Leyte: The Return to the Philippines

by M. Hamlin Cannon

The company commander ordered his unit to hold its position and then returned south of the bridge to bring up more tanks. The 1st Platoon of Company F moved to the left rear to protect that flank, which was receiving considerable enemy fire. As the company commander rushed back to get the tanks, about twenty Japanese attacked the 1st Platoon in an attempt to envelop the left flank of the company. The platoon leader ordered his men to hold their fire until the enemy was only five yards away, and nearly all of the Japanese were killed in the initial volley. The platoon held its ground to prevent any further enveloping attempts by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Company F’s commanding officer found that no tanks were available, since they could not cross the weakened bridge. He returned to Company F and ordered it to retire to the tank trap, reorganize, and evacuate the wounded.

In the meantime, in order to relieve the pressure on Company G (on the right), which had run into somewhat the same situation, Lt. Col. William B. Moore, the battalion commander, committed Company E to the right (east) flank. Company E initially encountered determined opposition but managed to flank the enemy and assist Company G in its sector. At the same time the engineer troops of the 13th Engineer Battalion, working feverishly under heavy fire, tried to repair the damaged bridge. One of the armored bulldozers lost three drivers, successively, to enemy fire.

Under the close supervision of Colonel Moore, who was in the front lines, the 2d Battalion pressed the attack. Two M8 armored cars were brought wide around the right flank in order to avoid the swamp. With their aid, Companies E and G rolled up the east flank of the 20th Infantry Regiment and broke through the pillboxes in their own area.

Company C was committed to the left of Company F in order to aid it. Although this move was partially successful, Company C found itself pinned down by an enemy force entrenched in pillboxes and zigzag trenches. Since the Japanese defense line extended beyond the regiment’s left (west) flank and around it to the south, Company B was committed further left to hit the southern flank of the enemy. Although Company B could not break through the line, it was able to locate the enemy right flank and neutralize the fire on that flank.

One of the three tanks that had gone north in the morning returned at 1400 and was guided into the sector of Company F. With all of its guns blazing, the tank broke through the enemy fortifications, and Companies C and F were then able to move in and mop up the enemy. The other two tanks had gone up the road some 250 yards when they met antitank fire which completely destroyed one and immobilized the other, trapping its crew. As soon as the bridge was made passable, two M8’s, a medium tank, and a squad from Company F were sent to rescue the trapped crew. While the medium tank and the infantry covered the damaged tank, the M8’s drew up to it and allowed its crew to escape into their open turrets. The detail withdrew, having suffered no casualties, and the immobilized tank was then destroyed.

At dusk the 2d Battalion, 17th Infantry, and the committed companies from the 1st Battalion pushed some 300 yards beyond the enemy strong point and formed a perimeter defense for the night.[45] Company B on the far left flank was withdrawn and closed into the perimeter. Although machine gun and mortar fire came from the left line of fortifications, there was no major action on the part of the Japanese. A few of the enemy, attempting to crawl through a trench into the position of Company F, became ensnarled in the concertina wire and were then destroyed by grenades.

Since the 2d Battalion had borne the brunt of the fighting on 28 October and had suffered numerous casualties, the regimental commander decided to have the battalion drop back into reserve. Although the drive to Dagami was to continue, the north-south line of enemy pillboxes on the left flank of the regiment could not be ignored. At 0800 on 29 October the regimental lines were to be reorganized so that the 3d and 1st Battalions, less Company B, would pass through the 2d Battalion, which would become the regimental reserve. Company B with a platoon of M8’s would attack the flank and rear of the enemy in the left line of pillboxes.

At 0800, under cover of a heavy artillery concentration from the 49th Field Artillery Battalion, the 1st and 3d Battalions, 17th Infantry, passed through the 2d Battalion without incident. Company B, reinforced by the platoon from the Cannon Company, moved out to destroy the enemy force on the regiment’s left flank. The company fought the Japanese from pillbox to pillbox, catching the enemy on his flanks and rear by rifle and machine gun fire, together with time-burst fire from the self-propelled howitzers. This completely demoralized the Japanese, some of whom threw down their arms and tried unsuccessfully to escape. More than 120 enemy dead were counted in the area. The 1st Battalion entered the southern part of Dagami without encountering serious resistance. It then came under artillery fire from the hills west of the town.

The 3d Battalion proceeded east of the road in a column of companies in the order L, K, and I, and met no serious opposition until it reached a cemetery south of Dagami. Overgrown with weeds seven to ten feet high and containing stone crypts built off the ground, the cemetery was divided by a path running east to west. As Company L moved into the burial ground, Company I swung around the right (east) side to come into position for the night. The leading elements of Company L passed through the cemetery and Company I moved into position without incident, but as the 1st Platoon of Company L, the reserve platoon, crossed the path, a headstone tilted back and from the open grave four Japanese opened fire with an American Browning automatic rifle and other small arms. The small arms of the 1st Platoon had no effect and it became necessary to bring forward a flame thrower to burn the enemy out. At the same time the platoon received fire from other open graves, from which the Japanese had removed the bodies. By punching holes through the stone they used the crypts as individual foxholes. The platoon broke into small units and pushed through the cemetery, destroying the enemy forces wherever they could be located.

Company K, which followed Company I, placed two platoons abreast behind Company L. As it came through the weeds past the cemetery path a Japanese officer charged on the right flank with his saber and wounded one man before he could be brought down. Since the platoons were also receiving heavy fire from the tombs, the commander of Company K drew his men back to the path where they reorganized. Preceded by a battery of six flame throwers, the men then marched shoulder to shoulder through the cemetery and burnt out the enemy. About 1900 the regiment completed the action and formed its night perimeter.