Tag Archives: 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment

Bazooka Joes

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80 years ago this week. 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. Two soldiers of an M9 2.36-inch bazooka section blow out a Japanese pillbox at Heart Point, on Corregidor Island, Philippines on or around 19 February 1945. Note their slung M1A1 Carbines and the billowing parachute silk overhead. 

Talk about a recruiting poster! Signal Corps Photo SC 201373 by Pfc. Morris Weiner.

Some 2,050 men of the Rock Force: 503rd PIR; 462nd PFABn; and 161 Abn Engr. Bn, landed topside on Japanese-held Corregidor on 16 February 1945 to destroy Japanese gun positions and allow ground forces to close in on the facility. The unit suffered 169 dead and 531 wounded in addition to more than 210 injuries in the drop itself.

It was the 503’s third combat jump of the war, having landed at Nadzab in New Guinea’s Markham Valley in Operation Alamo in September 1943 and at Noemfoor in Operation Table Tennis in July 1944.

They wouldn’t jump again until February 1967 when elements of the 2nd and 3rd Bn, 50rrd PIR would leap out over Katum, South Vietnam as part of Operation Junction City.

They are currently part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Caserma Del Din, Vicenza, Italy.

Operation Alamo at 80

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Markham Valley, Nadzab Airfield, near Lae, New Guinea: An Australian Digger and a U.S. Army Paratrooper link up on 6 September 1943. The day before, the paratroops had taken the valley in a surprise assault by air in conjunction with Allied landings at Lae, about a dozen miles to the East.

U.S. Army Signal Corps image SC 185994 via NARA

Note the Digger’s distinctive Owen submachine gun, which may denote him as a member of 2/6th Independent Company commandos, which was part of the small overland force that set out to rendevous at Nadzab from Tsili Tsili on 2 September. Also of interest is the apparently field-made assault vest worn by the Paratrooper of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, who had just carried out their first combat jump.

Besides the commandoes, the Australian overland group, primarily engineers and pioneers, consisted of B Company/Papuan Infantry Battalion, 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, 2/6th Field Company, and detachments from the 7th Division Signals, 2/5th Field Ambulance and ANGAU, along with 760 native porters.

The day after the landing, the Australians and Americans went to work on the airstrip with hand tools. Trees were felled, potholes filled in, and a windsock erected while the waist-high Kunai grass was burned away.

(U.S. Air Force Number 67091AC)

Some 27 miles northwest of strategically important Lae by road and half that by air, it was as if Nadzab was placed in the middle of nowhere for a reason. A godsend to Allied strategists.

Founded in 1910 as a German colonial Lutheran mission station, by 1943, the grassland at Nadzab, at one time cleared from the jungle perhaps for experiments in farming, was some 900 yards long but it was thought it was easily clearable to 2,000 yards with a little work– making it an ideal location for an airfield in the Japanese’s back yard.

The strip to be captured at Nadzab is shown before the landing of the 503rd Parachute Infantry. (U.S. Air Force Number A25418AC)

After much planning, it was hit by 1,700 men of the 503 PIR in a full-scale regimental jump, with 31 Australian gunners of the 2/4th Field Regiment tagging along on what was only their second time leaving an aircraft via parachute. 

The 255-aircraft initial assault on 5 September was dramatic in the extreme, being led by 48 low-level B-25 bombers who blitzed the unoccupied valley with 2,800 20-pound frag bombs and their on-board .50 cals, followed by 7 A-20s laying smoke for the 79 C-47s that carried the paratroopers. Five B-17s brought up the rear, dropping supplies. Fighter cover was provided by a mix of 108 P-38s, P-39s, and P-47s. Another three B-17s filled with command observers– including MacArthur himself who received an Air Medal for the act– along with five more B-17s carrying weather and nav teams, kept everyone in line.

The 31 Ozzies of 54 Battery, 2/4th Field Regt, with only one practice jump under their belt, parachuted into Nadzab later that day with two dismantled 25-pounder-Short guns and 192 boxes of ammunition to provide the Americans some more support than their organic 60mm mortars, dropped by a mix of five C-47s and two B-17s.

