Inland Movement of Supplies
As the roads on Leyte became more and more unserviceable, greater reliance was placed on the use of naval vessels to transport supplies and personnel to various parts of the island. The Transportation Section, Sixth Army, maintained a small-boat pool that was used extensively to transport light cargo and personnel between Tacloban, San Ricardo, Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa, Dulag, and Catmon Hill.[6] LCM’s were widely employed on the northern and eastern coasts of the island and LSM’s operated on the west coast.[7] (Table 2)
APPROACH ROAD TO QUARTERMASTER SERVICE CENTER at Tacloban after a heavy rain (above). The 7th Cavalry motor pool on 17 December 1944 (below).
Table 2—Shipping Tonnage Discharged in Leyte-Samar Area, 28 October-25 December 1944
| Period | TonnageDischarge | Average Daily Rateof Discharge | Lighterage onHand | |||
| LCT’s | LCM’s | DUKW’s | Barges | |||
| Total | 571,350 | |||||
| 28 Oct–3 Nov | 33,901 | 4,843 | 11 | 54 | 107 | 18 |
| 4 Nov–10 Nov | 32,421 | 4,632 | 35 | 63 | 315 | 33 |
| 11 Nov–17 Nov | 141,238 | 20,177 | 26 | 69 | 219 | 33 |
| 18 Nov–24 Nov | 110,494 | 15,785 | 18 | 59 | 253 | 39 |
| 25 Nov–1 Dec | 47,744 | 6,821 | 28 | 71 | 289 | 38 |
| 2 Dec–8 Dec | 56,786 | 8,112 | 24 | 53 | 297 | 43 |
| 9 Dec–15 Dec | 53,387 | 7,627 | 21 | 53 | 294 | 42 |
| 16 Dec–22 Dec | 68,677 | 9,811 | 39 | 68 | 300 | 49 |
| 23 Dec–25 Dec | 26,702 | 8,900 | 39 | 69 | 287 | 49 |
Source: G-4 Report, Sixth Army Operations Report Leyte, p. 218.
The troops that were fighting in the mountains were frequently supplied by airdrops by the 11th Air Cargo Resupply Squadron from supplies that were available in the Leyte area. From about the middle of November until the latter part of December, 1,167,818 pounds of supplies were either dropped or delivered by air. (Table 3) Two hundred and eighty-two plane loads of supplies were dropped, a total of 2,776 parachutes being used. Because of the nature of the terrain and the proximity of the Japanese, the proportion of airdropped supplies that could be recovered varied from 65 to 90 percent. Approximately 60 percent of the parachutes were recovered and returned to the 11th Air Cargo Resupply Squadron.[8]