Invasion of Palawan

Invasion of Palawan
Part of World War II, Pacific theater
Date 28 February – 22 April 1945 Location Palawan island, Philippines Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Jens A. Doe Harold H. Haney William M. Fechteler	Sōsaku Suzuki †
Strength
5,000 U.S. troops	2,000 Japanese troops
Casualties and losses
12 killed 56 wounded	900 killed 140 wounded

The Invasion of Palawan was fought by U.S. liberation forces against the Japanese from 28 February - 22 April 1945, in a series of actions officially designated as Operations Victor I and II, and part of the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines during World War II, was waged to initiate the recapture of the southern islands of the Philippine archipelago, end the Japanese occupation, and secure them from remaining Japanese forces.

As the elements of the U.S. Sixth Army under Lieutenant General Walter Krueger moved into the city of Manila to retake it from the well dug-in Japanese forces, General Douglas MacArthur issued orders for the start of preplanned operations to recapture the entire southern Philippine archipelago from the Japanese, all code-named VICTOR, regardless by which the assigned forces were to proceed.

With Mindoro island already in Allied hands since 16 December 1944 and the campaign for the recapture of Luzon already in full swing, the Americans wanted to establish another base of operations that would diminish the threat of Japanese troop incursions from the larger islands down south and cut off reinforcements coming from Japanese-occupied Indochina in mainland Asia via the South China Sea and the southwestern Sulu Sea.

The U.S. Eighth Army of Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger was directed to invade and seize the provincial capital of Palawan, Puerto Princesa, after which they would proceed to the Zamboanga Peninsula in western Mindanao and parts of the Sulu Archipelago.

The primary objectives were to complete the isolation of the central Philippine islands of Panay, Negros, Cebu and Bohol and to expand the range of Allied air operations. Aircraft based at Palawan could conduct interdiction missions as far as Indochina and cut off Japanese sea lanes in the South China Sea, while planes flying from Zamboanga and the islands in Sulu also could reach Japanese oil installations on Borneo. Gen. Eichelberger chose the 41st Infantry Division of Maj. Gen. Jens A. Doe to conduct the Palawan, Zamboanga and Sulu operations.

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