PALAU: THE FIGHT FOR BLOODY NOSE RIDGE

[Music] SP [Music] by the end of summer 1944 American forces were well established in the maranas only 1500 mil from Tokyo in the Southwest Pacific US Army troops had swept to the Western tip of New Guinea but further progress from both of those newly won positions demanded the securing of the flank between Western new guine and the Marianas lay a small group of islands on the Carolin called palao to the top strategists of the Pacific War the problem was must heavily defendant palao be taken in the late summer of 1944 the Allied Advance on the Western Pacific pointed to a quickening schedule of invasions morotai and the halmahera group was an obvious Target on the drive from New Guinea on the right flank of that route lay palao the necessity for the invasion of the palao islands was discussed by the top Army and Navy commanders in the Pacific at Great length General MacArthur intent on retaking the Philippines felt that palao must be seized to secure his right flank and also to provide a base from which air cover could be furnished for the Philippine operation Admiral Nimitz agreed Admiral Hy on the other hand felt that the palao campaign was not really necessary during September H's third fleet was on the prowl in the waters off the southern Philippines and launched its planes in attacks against enemy airfields on those [Music] islands the carrier planes attacks were highly successful [Music] because of the light opposition to these carrier raids on the Philippines Hy recommended that Pala be bypassed a recommendation which was not followed by his superiors at home in the late summer of 1944 America was demonstrating that she was fully capable of waging Warfare successfully against the enemies in Europe and in Asia Less Than 3 years after Pearl Harbor US industry was Achi aing miracles in producing the machines and weapons of war in unbelievable quantities America was geared completely to the demands of the two ocean war supplying the troops on both sides of the world was the nation's number one business by the late summer of 44 America's Millions had adjusted with good grace to the inconveniences and shortages of wartime living America was solidly behind the two wars being fought on far flung Battlefield on Main Street and on Broadway US citizens were investing in that war to shorten the time needed to win that war the people young and old directed all their energies toward one goal the backing up of American fighting men of course everybody had to relax once in a while especially the service men just back from the front and there was a good deal to be happy about Paris had been liberated and patton was racing across France most Americans felt it wouldn't be too long before the nais were knocked out of the war then the us could rarely go to work on Japan mounting confidence was evident all over the United States but there were constant reminders too that the war wasn't quite one that there were still costly battles to be fought in the Western Pacific in early September 1944 the war was being carried forward toward eventual final Victory by the powerful amphibious forces which were driving deeper into the enemy's zone of Defense the immediate objective was the group of islands called Pala to seize the most strategically important Islands in that chain a force of sizable proportions was dispatched assigned to bombard and invade the designated Target Islands in mid-september the decision on which islands of the group to invade was a difficult one the largest number of Japanese troops was concentrated on Babel tup the largest island less than half as many enemy troops Garrison pelalu which also had an airst strip a relatively small Force defended Anga which was in a commanding position at the base of the palao chain the amphibious Force which moved northwestward through the far Pacific was to strike at the last two of those islands pelu and Anga the naval and Troop commanders checked over the planned invasions for the last time on September 15th 1944 the assault was begun on pelu Island by the men of the first Marine Division the last pre-invasion air strikes were made concluding three days of softening up enemy strong points by strafing and bombing pelalu was to be invaded and captured so that US forces would gain possession of the vitally important airfield on the island a key to the control of the Western Pacific area before the assault troops stormed ashore on pelu the approaches to the beach were prepared for the first waves of boats this delicate and hazardous job fell to the underwater demolition teams composed of selected Navy and Marine volunteers popular known as frog men the underwater demolition men had to be able to swim long distances underwater and to work well completely on their own the Frog men had to work quickly first in locating the obstacle to be removed natural or artificial and then to set the high explosive charge correctly under the most difficult condition then the trick was to get back to the pickup boat without being spotted by the enemy once safely out of the immediate area the job was completed during the latter years of World War II the Frog men enabled many invasions to go off smoothly early on D-Day morning the Navy's warship sought to soften up the beaches by the final pre-invasion bombardment though the battle on Shore was expected to be another toara the Navy complained that they had run out of targets but there were many installations which the Navy's guns did not even touch as H hour neared the combat information center