11th Airborne Division – rumors fly

Jan 17

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11th Airborne Division jump school, Lipa, Luzon, 1945

The intensity of the Air Corps Troops Carrier Group’s training and the establishment of the division’s 3rd parachute school at Lipa, Luzon started many rumors floating about the division area.

The more practical savants had the division jumping ahead of the forces invading Japan; others thought China a more obvious choice; and still other amateur strategists thought that Formosa would make a fine DZ.  But, of course, none of these courses of action was to be.

Gen. Joseph M. Swing

At the end of July, Gen. Swing called John Conable into his makeshift office in a schoolhouse outside Lipa.  Gen. Swing introduced Conable to an Air Corps Major.  The Major asked Conable how many planes it would take to move the division about 800 air miles.  Conable remembers:

I asked General Swing how many units of fire he wanted.  He said figure on a quarter of a unit.  To say that I was surprised is a major understatement.  The Old Man never wanted to go anywhere without at least two units of fire.

Then the General added:  “Be sure to bring the band in one of the early serials.”  The Major and I went back to my desk.  I got out the plans I had for Olympic.

While he was looking at them, I excused myself and went into the map room.  It was just 800 miles from Okinawa to Tokyo!  Both the Major and I were worried about gasoline.  A C-46 or 47 didn’t have enough fuel capacity to make a 1,600 mile round trip.  He left with the number of men, weight, and volume of mortars, jeeps, etc.  No more was said.

But the incident caused Major Conable to consider that there was definitely “something different in the wind.”  And indeed there was!!

The 5th Air Force (FEAF) were operating in both the CBI Theater and still on Luzon to support the ground forces, along with the USMC.  All the existing units of the Air Corps in the Pacific were in motion at this time; moving their bases to more effective locations.

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Military Humor – When the WAC’s took over!       Humor by: Pfc Everett Smith in New Guinea

“TOO MUCH BEER LAST NIGHT, MISS PRINGLE?”

“DAMN THESE G.I. LATRINES!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Matthew Brown – Massapequa, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Co. F/152 Artillery/11th Airborne Division

Donald Edge – Fayetteville, NC; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

11th Airborne Memorial at Tagatay, P.I.

Brian Garfield – Tucson, AZ; US Army / author of: “The Thousand-Mile War”

Joe Jackson – Newman, GA; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Col. (Ret. 32 y.), U-2 pilot, Medal of Honor

Robert Leroy – Langley, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQ/3/511/11th Airborne Division

Jeremy Nash – ENG; British Navy, WWII, ETO, weapons officer HMS Proteus, Commander (Ret.)

Alfred K. Newman – Bloomfield, NM; USMC, WWII, PTO, Code Talker, 1/21/3rd Marine Division

Elmer Patrick – Monticello, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/188/11th Airborne Division

Clarence Strobel – Stockton, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/ 188th/11th Airborne Division

Michael C. Vasey Sr. – Roseburg, OR; US Army, Vietnam, Military Police, Lt. Colonel (Ret. 20 y.), 2 Bronze Stars

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About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on January 17, 2019, in First-hand Accounts, SMITTY, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 95 Comments.

  1. charlypriest | January 27, 2019 at 2:12 PM

    As always interesting read about this division, and the video was high quality. Next time you flight in one of those WW2 bombers you might think to……jump! With a parachute of course and we can throw in a instructor also. Ever thought about it?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Equipping | January 24, 2019 at 7:15 AM

    Thanks for your like of my article, “The Twinkling Of An Eye;” more is on the way!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. maureenjenner | January 20, 2019 at 12:15 PM

    Reminds me of an old story about some children who went on a Sunday School picnic. A little girl asked the teacher where she could ‘go wee’ after drinking too much lemonade; the teacher discreetly showed her a spot behind a suitable bush, but during the process of having to squat down, one little bottom got stung by a nettle.

