Battle of Davao

The Battle of Davao (Filipino: Labanan sa Davao; Cebuano: Gubat sa Davao) was a major battle in which American and Philippine Commonwealth troops including locally organized guerrillas fought the Japanese to liberate the city of Davao. 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 were organized guerrilla resistance in Mindanao afterwards, the most prominent one commanded by Wendell W. Fertig, and were 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 begun their Mindanao assault in 10 March and was spectacularly successful afterwards, 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 are 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 be eventually 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.