American Airborne, WWII. Pacific Theater Quiz

Answer: Marines

The 1st Marine Parachute Battalion was formed in 1940 and was later expanded to a full regiment. It made an amphibious landing on the Island of Gavutu as a part of the operation to take Guadalcanal from the Japanese. They fought along side the Raider Battalion at the Battle of Bloody Ridge (aka, Edson's Ridge), suffering so many casualties that they were pulled off the island and sent to the rear to absorb and train replacements.

Answer: It was not an active unit. The unit was disbanded in 1944.

The Regiment was disbanded in 1944 because the Navy did not have the resources to support an Airborne unit with the parachutes, planes, and opportunities to deploy them in an Airborne type operation. The regiment had been scheduled to jump four times during their tenure, but each drop was cancelled. Most of the men were reassigned to the 5th Marine Division. Two of the men in Joe Rosenthal's famous photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima were reassigned paratroopers from the Marine Parachute Regiment.

Answer: 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment

The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment was formed from the 503rd and 504th Parachute Infantry Battalions. A third battalion was added from jump school graduates. The 2nd battalion was later shipped to Europe and reflagged as the 509th PIB for Operation Torch.

The rest of the unit sailed for Australia after stopping in Panama and adding the 501st PIB from the Panama Canal Zone. The three battalions of the 503rd arrived in Australia on December 2, 1942. They were MacArthur's only Army Airborne unit until the arrival of the 11th Airborne Division in 1944.

Answer: Nadzab Airfield

The 503rd jumped on Nadzab Airfield in the Markham Valley to seize the airstrip and hold it until Australian engineers could improve the strip enough to allow the Australian 7th Infantry Division to land and cut off the Japanese force trying to escape from the Lae-Salamaua area. MacArthur himself watched the drop high above in a B-17 and exclaimed that it was the most perfect example of training and discipline he had ever seen.

Answer: North of New Guinea

General MacArthur assigned the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment to capture Kamiri Airfield on Noemfoor Island when he discovered that his operation on Biak Island was being slowed by reinforcements infiltrated by barge from Noemfoor. The 503rd dropped to reinforce an infantry regiment landed by sea, but the first planes erroneously dropped their troops from a height of 175 feet, causing many jump casualties. Ensuing drops from 500 feet also caused jump casualties due to the presence of Japanese equipment on the field and the crushed coral composition of the drop zone.

Answer: Their performance in maneuvers help save the concept of the Airborne Division.

There was much concern in the Army after the Airborne drops in North Africa and Sicily that the Airborne Division was too large and unwieldy to coordinate and drop as a unit. Review panels were set up and maneuvers were held with the 11th Airborne assigned to seize an airfield in North Carolina.

The 11th performed perfectly and, rather than breaking up existing Airborne divisions into small combat teams, the five existing divisions were retained.

Answer: Luzon

The 11th reached the Philippines after training and acclimating in New Guinea. They participated in the Leyte campaign as ground infantry, and were not used in a parachute assault until they dropped on Taygaytay Ridge on the island of Luzon. The other regiments of the division were landed by sea and captured a key bridge on the road to Manila before the Japanese could destroy it.

Answer: Short drop zones with obstructions and more defenders than anticipated

The drop zones on the rocky island were located on the old parade ground and the old golf course. They were so short and thin that the planes only had six or seven seconds over the drop zone to exit troops. Each plane could exit between five and six men in a pass. Planes had to make three or four passes to drop all their troops.

The Japanese had not considered it practical for the Americans to try anything but a seaborne invasion of the island and were not prepared to defend against a parachute assault.

They rallied quickly and put up a stubborn defense. The estimated force of 900 Japanese turned out to be over 6,000.

Answer: Los Banos

Philippine guerrillas and a Recon Platoon from the 11th Airborne infiltrated the area and attacked when the Japanese Guards began their morning exercise routine. At the same time a parachute drop near the camp provided more troops. The Americans were able to rescue over 2,000 men women and children from the camp with no losses. The Japanese had ordered that prisoners be killed if the Americans came close to the camps.

Answer: Japanese 3rd Parachute Regiment in a surprise attack

The Japanese paratroopers were tasked with blowing up American aircraft on the ground and destroying supplies. One of the airfields happened to be the headquarters of the 11th Airborne Division. Japanese Paratroopers dropped on American paratroopers and a confused fight raged in the darkness.

The commanding general of the 11th Airborne led an ad hoc force of support personnel and headquarters troops defending the Airfield until reinforcements arrived. The Japanese held onto one of the Airfields until December 10 before their force was eliminated.