Shoestring Ridge PTO (id:#65570)

(ASL 13 - Rising Sun (2021) ID: 61)   [next]   [previous]

Damulaan, Leyte, The Philippines 1944-11-24 (3 others)

Overview:

Following the American invasion of Leyte, the Japanese 16th Army had fallen back into the mountains. The American X Corps was given the task of taking Ormoc, keystone of the Japanese position, with the 32nd Infantry Regiment ordered to lead the advance by seizing the coastal vilJage of Damulaan. It accomplished this with ease, but after several days began receiving reports that a large Japanese force was moving toward the town. Fearful that the regiment would be surrounded if it concentrated in one location, the commander of its parent 7th Infantry Division ordered that only one battalion supported by artillery was to hold the point of the advance-the ridge separating the Palanas and Bucan rivers. The GI's called it "Shoestring Ridge" -due not to any peculiarity of terrain but to the meager forces holding this vital piece of ground. On November 23rd the Japanese began a series of intense night assaults along the ridge, and by the evening of the 24th the defenders' situation was becoming desperate.

Defender: American (Companies K and L, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment)  

Errata (source)