog, Jaro, Zamboanga, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro as suffragans. During the Spanish period, Cebu had the most extensive territory because Guam and the Marianas fell under its jurisdiction. Only in 1898, because of the Treaty of Paris, did Cebu lose these territories.
Colon Street - The oldest street in the Philippines; built by the Spaniards in the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Named after Christopher Columbus, it is the heart of downtown Cebu, a glittering area by night lined with moviehouses, restaurants, department stores, and other business establishments. -- Once a site of battle during the world war.
Troops on the beach after the landing on Cebu Island.
The chaos on the beach was soon rectified, and by late morning, Americal forces began pushing inland towards their objectives. They met only limited resistance. Most Japanese outposts had been abandoned. One unit from the 182nd discovered an empty shack, full of explosives, with a telephone ringing. But the Japanese were mostly nowhere to be found. There was only scattered resistance, and all objectives were met by the end of the day. The invasion had been a success.
The photo at right is taken in the 132nd Infantry sector of the beach, looking off towards the 182nd sector. Note the tracked landing vehicles parked all over the beach.
FORT SAN PEDRO
During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, it served as fortification for Japanese soldiers, when the battle for liberation was fought, the fort served as an army camp. Japanese residents of the City took refuge within the walls. When the battle to liberate the City of Cebu from the Imperial Japanese Forces was fought, the fort served as an emergency hospital for the wounded.
Filipino residents of Cebu City welcome
American soldiers.
General Arnold's men moved into Cebu City on the 27th of March, too late to keep the Japanese from destroying it. The next day Lahug airfield, two miles northeast of Cebu City, was captured, but now the American troops began to butt against the Japanese fighting positions in the outpost line. The 182d Infantry attacked two strongly defended hills a mile north of Cebu City on March 28, securing one. As the regiment continued its attack the following day, the Japanese detonated an ammunition dump on the second hill. Company A, already understrength, lost 50 men killed or wounded in the explosion. Grimly resuming the attack on the 30th, the regiment finally swept the hill.
Cebu during World War II
Cebu being one of the most densely populated island in the country, served as a vital Japanese base during the Japanese occupation in World War II which began with the landing of the Japanese Imperial army on April, 1942. Three years later on March 1945, an American force landed and reoccupied the city, resulting in a Japanese surrender.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
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