503rd PIR, Nadzab, New Guinea

503rd PIR patch

Many members of MacArthur’s staff were not enthusiastic about the plan. Allied resources were thin, and Japanese air and ground strength was formidable. Many military planners were skeptical of airborne operations. Some questioned the viability of the entire concept. German paratroops had suffered unsustainable casualties assaulting Crete in May, 1941. Allied airborne operations had met with disaster invading Sicily in July, 1943. Experience argued against establishing additional airborne units. Nevertheless, Kenney was convinced that with proper planning and support his plan would succeed. Fifth Air Force firepower was committed to provide close air support, and the troopers would be dropped in one lift to achieve mass and surprise. 

This was the first combat jump for the 503rd PIR.

The U.S. 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) was tasked to jump on Nadzab, New Guinea, to seize, clear and defend the airstrip. The 503rd PIR was one the first operational airborne units created by the U.S. Army. The paratroopers had been training for eight months in Australia and were ready to fight. The regiment was reinforced by a section of Australian parachute field artillery. They would later be joined by a small, elite unit of Australian engineers tasked with making the field operational. The U.S. 871st Airborne Engineer Battalion would be air-landed after the initial drop to clear the way for the transports ferrying in the Australian infantry. The operation started on September 5, one day after the amphibious assault by the 9th Australian Division south of Lae.

Landing of the 503rd Parachute Regiment

That dawn, seventy-nine transport planes and swarms of fighters and bombers departed from eight forward airfields scattered across New Guinea. They flew fast and low through the misty mountains of the Owen Stanley Range and rendezvoused over Nadzab. Allied fighters established a multi-layered air umbrella; medium bombers strafed and bombed suspected enemy positions while attack bombers put down smoke screens along the edges of the drop zones. Three columns of transport planes, flying at an altitude of 600 feet, dropped the paratroopers. Once the troopers had secured and marked the drop zones, heavy bombers, carrying 300 pound supply parcels rigged with parachutes, began to circle and drop additional supplies to the ground force.

503rd landing behind smoke screen

The Japanese were completely surprised. They had no troops in the area, and within hours the airstrip at Nadzab was firmly in Allied hands. The engineers worked feverishly to improve the strip while the paratroopers established a defensive perimeter and sent out reconnaissance patrols toward Lae. Advanced elements of the Australian 7th Division flew into Nadzab on September 6. By September 10, the division’s lead brigade, supported by Fifth Air Force transports and bombers, was on its way to Lae. The Japanese could not stop the assault, and the fortress fell on September 16. The supply lines to Rabaul were cut, and the Allies passed another milestone on their way to Tokyo.

The 503rd PIR assault on Nadzab was one of history’s most successful airborne operations. General MacArthur called it the greatest example of combat efficiency he had ever witnessed. The results had skeptical minds in the army and elsewhere reconsidering their objections to airborne operations. General Kenney’s imaginative use of airpower and willingness to accept risk, combined with the flexibility of Australian ground commanders and the superb tactical skill of Allied soldiers and airmen, did more than shorten the war in the Pacific.  (This action was prior to the regiment joining the 11th Airborne Division.)

Information acquired from the U.S. Army.

Here is a very short video made of the jump!

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PERSONAL NOTE –  Our fellow blogger Mustang Koji and his family are supporting a worthy program for our deployed troops, Operation Gratitude.  Please pay them both a visit!

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HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY 2016!! 

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Military Humor –

“Yum, what a dish that is!

 

Click on image to enlarge.

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Farewell Salutes –

Francis Blackwell Alley – Tyron, NC; US Army WAC, WWII

Mark Cofield – Colorado Springs, CO; US Army, Iraq, XVIII A/B Corps, Sgt., KIA

Jerry Davis – Cedar Ridge, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division

Edwin Fields – VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 8th Air Force, B-24 gunner

Leo Hallahan – Dubuque, IA; US Army, WWII, PTO

Earl Martin – Brush Prairie, WA; US Merchant Marines, WWII

Alex Ochipa – Berwick, PA; US Army, WWII

Orville Petty – Jacksonville, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII

Vincent Quigley – Scarborough, CAN; RC Army, WWII, Irish Regiment

William Unger – Belvidere, KS & New Orleans, LA; USMC (Ret. 30 years), WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Navy Cross

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