Leyte: The Return to the Philippines

by M. Hamlin Cannon

In support of the advance of the 17th Infantry, the 49th Field Artillery Battalion fired 577 rounds of ammunition during the day. The fires “varied from knocking out machine guns to fire on mortars and on troops in the open.”[64] The 17th Infantry had forced the 1st Battalion, 12th Independent Infantry Regiment, to start withdrawal to a hill farther north. At the same time, Japanese engineer and artillery units at Albuera “were erecting anti-landing obstacles along the beach and putting up antitank defenses.”[65]

At the end of 5 December the 17th Infantry had secured the ridge west of Hill 918 and the 184th Infantry had secured a line extending from the beach 300 yards south of Balogo east to the high ground southeast of the Palanas River. Company K, 32d Infantry, had filled a gap that had existed between the 17th and 184th Infantry Regiments, while the 3d Battalion, 184th Infantry, had crossed the Palanas River and, advancing up the southwest slope of Hill 380, reached the top of the first ridge. There were no enemy attacks during the night.

Hill 380

General Arnold ordered the regiments to capture all of Hill 918, the northern slope of Hill 380, and the Palanas River valley. The 1st and 2d Battalions, 17th Infantry, aided by the 2d Battalion, 184th Infantry, were to move northeast until their front lines were on an east-west line south of the Palanas River. They were then to launch an attack to the north and capture the slope of Hill 380 in their zone of action. The 3d Battalion, 17th Infantry, was to attack to the north on the eastern slope of Hill 918 and capture the slope of Hill 380 in its zone of action. The 184th Infantry was to capture the northern slope of Hill 380 and assist the 17th Infantry in its movement north.[66]

The 184th Infantry started out at 0800 on 6 December with the 1st Battalion on the left and the 3d Battalion on the right. Supported by eight tanks, the 1st Battalion pushed through rifle fire, moved into Balogo, and cleared the town. The battalion commander then ordered Company B to seize a ridge just east of Balogo. Though the company temporarily secured the ridge, at 1155 the Japanese drove the men off. At 1210 artillery and mortar fire was placed against the Japanese positions on the ridge. As soon as the supporting fire lifted, at 1305, Company B sent a platoon through Company K to hit the ridge from the right flank.[67] Company B secured the ridge at 1510 but fifty yards farther north on the southern slope of the next ridge strong elements of the 26th Division had dug in, making it impossible for the troops to move forward. Before the jump-off of the 3d Battalion, 184th Infantry, a platoon from Company K secured the first ridge north of the battalion position. At 1000 the rest of the battalion reached the top of Hill 380 and secured an enemy field artillery observation post from which it could see enemy activity in a deep valley north of Hill 380. Elements of the 26th Division set up machine guns and delivered mortar and artillery fire on Hill 380 throughout the afternoon.[68] The 1st and 3d Battalions, 184th Infantry, covered by mortar and artillery fire, set up night perimeters, the latter on Hill 380 and the former on the ridge east of Balogo. The 2d Battalion, 184th Infantry, remained in the Palanas River valley throughout the day.

The 1st and 2d Battalions of the 17th Infantry jumped off abreast. The 1st Battalion reached the ridge which led west from Hill 918 and overlooked the Palanas River, where it found strong enemy positions that had been abandoned. While the 1st Battalion reorganized, advance platoons, one each from Companies B and C, went across the Palanas River to the next ridge, which overlooked the Tabgas River. The 1st Battalion, in conjunction with the 2d Battalion, 184th Infantry, followed the platoons at a distance of about 500 yards. Company B moved behind a “protective nose” which led south from the main ridge and Company C pushed “a knife edge east of Company B.”[69] As Company C reached a point just short of the main ridge, the men moved in single file and were pinned down by heavy machine gun cross fire from both flanks and to their front. Company B, attempting to envelop the entrenched enemy from the west, encountered heavy fire on its left front, which made any envelopment in that direction impossible. At 1500 a strong column of the enemy counterattacked the left flank of Company C, but six machine guns from Company D broke up the enemy attack. The 1st Battalion dug in for the night halfway up Hill 380.[70]

Meanwhile, at 0800, the 2d Battalion, 17th Infantry, had started for Hill 918. The 49th Field Artillery Battalion established a smoke screen on the hill to cover the advance of the infantry,[71] and at 1100 Company E reached the crest of the hill. A patrol located a trail that led down to the Palanas River. As Company E moved down this trail, Company G, though under machine gun fire, pushed straight ahead through the saddle to its front.[72] By 1715 all elements of the 2d Battalion had reached the Palanas River and were moving left to establish contact with the 1st Battalion. From dug-in positions in the dense bamboo thickets on the northern bank of the river, the Japanese opened fire upon the 2d Battalion. Nothing serious developed, however, and the troops formed their night perimeters. The elements of the 1st and 2d Battalions, 17th Infantry, were now in contact on a line along the Palanas River.[73]

The 3d Battalion, 17th Infantry, swung to the extreme right towards Kang Dagit and Kang Cainto in order to hit Hill 380 from the east, but it was hampered by ravines two to three hundred feet deep. Though the advance was very slow, the 3d Battalion in a column of companies with Company L in the lead was able to reach Kang Dagit where it closed for the night.[74]

At the end of the day the 7th Division had secured the barrio of Balogo, had overrun Hill 918 and occupied Kang Dagit, and had established elements of the division on the banks of the Palanas River and on part of Hill 380.

The night of 6–7 December was quiet. General Arnold ordered the 7th Division to attack north at 0800 on 7 December and secure Hills 380 and 606. The 184th Infantry was to capture the high ground south of the Tabgas River.[75] Colonel Pachler ordered the 17th Infantry, with its 1st Battalion on the left and its 2d Battalion on the right, to attack north to secure the portion of Hills 380 and 606 in its sector. The 3d Battalion, 17th Infantry, was to secure Kang Cainto and to be prepared to attack Hill 380 from the east or to continue north. At 0630 patrols went out to make reconnaissance and determine the enemy strength and dispositions to their front.[76]