To
trace the steps necessary to link the Second Battalion of the
503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment with the 2/503, one
needs to understand the Company letter designations for the present and
former 503rd are different.
The World War II Regiment consisted
of the First Battalion including a HQ & HQ Company and three rifle
Companies; A, B and C.
The Second Battalion included a HQ & HQ Company and three
rifle Companies; D, E and F.
The Third Battalion included a HQ & HQ Company and three
rifle Companies; G, H and I.
The WW II outfit did not have a fourth Infantry Battalion but the 462nd
Parachute Artillery Bn and the 161st Parachute Engineer
Company were assigned to it, forming a Regimental Combat Team.
Linking the Second Battalion of the
old 503rd Regiment with the present 2/503 Battalion, the two
HQ & HQ Companies would be the same.
The new A Company would correspond to the old D
Company, the new B Company would correspond with the old E
Company and the new C Company with the old F Company.
The Second Battalion, had a
distinguished Combat history during World War as did the 503rd
Parachute Combat Team as a whole.
The whole Second Battalion jumped
at
Nadzab,
New Guinea
on
5 Sept 43
. While it did not engage Japanese forces directly, the Company
accomplished its mission of blocking the enemy from evacuating Lae by a
favorable route, forcing them to follow a route which, eventually,
decimated their ranks..
The successful completion of the
Nadzab operation has been said to have been instrumental in saving the
concept of Vertical Envelopment after several far from impressive
operations by other Parachute units in
Europe
and
North Africa
.
The Second Battalion had been
slated to jump on
Noemfoor
Island
off the coast of
Dutch New Guinea
on
5 Jul 43
. But heavy jump casualties
incurred by the First Battalion and the Third Battalion on
3 Jul 43
and
4 Jul 43
, respectively prompted the Regimental Commander to postpone the drop by
the Second Battalion. The
Second Battalion landed on Noemfoor from landing craft on
9 July 43
. From that time the entire
Battalion participated in a campaign to eliminate the Japanese forces
occupying the
Island
. During one skirmish Sgt.
Ray Eubanks earned the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously.
Following the end of fighting on
Noemfoor the Second Battalion, and the rest of the 503rd was
moved to
Leyte
Island
, the
Philippines
which had been invaded by other
US
troops several weeks earlier. The
Regiment launched an amphibious landing from
Leyte
seizing sites for airfields on the
Island
of
Mindoro
. E Company and the Second
Battalion led the advance into the area designated for the first air
field to be constructed. Subsequently,
several airfields were built
on
Mindoro
. They were used extensively
to support later landings on the main Philippine Island of Luzon.
While stationed on
Mindoro
the Battalion observed many Dog Fights between US and Japanese
airplanes. On the night of
26 Dec 44
the Battalion was shelled for 25 minutes by a Japanese Naval task force.
In February 1945 the Regiment was
given the honor of retaking the
Island
of
Corregidor
from the Japanese forces which had captured the Fortress on
6 May 42
. The Second Battalion and
the Third Battalion jumped on
Corregidor
on
16 Feb 1945
. That jump has been
characterized many times as the most difficult Combat jump ever made.
The First Battalion came in by landing craft on 17 Feb. In planning the
mission to recapture
Corregidor
, the number of enemy troops occupying the
Island
had been estimated by intelligence sources to number some 800 plus, or
minus. Japanese sources
have, since, estimated there really were about 6550 Japanese on the
Island
. Of that number 50
survived.
The Second Battalion was given the
responsibility of eliminating the enemy in the Western part of the head
of the
Island
, an area of approximately one square mile.
Each Company of the Second Battalion met significant resistance
in the process of accomplishing its mission.
On the night of 18/19 Feb 45
Japanese Banzai forces struck D Company and F
Company. During the fighting
that night, Pfc.Lloyd G. McCarter, in F Company, earned the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Second Battalion, along with
the remainder of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team,
returned to its base on
Mindoro
shortly after the
Island
was reviewed by General Douglas MacArthur.
Almost immediately the Combat Team was alerted for a mission to
jump on
Negros
Island
to assist the 40th Infantry Division which had bogged down in
its efforts to subdue Japanese forces on that
Island
. The original plans called
for the 503rd to jump on the Northern end of the
Island
and to prevent the Japanese from demolishing a large hardwood lumber
mill and several bridges in the area.
Unfortunately, the Japanese blew a key bridge and burned the
lumber mill. Plans for a
combat jump were abandoned and the Combat Team landed by amphibious
craft.
By the end of World War II in
August 1945 the 503rd had incurred some of the most brutal
combat of the War on
Negros
, fighting the persistent Japanese force which occupied the
Island
. At the end of the War
approximately 7500 Japanese prisoners
were taken by the 503rd.
During WW II the Second Battalion
lost 120 men and Officers killed.
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