aboard ship became the nerve center of the operation at 6:30 on D-Day morning the amphibian tractors carrying their compliment of assault troops started for the line of departure the area from which the final Dash to the beach would be begun the landing craft each one a part of a designated wave rendevu before making the coordinated move moved toward the beaches in The palu Invasion each step of the operation by each unit was reported to the top commanders on the command ship they were thus able to gain an overall picture of the situation final line of departure at 0825 on Deck The Troop commanders watched anxiously as the landing craft moved toward the beaches the assault troops were preceded by a rocket barrage directed against the area behind the Landing beaches resistance on pelu was expected to be heavy as the armored amphibians moved toward Shore they drew heavy fire from the enemy a good indication of what was in store on the beaches as the landing craft neared the shore the atmosphere aboard the command ship became charged with tension each message received from The Assault units helped fill in a vital part of the broad Mosaic of the battle for the beach head this was the first amphibious assault made by the first Marine Division to be opposed by the enemy The Landings at guad Canal and Cape Gloucester New Britain had been nothing like this in the Marine Corps the first division had earned the reputation of drawing operations which entailed easy Landing but as at pelalu this tradition of good luck was dissipated the first waves hit the beach to the accompaniment of intense enemy mortar and artillery fire the prediction that it would be rough turned out to be an understatement casualties on the beaches were heavy the first Marine Division was paying dearly for the small strip of coral and sand along Cal's western shore to hold on to the slim foothold the Marines had to drive quickly Inland to deepen their Beach head in the face of withering enemy fire they pushed ahead on the Left Flank the battle was particularly tough the Third Battalion of the first Marine regiment ran into very heavy opposition a brutal fight developed on dday on pelu the situation reports on the Fierce and Confused fighting were relayed regularly to the top command the line against the enemy was broken by two major gaps so serious that the position of the entire us force on the island was endangered one we are under heavy INF a fire the critical situation was followed with careful attention to every minute detail by the commanders of the operation on the command ship offshore on the afternoon of D-Day on pelalu the Marines found themselves faced with the necessity of stopping a strong enemy Counterattack the men of the first Battalion fifth Marine regiment raced themselves for the attack at 450: the Marines opened up with everything they [Music] had in the The Savage battle American tanks once again took the measure of the obsolete Japanese models the enemy Counterattack failed completely and ended in a familiar way the first objective for which the Marines were fighting so bitterly was the airfield on pelalu to seize that air strip the exhausted Marines pushed on in a determined effort to gain that prize before nightfall by the late afternoon the Marines had possession of part of that objective but the conquest of pelu wasn't to be as brief as originally planned the biggest obstacle to the marinees progress was bloody nose Ridge H up inside many of the peaks in that Ridge the Japanese troops could exist for a long period could enter and leave by any one of a number of passages it was up to the the Marines to clean the enemy out of every cave entrance and they attacked the job with great [Music] [Music] [Music] determination the fight to take bloody nose Ridge on pelalu was one of the toughest spot actions of the entire Pacific War casualties in the lines were taken back to a more protected area but sometimes that job was almost impossible many of the casualties were taken to a safer position behind the front right under the sights of the enemy's guns during the first two days one company alone suffered 67% casualties it became apparent that this was to be no quick operation as often as possible badly wounded Marines were taken off the island entirely out of range of the enemy's fire during many of the Pacific campaigns the wounded American serviceman was transferred quickly to a waiting hospital ship standing by offshore often the entire trip from the front lines to the sanctuary of the ship's Hospital took less than an hour many of the difficult surgical cases would not have been saved in former Wars indeed the advances made in medical science during World War II helped keep us casualties at a minimum thanks directly to the efficient work of the Army and Navy doctors and the nurse Corp the lives of thousands of American fighting men were saved the invasion of Anga was made by the Army's 81st division on September 17th 2 days after the assault on paralu the 81st nicknamed the Wildcat division was commanded by General Paul Miller who led his troops into combat for the first time on Angar after the customary softening up of the beaches the men of the 81st landed against light resistance and went about the job of seizing the island from the enemy Garrison Force Anga was not heavily defended but the enemy had to be wiped out yard by [Music] yard the gis on Anga suffered some casualties too but fortunately not a high percentage of the troops committed the front line work of the army Medics Under Fire was notable for 4 days