This picture shows the attack on Nadzab at its height, with one battalion of paratroops descending from Douglas C-47s in the foreground, while in the distance (left) another battalion descends against a smokescreen. Coming in at 400-500 feet at 100 knots, each aircraft dropped its stick in just 10 seconds. The whole regiment was unloaded in 4.5 minutes (U.S. Air Force Number 25418AC)

“From one of the lowest altitudes ever attempted in battle, paratroopers jump among the trees and 12-ft. high kunai grass of the Markham valley.” (U.S. Air Force Number D25418AC)

While smoke screens build up, paratroopers drop from low-flying Douglas C-47 airplanes on each side, along the column of C-47s and about 1,000 ft. above them, come close-cover fighter support. (U.S. Air Force Number C25418AC)

Jumping unopposed, the 503rd lost three men killed and 33 injured in hard hits while one member of the Australian 2/4th Field Regt was likewise injured. Nonetheless, the results were so good that a follow-on glider force assault was canceled and the first transport aircraft landed at the improvised airstrip the next morning, with more than 40 planes cycling in on D+1 alone.

The next day, air-portable bulldozers and graders began arriving and within a month the airfield was fully functional with four strips. This enabled the Australian 7th and 9th Infantry Divisions to close with the Japanese. 

Natives of New Guinea crowd around supply-laden Douglas C-47’s which have landed at Nadzab Airstrip, New Guinea. In the distance, another plane comes in for a landing. 11 September 1943. (U.S. Air Force Number 67083AC)

Natives, supervised by men of the Australian 7th Division, unload supplies from a Douglas C-47 at Nadzab Airstrip in New Guinea. 11 September 1943. (U.S. Air Force Number 67085AC)

The landing forced the Japanese evacuation of Lae to take a route that proved to be disastrous for them and 3rd Bn/503d had a major skirmish with the rear guard of this exodus.

As noted by the Army, “The successful employment of Parachute troops, in the Markham Valley, has been credited with saving the concept of vertical envelopment from being abandoned following several less than successful engagements in Europe.”

Interior of Douglas C-47 showing Biak wounded, litter and walking cases, to be evacuated to Lae and Nadzab New Guinea. (U.S. Air Force Number D52993AC)

The field, besides being a logistical hub for the Australian-American forces pushing the Japanese out of New Guinea, Nadzab served as a base for assorted 5th Air Force units including the F-7 Dumbos of the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron (20th CMS), the B-25s of the “Air Apaches” of the 345th Bombardment Group, and the 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), with “Ken’s Men” flying their big B-24 Liberators from the growing base in 1944. Likewise, Navy units of the FAW-17, including the lumbering PB4Y-1 patrol bombers of VB-106, were stationed there as well.

The crew of the 64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group, pose beside their plane, the Consolidated B-24J-150-CO Liberator “Shining Example” at Nadzab, New Guinea. 25 May 1944. The aircraft, SN 44-40184, got her name as she was the first natural finish B-24 in SW Pacific. (U.S. Air Force Number 68882AC)

Post-war, Nadzab was abandoned by the Allies, almost as quickly as it was occupied.

Aerial View Of Nadzab Airstrip – Nadzab, New Guinea, July 1946. (U.S. Air Force Number 116758AC)

It eventually became a commercial airport, with, ironically, a redevelopment project spearheaded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

As for the 503rd, they jumped again in July 1944 at Noemfoor Island in New Guinea as an airborne reinforcement, helping to defend the Kamiri airstrip against Japanese counterattacks. After that operation, the 503rd shifted to the Philippine Islands where, on 16 February 1945, the regiment made its celebrated jump onto Corregidor Island in Manilla Bay, earning its nickname “The Rock.”

Today its first battalion (1–503rd IR) is still on active duty, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

The power of Bangalore compels you!

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“A sapper assigned to 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, operating in support of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, clears a mine with a bangalore torpedo during combined arms live-fire exercise in Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, July 29, 2020.”

