The 41st Infantry Division

Home of the Jungleers

The Assault On Wakde Island

Wakde was small and deadly. Its airfield was of temporary necessity for MacArthur's return to the Philippines. The were eight-hundred Japanese defenders present when units of the 163rd Infantry set foot on Wakde's shores on the morning of 18 May, 1944. The battle didn't last long. The result was predictable. The defenders died but so did forty soldiers from the 163rd. MacArthur got his airfield and Allied aircraft were landing before the island was actually secured. The 41st's construction units started immediately on making the airfield wide enough and strong enough for the many aircraft that would carry the war to more distant Japanese-controlled shores.

Naval units that were a part of the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) armada offered great assistance in preparing Wakde for assault. Here a Navy carrier-borne fighter surveys the effects of bombing and strafing that commenced days in advance of the infantry landings. The Japanese had anticipated that U.S. forces would eventually come knocking on their door so they prepared formidable defences that the 163rd reduced after much effort. The first day saw the loss of three of the four infantry company commanders. Command was a short-lived problem as others came forward, took command, and continued the fight.

The one thing that helped the 163rd on Wakde was that the Japanese defenders anticipated an attack from the open sea and thus did not pay as much attention to their defenses on the side of Wakde opposite the mainland. It was from there that that the attack came on the morning of 18 May, 1944. Regardless of the lack of staunch defenses, the 163rd had to claw its way across the small chunk of land with the help of tanks and continued air, naval and artillery support. The Japanese were not the only danger the 163rd faced. There rose the spectre of friendly fire. There were casualties from short rounds. Primarily from artillery batterys firng support from the mainland near the village of Toem.

The Japanese defenders utilized well-designed, and well disguised, machinegun emplacements. Mortars were also employed during the three-day battle in an attempt to impede the inevitable. Some units defending Wakde were Japanese combat veterans of China and Java. These were Tiger Marines. A very formidible adversary. In this photo a 163rd infantryman is sprinting from the beach to what is left of the tree-line. Staying on the beach was not something that was safe for any length of time. Especially if the enemy was using mortars.