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Battle of Davao
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Battle of Davao
The Battle of Davao (Filipino: Labanan sa Davao; Cebuano: Gubat sa Davao) also known as the Battle of Ising was a major battle in which American and Philippine Commonwealth troops including locally organized guerrillas fought the Japanese to liberate the city of Davao. This battle is the only successful battle in the Philippines against the Japanese invaders which the bloodiest battle happen in then Sitio Ising, Municipality of Panabo (now Barangay Ising, Carmen) in Davao del Norte. The battle is part of Operation VICTOR V, an offensive operation against Japanese forces in Mindanao, and part of the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines during World War II. The battle was the decisive engagement of the Mindanao campaign.
Davao was among the first cities in the Philippines to be occupied by Japanese troops in 1942. There was organized guerrilla resistance in Mindanao afterwards, the most prominent one commanded by Wendell W. Fertig, and was largely successful in tying down Japanese units in the island long before the liberation of Philippines began in 1944.
With its navy decisively crushed at the Battle of Leyte Gulf six months earlier, the Japanese in Mindanao were now cut off from their main bases in Luzon. The Allies began their Mindanao assault in 10 March and saw spectacular success after, despite the problems posed by the island itself, such as its inhospitable terrain, irregular coastline, few roads which complicated supply chains, and the thick defense of the Japanese forces.
The Allies had already taken much of Central Mindanao, having destroyed several Japanese units in Malaybalay and Cabacan sectors beginning 17 April. By this time the Allies were preparing for the assault in Davao City. The strongest of the Japanese defenses in the island were concentrated around the Davao Gulf area, which was heavily mined to counter an amphibious landing, and in Davao City, the island's largest and most important city. Artillery and anti-aircraft batteries extensively ringed the coastal shoreline defenses. Believing that the Americans would ultimately attack from Davao Gulf and also anticipating that they would eventually be driven from the city, the Japanese also prepared defensive bunkers inland behind its perimeter where they could retire and regroup, with the intention of prolonging the campaign as much as possible.
Soldiers from the American 8th Army were yet to land from their ships steaming in Davao Gulf heading towards Davao City. With Allied assistance, separate large-sized Philippine guerrilla units were already being formed in eastern and southern Davao Province in anticipation for the upcoming battle.[citation needed]
Defending the city was the role of the Japanese 100th Division under General Harada. With its headquarters at the peak of the Shrine Hills, west of the city center, where it offered a strategic vantage point over the Allies as well as commanding view of Davao Gulf where American amphibious units were to disembark, it anchored its defenses at Catigan, thirteen miles southwest from the city center; The Right Sector Unit of five infantry battalions, and in the hills twelve miles north of Davao, The Left Sector Unit of four infantry battalions. The center, overlooking Libby Airdrome, was manned by three battalions. Before the battle began, they already had a vast tunnel network built in the city's hills to counter the Allied assaults and to shield them from air attacks and artillery shelling, as well as to necessitate the shifting of troops during the battle; some of them are still in use for the city's tourism purposes.
The battle began on 27 April when the first American units of Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff's 24th Division reached what is now Digos, then part of Sta. Cruz town. The division moved westward across Mindanao so rapidly that the Americans and Filipinos were almost on top of the Japanese around Davao before Gen. Morozumi learned too late that the western landing was, in fact, not diversionary. By the time the division reached Digos, the Americans quickly overrun the Japanese defenses who were prepared only to repel an assault from the sea westward, not from their rear to the east. The 24th Division immediately turned north and headed toward Davao City.
On 3 May 1945, after months of incessant and intense bombardment by American land-based and carrier-based planes and warships, the first combat elements of the 24th Division entered Davao City against less opposition than had been expected. While it took just 15 days, despite severe heat and humidity and constant rain, with an entire division traveling 115 mi (185 km) and seizing the last major Philippine city under Japanese control, the real battle for Mindanao had begun. Up to a point, X Corps had bypassed the main Japanese defenses of the 100th Division, which was inland on higher ground, and where they would now need to be eliminated.