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Sawyer

First envisioned by British Army CPT R. L. McClintock, Royal Engineers, while attached to the Madras Sappers and Miners at Bangalore, India, in 1912, the “banger” has been smiting booby traps and barricades ever since.

Jumping on The Rock

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Paratroopers of the 503d Parachute Regimental Combat Team landing on Topside, the high ground of Corregidor, NARA.

One of the most oft-forgotten U.S. Army combat parachute jumps of all-time was made 75 years ago this week. While everyone knows and celebrates the mass drops at D-Day and Arnhem, and even the earlier Avalanche and Husky landings for Italy and Sicily, the leap made by the Operation Topside drop on 16 February 1945, made by 2,350 men of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) is overlooked.

A mass low-level drop made by sky soldiers of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, and the C coy/161st Airborne Engineer Battalion onto the high ground of the Japanese-held rock fortress of Corregidor was to link up with a low ground beach-landing made by the 34th RCT and take on the 6,700-man garrison which had been in residence since 1942.

Paratroopers, supported by ground forces, landing on Corregidor in the combined assault launched on Feb. 16, 1945 LC-USZC2-6468

It was also one of the only jumps that were extensively filmed by Signal Corps photo crews. For your inspection, 12 minutes of silent films of the 503rd prepping and being dropped Topside on The Rock, showing details of ruined Fort Mills:

Fighting 18-knot crosswinds to come down in a rocky, uneven drop zone that soon got very hot, the 503rd fought non-stop through the night of 18 February, when their action came to a head at Banzai Point.

American troops fighting Japanese in the fortified tunnels on Corregidor, NARA.

The Rock was not finally pacified until 26 February. Only about 50 Japanese were captured.

18-year-old PVT. Lloyd G. McCarter earned a well-deserved MoH on Topside, as well as a medical discharge only to die at his own hands a decade later in Idaho.

He was a scout with the regiment which seized the fortress of Corregidor, Philippine Islands. Shortly after the initial parachute assault on 16 February 1945, he crossed 30 yards of open ground under intense enemy fire, and at point-blank range silenced a machinegun with hand grenades. On the afternoon of 18 February, he killed 6 snipers. That evening, when a large force attempted to bypass his company, he voluntarily moved to an exposed area and opened fire. The enemy attacked his position repeatedly throughout the night and was each time repulsed. By 2 o’clock in the morning, all the men about him had been wounded; but shouting encouragement to his comrades and defiance at the enemy, he continued to bear the brunt of the attack, fearlessly exposing himself to locate enemy soldiers and then pouring heavy fire on them. He repeatedly crawled back to the American line to secure more ammunition. When his submachine gun would no longer operate, he seized an automatic rifle and continued to inflict heavy casualties. This weapon, in turn, became too hot to use and, discarding it, he continued with an M-1 rifle. At dawn, the enemy attacked with renewed intensity. Completely exposing himself to hostile fire, he stood erect to locate the most dangerous enemy positions. He was seriously wounded; but, though he had already killed more than 30 of the enemy, he refused to evacuate until he had pointed out immediate objectives for attack. Through his sustained and outstanding heroism in the face of grave and obvious danger, Pvt. McCarter made outstanding contributions to the success of his company and to the recapture of Corregidor.”

The unit suffered 169 dead and 531 wounded in addition to more than 210 injuries in the drop itself. Keep in mind it only jumped with 2,300 men.

For its successful capture of Corregidor, the unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation and received its nickname, “the Rock Regiment” from it, which is shown on its current Distinctive Unit Insignia.

Today a monument to the Rock Force stands on Corregidor.

This monument is adjacent to the Topside parade deck that honors the ROCK FORCE, the 503rd Regimental Combat team that made the daring airborne assault to liberate Corregidor during World War II.

Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd battalions, 503rd Infantry Regiment, are currently active and assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy.

For more information, read Triumph in the Philippines by Robert Ross Smith and the Luzon Campaign by Andrade