Battle of Leyte

• 1. The Vow To Return

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  On the 20th of October 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded through the surf onto Red Beach in Palo. He held a microphone aloft and spoke to the gathered Filipino people. His words were simple yet heavy with history. "People of the Philippines, I have returned!" he declared. This moment marked the beginning of a campaign that would last over two months. The United States had not set foot on Philippine soil since the Japanese invasion began in 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered MacArthur to leave the islands just one month before the surrender of all USAFFE forces. That order was meant to save him from capture by the enemy. It also prevented his capture by the Japanese. MacArthur vowed to return to the Philippines as soon as possible. He viewed it as a moral obligation for the United States to liberate the country. In March 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered him to plan an attack on the southern Philippines by year's end. By July, Roosevelt met with MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz in Hawaii. They decided to invade the Philippines to establish land air bases for the Pacific Theater of Operations.

• 2. Commanders And Forces

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  The Allied forces numbered approximately 202,500 officers and enlisted men under Lieutenant General Walter Krueger. The Sixth Army included the X Army Corps led by Lieutenant General Franklin C. Sibert and the XXIV Army Corps commanded by Lieutenant General John R. Hodge. The Northern landing area featured the 24th Infantry Division known as Taro and the 1st Cavalry Division. The Southern landing area contained the 7th Infantry Division called Bayonet and the 96th Infantry Division named Deadeye. Reserve units included the 11th Airborne Division known as Angels which landed on November 14. Additional reserves arrived later including the 32nd Infantry Division called Red Arrow and the 77th Infantry Division named Statue of Liberty. Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid commanded the US Seventh Fleet from his amphibious command ship Wasatch. Japanese forces were estimated at 20,000 troops mostly from the 16th Division under Lieutenant General Shiro Makino. Field Marshal Count Hisaichi Terauchi commanded the Southern Army in Southeast Asia while General Tomoyuki Yamashita led the Fourteenth Area Army.

• 3. A-Day Landings

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  Preliminary operations began at dawn on October 17 with minesweeping tasks and movement of the 6th Rangers toward three small islands in Leyte Gulf. Rangers reached Suluan and Dinagat islands by 8:05 am despite a storm delay. They dispersed a small group of Japanese defenders on Suluan and destroyed a radio station. Dinagat was found unoccupied. Homonhon was taken without opposition the next day. Navigation lights were erected for amphibious transports to follow. Underwater demolition teams revealed clear landing beaches for assault troops. The Sixth Army forces landed on assigned beaches at 10:00 after four hours of heavy naval gunfire. X Corps pushed across a stretch of beach between Tacloban airfield and the Palo River. XXIV Corps units came ashore across a strand between San José and the Daguitan River. Troops faced resistance from swampy terrain as much as from Japanese fire. Within an hour most sectors secured beachheads deep enough to receive heavy vehicles and large amounts of supplies. Only in the 24th Division sector did enemy fire force a diversion of follow-up landing craft. By 13:30 that sector was secure enough for MacArthur's entrance.

• 4. The Naval Battle

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  The Imperial Japanese Navy decided to destroy US Navy forces supporting the Sixth Army by committing its entire remaining surface fleet. Their plan involved three major task groups attacking simultaneously. One group included four aircraft carriers with few aircraft aboard acting as a decoy. This decoy lured the US Third Fleet north away from Leyte Gulf. On October 23, the approach of enemy surface vessels was detected. US naval units moved out to intercept them. The resulting engagement became known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It occurred from October 23 to 26 and stands as the largest naval battle in history. The Japanese suffered a decisive defeat during these four days. Despite this loss, they succeeded in moving more than 34,000 troops to Leyte by December 11. They also transported over 50,000 tons of material mostly through Ormoc port on the west coast. Reinforcement convoys faced heavy losses due to relentless air interdiction missions by US aircraft. Engagements at Ormoc Bay claimed many ships despite the naval victory elsewhere.

• 5. Ridges And Rain

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  On November 7, the 21st Infantry Regiment entered its first sustained combat on Leyte near Carigara Bay. They moved into mountains along Highway 2 where strong defenses awaited them. These positions were built of heavy logs interconnecting trench lines and countless spider holes. Americans called it Breakneck Ridge while the Japanese referred to it as the Yamashita Line. A typhoon began on November 8 bringing heavy rain for several days. Falling trees and mud slides added to enemy defenses and delayed supply trains. Companies often had to withdraw and recapture hills taken earlier. On November 13, two battains reached positions only about 1,000 yards apart on opposite sides of the highway. Clifford's men struggled through mud and rain for two weeks to root out Japanese fighting positions. They suffered 26 killed, 101 wounded, and two missing compared to 900 Japanese dead. The area remained under X Corps control until December 14 when the 32nd Division finally cleared the Breakneck-Kilay Ridge area. Logistical problems hampered American efforts throughout this phase due to mountainous terrain and impassable roads.

• 6. Suicide Tactics

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  As their air strength diminished, the Japanese resorted to deadly kamikaze tactics. Suicide pilots crashed bomb-laden planes directly into US ships. They chose the large American transport and escort fleet gathered in Leyte Gulf on A-day as their first target. On October 25, they sank one escort carrier named USS St. Lo. This marked the first instance of a major warship being sunk by kamikaze attack. Many other vessels were badly damaged during these initial strikes. Day and night air raids continued over the next four days damaging supply dumps ashore and threatening American shipping. By October 28, counterattacks by US aircraft reduced enemy air strength so much that conventional air raids ceased to be a major threat. Later in the campaign, fifty-five aircraft made sixteen raids against Admiral Arthur D. Storable's naval convoy transporting the 77th Infantry Division. Despite heavy losses, the arrival of reinforcements proved decisive for capturing Ormoc City.