the gis pressed attack on Anga on September 20th all organized resistance ceased the enemy's defense of Anga had crumbled the island was declared officially secure on that fourth day without any loss of time Army Engineers went to work on the construction of an air strip on the island the work of clearing the area was carried forward under enemy sniper fire the field on Anga would provide a second bomber strip in the Pala and would lessen the amount of traffic on the palu Strip construction was continued even after dark the GI in charge of the lights which flooded the area was ready to pull the switch in a second if an alert was sounded on pelu the Marines were having a tougher time dealing with the enemy in the caves of bloody nose Ridge a fortress which was proving virtually impregnable to the Marines continuing attacks progress was slow the Marines Advanced slightly only to be stopped after each small [Music] gain sometimes the Marines would be thrown back from their newly won position the call for air support was quickly answered [Music] the men on the ground took a short breather while Marine pilots went to work on the enemy the crescendo of the howitzers prefaced each new [Music] attack why [Music] some areas of bloody noose Ridge were fought for several times on pelu advances were often measured in terms of a few yards [Music] once in a great while the Marines gave their weapons a short rest the Navy hospital Corman had plenty to do casualties were mounting at an alarming rate General William ruperto felt that his first Marine Division could carry on without help but his Superior third amphibious Corp Commander Marine General Roy gger felt that it would be wise to bring in as reinforcement a regimental combat team from the Army's 81st division relatively fresh after the short struggle on Anga the gis of the 321st Infantry Regiment were to relieve a badly chewed up Marine regiment the first which had been clawing at the enemy at bloody noose Ridge for eight straight days the soldiers were to work with elements of the seventh Marine regiment in the Drive North to secure the northern section of pelalu the Army troops edged around the Ridge and approached it from the North in a move coordinated with Marine attacks from the sides of the ridge some of the Marines were assisted by war dogs who were trained to detect the enemy's presence the fight for bloody nose raged on from the airfield on pelalu Marine pilots took off on the shortest bomb run in World War II in the Pacific 1,000 yd to the Target bloody noose Ridge more formerly called Umar broal Mountain sometimes the planes dropped napom build belly tanks with instantaneous fuse mechanisms the results were most effective napom which had first been used against the enemy on tinium often proved more devastating than regular bombs particularly on Jagged terrain week after week US troops assaulted bloody noose Ridge with every weapon available our favorite weapon of Japanese soldiers on suicide missions was the Bangalore [Music] torpedo while the campaign on pelalu was continuing it became apparent that a supplementary operation would have to be conducted against an adjoining Island in Gabus which was given a once over by the Marine [Music] pilots on September 28th Marines of the Third Battalion fifth Marine regiment conducted a well executed shore-to-shore operation from pelalu to nasus this small scale invasion was necessary to deny the enemy the use of a base for his artillery which was being directed against US troops on pelu Gabus was seized without too much difficulty by the Thousand Marines the island was taken quickly and US losses were light on palu the fight for bloody nose continued without let up by the end of September the enemy was losing control of the island a number of Japanese soldiers surrendered but the they represented only a part of the force still alive on pelu for every enemy soldier who gave himself up there were many more still holed up in the caves of bloody noose Ridge on pelu a handful of Japanese troops were taken alive before the island was turned secure as for the rest the US forces spent another 8 weeks sealing up cave entrances in the last pocket of enemy resistance an area about 900 yd long and 400 yd wide by late November the enemy was all finished on pelu in taking two key islands in the Pala us fighting men had seized a valuable area in the far reaches of the Western Pacific the Stars and Stripes Flew Over the most westerly of the carollyn islands after a campaign which ranked with the most bitterly fought of the war in the Pacific from that territory one at a cost of more than 1600 American lives US forces were in position for their next move in October a sizable air strip capable of accommodating heavy bombers was in operation on Anga from that field us bomber Pilots made periodic runs over some of the islands in the palao group which had not been invaded by American amphibious forces the pilots concentrated on enemy positions on Babel tuop and Kor occasionally these routine missions proved fatal but gradually the air over the Western Pacific came under Us control with morai and the malakas functioning as one air base and the Pala as another us planes could easily cover the forthcoming invasion of the Philippines starting in October us bombers operating from palao attacked Japanese fields and installations in the Philippines and just one month after dday at pelalu US invasion forces were on route to the long awaited invasion of the Philippine Islands [Music] andice [Music] all of in the fre let every feel your