A Division At War — Part II
It would take the 127 th Infantry Regiment ( along with the 126 th and 128 th , the three divisional infantry regiments ) two weeks to advance only 1,000 yards from Hill 502 to Hill 505 . Two weeks ! There was plentiful air ( two squadrons — 32 planes — of P-51 Mustang fighter bombers ) and artillery support ( 12 guns ). The jungle made the bombing and artillery fire very inaccurate , it could never be observed and adjusted . Inaccurate maps further denigrated artillery fire and replacements would take several weeks to arrive . Nothing seemed to be working . 13 The fight then fell to the infantry . The bombing and artillery blew jungle all over the place and even further camouflaged Japanese positions . The hills were steep and strewn with caves . One would be dealt with and several more popped up , often to the rear of an advance . The frustration felt by the ground troops and the task facing them is clear in the Division ’ s AAR :
The movements of Co . C for the next two days best understand the laborious and costly process of reducing the cave position . Troops of this company found , after several failures , that to reduce the cave system it was necessary to attack two or more positions simultaneously while keeping those on the flanks neutralized by machine gun and mortar fire . In this manner two platoons inched their way from the top of Hill 502 down two noses , which were supported by a ravine . These two platoons provided cross-supporting fire for each other , while the heavy weapons company from positions at the bottom of the hill , protected the flanks . Once on top of the caves , various methods were used to deal with the occupants . Smoke grenades , when thrown into an entrance revealed that the caves were connected by tunnels , since smoke would often come out of another hole some distance away . This led our troops to seal the entrances by caving in the ceiling with demolitions and by piling soil in front from above . Jap reactions to this tactic provided some uneasy moments to our troops . After sealing the caves during the day , our troops were kept awake during the night by the muffled sounds of the Japs trying to dig their way to the surface of the ground in the middle of the company perimeter . 14
Once Hill 502 was COMPLETELY secure the unit moved on and the same process began again on the next hill .
The 32 nd was an experienced combat organization . They fought in the jungle of Buna , along the Driniumor River , and at Leyte . This took it to another degree of difficulty and frustration . The Trail could not support tanks or heavy equipment . The road being built could not reach the front line . In these early weeks the 127 th IR did most of the fighting . The regiment had an authorized strength of 3,200 men but entered this battle with only 2,100 . By the end of March , it suffered 110 killed , 225 wounded , and 500 non-battle ca-
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