 The Japanese Occupation of Basilan was rather uneventful, however, it barely affected the residents, except in terms of Japanese demand for food for their military machinery.In fact, Datu Mursalun and his family watched, without much interest, the American bombings of the Spanish fort and naval hospital in Isabela which signaled the retaking of Basilan by joint Filipino and American troops in 1945.On 10 March 1945, the U.S. Eighth Army under Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger was formally ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to clear the rest of Mindanao was supported by the Filipino soldiers of the 6th, 101st and 102nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, 10th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary and guerrilla resistance fighters, with the start of Operation VICTOR V, with expectations that the campaign would take four months.