Guerrillas had informed General Bruce that the bridges on the road that wound through the mountains from the vicinity of Libongao to Palompon either were intact or could be quickly repaired. General Bruce decided to verify this by having an engineer patrol work with the guerrillas and by having a reconnaissance made over the area in a cub plane. On 19 December General Bruce directed that a fast-moving force be organized to operate along the road to Palompon. The engineers later informed him that because of the condition of many of the bridges it would be impossible to send an advance column along the road.[4]
On 21 December General Hodge, anticipating the juncture of the X and XXIV Corps, ordered the 77th Division to be prepared after that event to move rapidly west and seize the Palompon area.[5] On 22 December General Krueger, acting on a recommendation that had been made by General Bruce through General Hodge,[6] informed Admiral Kinkaid that it might be possible to expedite the capture of Palompon by having an infantry battalion, utilizing amphibian vehicles and LCM’s, make an amphibious movement from Ormoc to the vicinity of Palompon. He therefore asked Admiral Kinkaid if naval support to escort and guide this movement could be furnished for either the night of 23–24 or that of 24–25 December. If possible, the amphibious force should have a destroyer escort.[7] Admiral Kinkaid stated, in reply, that because of preparations for other operations it would be “most difficult” to provide a destroyer escort but that he could furnish a PT escort which he believed would be sufficient protection.[8] This was satisfactory to General Krueger and he ordered the XXIV Corps to make plans for the amphibious movement.[9] In turn General Hodge told General Bruce to prepare for the operation.
On 22 December, General Bruce put his plan into operation. The 1st Battalion, 305th Infantry, was to make the amphibious landing in the vicinity of Palompon while the 2d and 3d Battalions were to proceed west along the Palompon road, after moving in trucks from Valencia to the Palompon road near the Togbong River. Previously, on 21 December, Battery A of the 531st Field Artillery Battalion (155-mm. gun) was brought with a great deal of effort to a position near San Jose from which it could fire on Palompon, which the guerrillas and civilians had received instructions to evacuate.[10]
The 1st Battalion was to commence loading at 1400 on 23 December at Ormoc. The convoy was to be protected en route by patrol torpedo boats and close air support. Upon arriving at Palompon at 0500 on 25 December, the mortar-firing LCM’s were to bombard the shore before the assault forces moved in. Beginning 23 December, the artillery of the 77th Division was to bombard Palompon and to continue as long as Lt. Col. James E. Landrum, the task force commander, desired it.[11]
The 1st Battalion was to move ashore on the beach about 1,500 yards north of Palompon with Companies C and B in assault, Company C on the left. Its mission was to destroy the enemy force in Palompon and then turn north.[12]
In support of the proposed landing, aircraft from the Fifth Air Force bombed Palompon on 23 December. The results were “hot stuff,” an overenthusiastic observer reported, claiming that “only half of two houses were left standing in the whole town.”[13]
On 23 December, the reinforced 1st Battalion moved to Ormoc to prepare for the amphibious landing and at 1930 on 24 December the troops embarked.[14] The convoy departed at 2000. The vessels included, in addition to the mechanized landing craft, the LVT’s of the 718th and 536th Amphibian Tractor Battalions. They made the tedious ten-hour trip without incident as far as enemy action was concerned, although three of the LVT’s “sank owing to mechanical failure.”
PALOMPON AFTER ALLIED BOMBINGS. Note bomb craters in foreground.
The vessels took position off the landing beaches on the morning of 25 December. After the 155-mm. guns of the 531st Field Artillery Battalion had fired from positions near San Jose, twelve and a half miles east of Palompon, the mortar boats of the 2d Engineer Special Brigade softened up the beaches. The landing waves then started for the shore, the first wave landing at 0720 and the last one at 0755. They received no hostile fire.