60-MM. MORTAR used to fire on enemy pillboxes. The Japanese, battling fiercely, delayed but could not stop the U.S. drive in the Ormoc valley. By the end of November troops were closing in on Limon and were threatening Ormoc from the south.
PHILIPPINES
TROOPS USING JAPANESE HORSES AND MULE to transport their supplies. On 1 December seven divisions were ashore and five airfields were in operation. On 7 December a division landed south of Ormoc and by 10 December Ormoc was captured together with great quantities of enemy supplies and equipment. Some enemy survivors fled to the hills.
PHILIPPINES
AMERICAN MOTOR CONVOY moving through the streets of a town on Leyte; vehicle in foreground is a cargo carrier M29. Valencia was taken on 18 December, Libungao on 20 December. After troops moved down from the mountains to take Cananga on 21 December, the enemy retreated westward. The Leyte Campaign was considered closed on 26 December but mopping-up activities continued for several months.
GUAM
LINESMAN STRINGING COMMUNICATIONS WIRE ON GUAM stops to watch Liberators taking off from the airfield there. During the last part of 1944 the number of B-29’s based in the Marianas was rapidly increased for participation in strategic bombing attacks on Japanese industrial centers. Large-scale raids on the industry of Japan were soon to be launched.