511th PIR troopers KIA in the Philippines during WWII

WORLD WAR II – THE PHILIPPINES

11th Airborne, 8th Army – KIA

The 187th GIR (Glider Infantry Regiment)                   148

The 188th  GIR (Glider Infantry Regiment) suffered     76

The 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion                          16

The 457th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion                13

The 674th Parachute Field Artillery                                 11

The 675th Glider Field Artillery                                          7

The 152nd Airborne Anti-Aircraft                                       8

The 221st Medical Company                                               3

The Headquarters Company – 11th Airborne Division      5

KILLED IN ACTION 511th PIR 11th Airborne Division, Eight ARMY

http://users.owt.com/leodonna/KIA-511th-WWII.htm

Out of the 299 members of the 511th killed in action, 298 died in the Philippines.

This is the link of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne http://users.owt.com/leodonna/KIA-511th-WWII.htm  commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Swing. They were the ones who liberated Las Piñas on Feb. 3, 1945. Although the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment has already landed in Nasugbu on Jan. 31, 1945, Gen. Swing objected to a drop on Tagaytay Ridge unless his men could be supported by other units nearby.

Perhaps he didn’t want a repeat of the failed “Operation: Market Garden”. And sure enough on the night of Feb. 5, 1945, the Japanese launched a “Banzai attack” in Las Piñas. However the suicide attack fell on the recently released Filipino political prisoners from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Rizal. Weak and famished, the political prisoners were making their way back to Manila and decided to spend the night at the public market. No U.S. soldier was killed in the attack.

There was no firefight or battle in Las Piñas. Their entry was preceded by a very accurate artillery barrage on what is now the Central Elementary School which the Japanese used as a garrison. Not a shell fell outside the garrison’s perimeter.

In the early morning following the artillery barrage, Mrs. Cristobal was roused from her sleep by the incessant barking of dogs squabbling over a “big piece of bone.” It turned out to be a severed leg of a Japanese soldier one of the dogs found. The Japanese Army unit had already left Las Piñas.

At around 3pm elements of the 511th PIR began entering the town of Las Piñas from the south. Here’s a pop quiz: “How did the lead elements of the 511th PIR knew that it was safe to enter the town proper of Las Piñas?

The first encounter with the Japanese sailors defending Nichols was at the southern foot of the Paranaque Bridge. Japanese fired from the northeast side of the bridge in a village called Ibayo, Three GI’s were killed or wounded. Those who were wounded were brought to the rear i.e. back to Las Piñas Church which was then converted into a medical station. On the 511th list of KIA, the location”Sucal” must be Sucat road.