February 1945 (3)

Flamethrower

While advancing, the 11th Airborne encountered heavy barrages from machine guns, mortars, artillery and grenades streaming from tunnels and caves above the highway.  After the enemy was eradicated, the command post dug in on the side of the road.  In the middle of the night, they were attacked.  Headquarters Company used flame throwers and rifle fire to fend them off.

My father, Smitty, would wrinkle his nose at the mere sight of a flame thrower on TV.  He said, “Once you smell burning flesh, it stays with you.  There’s nothing worse.  Every time I see one of those things flare up, even in a movie, I can smell the fuel and flesh all over again.”

The importance of Manila cannot be stressed enough. The natural harbor has served as a strategically situated port for commerce and trade for centuries. Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay are connected by the Pasig River.

Pasig River before the war.

Following the initial American breakthrough on the fourth, fighting raged throughout the city for almost a month. The battle quickly came down to a series of bitter street-to-street and house-to-house struggles. In an attempt to protect the city and its civilians, MacArthur placed stringent restrictions on U.S. artillery and air support. But massive devastation to the urban area could not be avoided. In the north, General Griswold continued to push elements of the XIV Corps south from Santo Tomas University toward the Pasig River.

Late on the afternoon of 4 February he ordered the 2d Squadron, 5th Cavalry, to seize Quezon Bridge, the only crossing over the Pasig that the Japanese had not destroyed. As the squadron approached the bridge, enemy heavy machine guns opened up from a formidable roadblock thrown up across Quezon Boulevard. The Japanese had pounded steel stakes into the pavement, sown the area with mines, and lined up old truck bodies across the road. Unable to advance farther, the cavalry withdrew after nightfall. As the Americans pulled back, the Japanese blew up the bridge.

117th Engineering Batt./37th Div. on Luzon

The next day, 5 February, went more smoothly. Once the 37th Division began to move into Manila, Griswold divided the northern section of the city into two sectors, with the 37th responsible for the western half and the 1st Cavalry responsible for the eastern part.

By the afternoon of the 8th, 37th Division units had cleared most Japanese from their sector, although the damage done to the residential districts was extensive. The Japanese added to the destruction by demolishing buildings and military installations as they withdrew. But the division’s costliest fighting occurred on Provisor Island, a small industrial center on the Pasig River. The Japanese garrison, probably less than a battalion, held off elements of the division until 11 February.

The 1st Cavalry Division had an easier time, encountering little opposition in the suburbs east of Manila. Although the 7th and 8th Cavalry fought pitched battles near two water supply installations north of the city, by 10 February the cavalry had extended its control south of the river. That night, the XIV Corps established for the first time separate bridgeheads on both banks of the Pasig River.

US Army, Luzon

The final attack on the outer Japanese defenses came from the 11th Airborne Division, under the XIV Corps control since 10 February. The division had been halted at Nichols Field on the fourth and since then had been battling firmly entrenched Japanese naval troops, backed up by heavy fire from concealed artillery.

Only on 11 February did the airfield finally fall to the paratroopers, but the acquisition allowed the 11th Airborne Division to complete the American encirclement of Manila on the night of the twelfth.

Click on images to enlarge.

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Current News – B-17 ‘Memphis Belle’ 

Memphis Belle

17 May 2018, the inspiration for 2 movies, the ‘Memphis Belle’ will be put on permanent display, on the 75th anniversary of her 25th mission, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.  She is now fully restored!!

110 Spaatz Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433

for GPS instructions: 5717 Huberville Ave., Riverside, OH 45431

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Military Humor – Bill Mauldin style – 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Burton Atkinson – Toronto, CA; RC Army, WWII, ETO, (attached to British 8th Army)

Glen ‘Swede’ Bergau – Dalkena, WA; US Army, WWII

Arthur Bowkett – New Plymouth, NZ; Royal Marines, WWII, Cpl.

Robert Covington – Grantsville, UT; US Army, Korea

Hyman Fine – Bethesda, MD; US Navy, WWII, Cmdr. / US Air Force, Pentagon

Leo LeBlanc – providence, RI; US Army, WWII, ETO,8th Armored Tank

Roy Miller – Glen Cove, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 navigator

Henry Nowak – Philadelphia, PA; US Navy, WWII / US Army, Korea

Donald Pittman – Kansas City, MO; US Navy, WWII, Korea, (Ret. 20 y.)

David Toschi – San Francisco, CA ; US Army, Korea

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