Japanese Invasion of Cebu The Visayan Force was a short-lived US military organization formed during the Philippines Campaign (1941–1942) of World War II.

It was created chiefly from elements of the Visayas-Mindanao Force that were located on the Visayan Islands in the central Philippines and was activated on March 17, 1942, when General Douglas MacArthur departed for Australia.

Its mission was to resist Japanese landings on the islands and prepare for ongoing guerilla warfare, but it suffered from a shortage of rifles and ammunition and from a complete lack of artillery.

He boarded a vessel for Negros accompanied by his aide Lieutenant Gordon Benson and by Major Dwight Deter, a medical officer.

In Negros they took motor transport provided by Colonel Roger Hilsman, the commander on the island, which took them to board a small ferry that crossed the Tañon Strait and landed in Toledo, Cebu.

[3] General Chynoweth set up his headquarters at Camp X in a Bureau of Forestry compound in Cantabaco, along the highway crossing central Cebu.

He was promised officers from Luzon to fill his staff, but due to intensified Japanese naval and air activities in the Visayas Sea none arrived.

In April General Bradford ordered Colonel Roger Hilsman Sr, the commander on Negros, to move to Cebu to act as his chief of staff.

In April, Chynoweth ordered Hilsman to transfer to Cebu to take a new role as Visayan Force Chief of Staff so he could rest and recuperate from an illness.

The defense of Cebu was crucial not just because the Visayan Force HQ was located there but also because it hosted the Army Transport Service and its facilities under Colonel John D. Cook, under the direct command of USFIP in Corregidor.

In April, Ingiñero took over the command of Bohol as Colonel Grimes was transferred by Chynoweth to Cebu to bolster the defense of Cantabaco on that island.

When he arrived in Cebu he found that the defenses were not adequate and he wanted to implement Operation Baus Au in all garrisons in the Visayas Islands.

He directed Colonel John D. Cook, commander of the Army Transport Service unit on Cebu, to move all food and other supplies into the mountains.

After the capitulation of the Luzon Force in Bataan, the 14th Imperial Japanese Army under Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu trained its sights on the small island of Corregidor and was able to spare units for the Visayas and Mindanao.

[8] On May 10, 1942, orders from the Visayas-Mindanao Force headquarters in Bukidnon were received by all garrison commanders on Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte-Samar.