727th Amphibian Tractor Battalion (United States)

For Operation King-Two, Headquarters Company and Company A of our Battalion were attached to the 24th Infantry Division with 1st Platoon, Co. A ordered to support the 19th Infantry Regiment and 3rd Platoon, Co. A ordered to support the 34th Infantry Regiment with 2nd Platoon, Co. A and Headquarters Company would be employed as the situation warranted.

Thirty years after the Leyte invasion, Major Gen. Aubrey S. Newman (Colonel in command of the 34th Infantry Regiment in October 1944) wrote an article for the Taro Leaf, the official Newsletter for the 24th Infantry Division Association. In Volume XXVIII, Number 2 (1974-1975) on Page 3 is Maj. Gen. Newman's story entitled "Unforgettable Is The Word For Him." He recounts the events the day after the initial invasion (21 October 1944) including when Col. Newman commandeered one of our Battalion's LVTs and used it to survey the aftermath.

On 22 October 1944, Major Henry Gocio of the 34th Infantry Regiment approached T/5 Andrew Sapp, driver for Cpl. Rade Allen's LVT, and asked if the machine guns of this craft could be used to take out a machine gun nest that had pinned down the advance of their infantry unit for the previous 24 hours. Cpl. Allen navigated his LVT along the T/5 Sapp and T/5 Monnick over 500 yards down Highway #1 with their machine guns hitting every obvious target. When they turned around, a Jap soldier made a suicide run at the LVT, laid a land mine under the track and disabled this LVT while injuring Allen and Sapp. Sgt Beach with T/5 Ashcroft and T/5 Copeland immediately pushed their LVT forward to come to the aid of the disabled LVT. Cpl Allen's LVT was credited with over 60 enemy kills and their mission was a great success. Meanwhile, 1st Platoon was supporting the 19th Infantry Regiment in its attacks of enemy forces in and around Hill #522 and in Palo.

Then on 2 November 1944, our Battalion moved 33 miles overnight to Carigara where the 24th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division were merging to battle the entrenched enemy. We completed our move in two and one-half hours and took up a defensive position for the night. The next day a reinforced company of the 34th Infantry used 3rd Platoon LVTs to make an amphibious assault behind enemy lines at a point four miles from Capoocan. Unbenouced to the landing force, the enemy had been able to press into northern Leyte the vaunted 1st Japanese Infantry Division and was concentrating its forces near the landing area. Within 30 minutes, the 3rd Platoon LVTs were called to return to the landing area and get the men of the 34th Infantry out of harms way. Lt. Corbin lead his Platoon back to the shore and successfully retrieved the infantry.

Due to the heavy rains, the roads became unpassable to anything but our LVTs. The Japs were also using delaying tactics by destroying the bridges, which pressed some of our LVTs into ferrying service until the Engineers could build pontoon bridges.

On 10 November 1944, a force of our LVTs were used to make another amphibious landing with the 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry at a point three miles north of Pinamopoan. The 727th's bivouac was moved to Capoocan this day also. The next day, a group of our LVTs made an overwater advance through the Biliran Strait to Calubian, down the Naga River to Consuegra then overland to Agahang. Casualties were returned from the front lines in our LVTs following the same route in reverse. This was a six-hour round trip. Since this was such a long mission, we established a forward Battalion post at Calubian on 12 November 1944. We continued this resupply every day until the 34th Infantry was pulled off the line on 7 December 1944. This would become known as the Battle of Kilay Ridge. During this period, Sgt. Harry Williams of Company A received a chest would on a mission near Pinamopoan.

One week before being relieved, members of the Battalion witnessed the enemy landing at San Isidro on 7 December 1944. They made the initial report of enemy counter-offensive. Lt. Col. Clifford of the 34th Infantry placed all of the LVT crews based in Calubian under his direct control and prepared to defence the entire Calubian Peninsula. The radios on the LVTs were the only line of communications between the 34th Infantry and X Corps Headquarters.

We also were supporting the 19th Infantry Regiment and then the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments (aka 32nd Infantry Division) when they relieved the 24th Infantry Division (excluding the 1st Battalion of the 34th Infanry) on 17 November 1944. Other units aided by our Battalion during this period included the 39th Quartermaster War Dog Platoon and the 7th Portable Hospital. Our LVTs also transported a party of eight local dignitaries, including Mr. Minusa, Mayor of barrio of Leyte, and Raphael Martines, Senator-at-large, to a meeting in Carigara with Philippines Pres. Osmena and Gen. MacArthur. We evacuated two liaison flyers of XXIV Corps and their damaged artillery liaison plane from the town of Leyte to Capoocan. One LVT was used by the Air Corps Technical Intelligence unit to salvage a downed enemy Naval plane submerged in the Biliran Strait at Villalon. On 4 December, our tractors based in Calubian picked of three survivors of a B-25 shot down by the enemy near Daha. Our efforts continued until the entire Battalion was pulled off the line on 14 December 1944.