    Upon returning to the picnic, the little girl was asked by a little boy, where he could go have a wee too; the little girl told him and then crept up to watch him get stung on his bottom; he didn’t of course. As he emerged from behind the bush the little girl said in amazement, “That’s a handy thing to take on a picnic,”

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Nasuko | January 19, 2019 at 8:21 PM

    Last Images are very Humorous!! Very nice!! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Nika | January 19, 2019 at 4:06 PM

    I think my son calls the eating place the “Defac”, but not sure if I’m hearing correctly as reception is a bit off where he is stationed.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Brad Nixon | January 19, 2019 at 12:00 PM

    Always take the band!

    I had to look up a lot of places in this blog post, and I’ll eventually learn my way around the Pacific, courtesy of the Pacific Paratrooper.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. LordBeariOfBow | January 18, 2019 at 9:32 PM

    That Joe Jackson certainly worked his way up through the ranks, and then served in 3 wars,Glutton for punishment or adventure perhaps,

    That Jeremy Nash at the time of his death was the oldest surviving submariner of WWII I read.

    There can’t be too many of any WWII veterans left now.

    Soon there will be none

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. deplorablesunite | January 18, 2019 at 8:27 PM

    Think of the lives on both sides the A-bombs actually saved

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Amy | January 18, 2019 at 9:29 AM

    Hmmm, very interesting.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. jfwknifton | January 18, 2019 at 3:11 AM

    I really cannot think of a worse thing to do in WW2 than to parachute onto the sacred soil of the Japanese homeland, a place where children under 10 were being taught how to roll under tanks and other vehicles and then to detonate the grenade they had been issued with. Thank God nobody had to do this kind of thing and a couple of bombs and the threat of the Red hordes was enough to bring about a peaceful end.

    Like

    Reply
  13. shoreacres | January 17, 2019 at 11:04 PM

    When there’s an absence of hard information, gossip, scuttlebutt, and wild imaginings are inevitable. If nothing else, they help to ease anxiety — the unknown can be terrifically hard to deal with.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  14. emanuel valenzuela | January 17, 2019 at 6:00 PM

    My father Frank Valenzuela who served in Japan at war’s end, Passed away last year. I don’t have his company name or info!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. lorriebowden | January 17, 2019 at 4:57 PM

    Sending best wishes for a 2019 filled with good things! Thanks for always being a source of support to me…and for your hard work on your articles. Blessings

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  16. calmkate | January 17, 2019 at 3:57 PM

    sad part of history 😦

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. John W. Howell | January 17, 2019 at 12:47 PM

    Loved the cartoons, GP. I guess everyone would wonder what is going on prior to the surrender of Japan.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  18. Int'l Historical Research Associates | January 17, 2019 at 11:25 AM

    Getting closer and closer to the end of a long, hard fight.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. Lee Austin | January 17, 2019 at 11:03 AM

    Thanks for including Mike.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  20. fragglerocking | January 17, 2019 at 10:55 AM

    I can’t imagine ever jumping out of an aeroplane on purpose! Brave chaps.

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. DC Gilbert | January 17, 2019 at 9:48 AM

    The dangers of scuttlebutt! LOL!

    Liked by 2 people

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  23. Dan Antion | January 17, 2019 at 9:41 AM

    Those must have been very stressful days for the troops and leadership that didn’t know what was coming.

    Liked by 2 people

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  25. Cape Cod Curmudgeon | January 17, 2019 at 9:00 AM

    Long live “Toxic Masculinity”.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  26. SCLMRose | January 17, 2019 at 8:29 AM

    Reblogged this on Subli and commented:
    Do you know there was a parachute school in Lipa during WWII?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  27. SCLMRose | January 17, 2019 at 8:24 AM

    With all the activities going on in July, one can only assume something big was about to happen.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  28. Peter Klopp | January 17, 2019 at 7:58 AM

    When there is no concrete information, rumours fly.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  29. ekurie | January 17, 2019 at 7:56 AM

    Curiosity got the better of me! Wonderedwhen the 1st mid-air refueling took place, found this (did not check for validity though, is it right?)—
    http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/11/first-aerial-refueling/

    Liked by 1 person

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  30. beetleypete | January 17, 2019 at 6:54 AM

    What a relief, that they never had to make that air drop into Japan. Small wonder everyone was concerned about that possibility.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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