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Battle of Davao
The Battle of Davao (Filipino: Labanan sa Davao; Cebuano: Gubat sa Davao) also known as the Battle of Ising was a major battle in which American and Philippine Commonwealth troops including locally organized guerrillas fought the Japanese to liberate the city of Davao. This battle is the only successful battle in the Philippines against the Japanese invaders which the bloodiest battle happen in then Sitio Ising, Municipality of Panabo (now Barangay Ising, Carmen) in Davao del Norte. The battle is part of Operation VICTOR V, an offensive operation against Japanese forces in Mindanao, and part of the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines during World War II. The battle was the decisive engagement of the Mindanao campaign.
Davao was among the first cities in the Philippines to be occupied by Japanese troops in 1942. There was organized guerrilla resistance in Mindanao afterwards, the most prominent one commanded by Wendell W. Fertig, and was largely successful in tying down Japanese units in the island long before the liberation of Philippines began in 1944.
With its navy decisively crushed at the Battle of Leyte Gulf six months earlier, the Japanese in Mindanao were now cut off from their main bases in Luzon. The Allies began their Mindanao assault in 10 March and saw spectacular success after, despite the problems posed by the island itself, such as its inhospitable terrain, irregular coastline, few roads which complicated supply chains, and the thick defense of the Japanese forces.
The Allies had already taken much of Central Mindanao, having destroyed several Japanese units in Malaybalay and Cabacan sectors beginning 17 April. By this time the Allies were preparing for the assault in Davao City. The strongest of the Japanese defenses in the island were concentrated around the Davao Gulf area, which was heavily mined to counter an amphibious landing, and in Davao City, the island's largest and most important city. Artillery and anti-aircraft batteries extensively ringed the coastal shoreline defenses. Believing that the Americans would ultimately attack from Davao Gulf and also anticipating that they would eventually be driven from the city, the Japanese also prepared defensive bunkers inland behind its perimeter where they could retire and regroup, with the intention of prolonging the campaign as much as possible.
Soldiers from the American 8th Army were yet to land from their ships steaming in Davao Gulf heading towards Davao City. With Allied assistance, separate large-sized Philippine guerrilla units were already being formed in eastern and southern Davao Province in anticipation for the upcoming battle.[citation needed]
Defending the city was the role of the Japanese 100th Division under General Harada. With its headquarters at the peak of the Shrine Hills, west of the city center, where it offered a strategic vantage point over the Allies as well as commanding view of Davao Gulf where American amphibious units were to disembark, it anchored its defenses at Catigan, thirteen miles southwest from the city center; The Right Sector Unit of five infantry battalions, and in the hills twelve miles north of Davao, The Left Sector Unit of four infantry battalions. The center, overlooking Libby Airdrome, was manned by three battalions. Before the battle began, they already had a vast tunnel network built in the city's hills to counter the Allied assaults and to shield them from air attacks and artillery shelling, as well as to necessitate the shifting of troops during the battle; some of them are still in use for the city's tourism purposes.
The battle began on 27 April when the first American units of Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff's 24th Division reached what is now Digos, then part of Sta. Cruz town. The division moved westward across Mindanao so rapidly that the Americans and Filipinos were almost on top of the Japanese around Davao before Gen. Morozumi learned too late that the western landing was, in fact, not diversionary. By the time the division reached Digos, the Americans quickly overrun the Japanese defenses who were prepared only to repel an assault from the sea westward, not from their rear to the east. The 24th Division immediately turned north and headed toward Davao City.
On 3 May 1945, after months of incessant and intense bombardment by American land-based and carrier-based planes and warships, the first combat elements of the 24th Division entered Davao City against less opposition than had been expected. While it took just 15 days, despite severe heat and humidity and constant rain, with an entire division traveling 115 mi (185 km) and seizing the last major Philippine city under Japanese control, the real battle for Mindanao had begun. Up to a point, X Corps had bypassed the main Japanese defenses of the 100th Division, which was inland on higher ground, and where they would now need to be eliminated.