LoneSentry.com has a lot of wartime reports on the Japanese parachute troops. Google for Palembang +site:lonesentry.com or Palembang +site:lonesentry.com - Google Search
Okay I guess I'll fess up and it's "My Bad"! I was rummaging around "in the basement" and found the link. Sounded interesting to me and goes to show interest never goes away but just fades into the background for a while.
Would you prefer new threads on "The Stump"? I had limited information on Japanese airborne operations, and never thought enough about it to google or check the search function about it before. Since Biak dug it up, I have learned a great deal more about them now. As long as a thread contains significant subject matter, and genuine interest from Rogues who care, what does it matter how old the threads are. They are still on the books, and are fair game. As I've asked before, what is the expiration date on threads? To me they are like old books.
Sounds Right to me! Don't Many Claim that WWII Forums is the Bible of WWII that many students and teachers use it for research+++. That's why we provide References and sources, on posts and threads to insure accurate information even tho 1/2 of what happened in WWII is still not been Chiseled in granite, and still debatable, while adding new information to Old threads we keep them updated with new information being discovered or revealed as the years pass and new ifo is being descoverd. Like the US in 1999 realised Secret Documents form Post WWII that in 1945 they Hired many Nazi and German Army War Criminals to reaville Top Secret information the Nazis had on the Russians. Instead of prosecuting them and sentencing them to death they were Brought to the US Given New I.D's+++++ In TOP Secret Clandestine Operation. We are a Library and resource of Information concerning WWII +.
Bobby you have brought up a great point. Often we are criticized for posting a topic which has already been addressed; more often than not the second post on the topic is a sarcastic reference directing the poster to the "Search Button". Then you have the on going criticism of people making too many posts as a means to pad their post count. SO I am very much in agreement that you can't always have it both ways and I would rather see a forgotten thread brought back to life than to re hash something that has been beaten to death. If anything Musso should be praising Biak for his ingenuity in reviving a thread instead of posting a new one addressing the same subject. Apparently it is more comfortable, for some, to criticize than praise.
There is an account of elements of the US 11th Airborne Division and the 1st Battalion/382nd Infantry Regiment/96th Division taking on Japanese Paratroopers at the abovementioned battle for 3 airfields grouped closely together on Leyte in December 1944. In that action, the 11th Airborne units were positioned just south of San Pedro Airfield, while the 382nd was converging in a sweep from the north toward Buri Airfield. That night the Japs dropped paratroopers between them to attempt to prevent their capture. In that action, the weapons platoon of Company A of the 382nd was ordered to concentrate mortar fire on the enemy line, which it immediately did. This knocked out some automatic weapons positions but did not break the Japanese line. A single soldier, Private Ova Kelley of the 60mm mortar squad, Company A, 382nd Regiment, seized an armful of hand grenades and lept up from his foxhole and charged a Japanese machine gun. Lobbing the grenades he knocked out the gun, picked up a rifle and killed several more Japs who were in disarray. When the rifle ran out of ammo, Pvt Kelley picked up a carbine and continued fire until he was finally shot down. For this action. Private Ova A. Kelley of Company A, 382nd Infantry, 96th Division, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. As a post-script, my father-in-law, PFC A.C. Flick, a squad-mate of Kelley's, told me that when they secured Buri Airfield they were ordered to dig in and secure its perimeter in anticipation of a Jap counterattack. When that counterattack came, the 382nd held Buri Airfield in an action that included hand to hand combat with Japanese paratroopers. The 96th Division website contains detailed tactical maps of this action of December 1944 against the Japanese airborne troops.
I for one was not around this site 6 years ago, and I am glad it was brought back. Very interesting info here that is not often mainstreamed. I have read about Japonese paratroopers imbedded in stories about other things, never put 2 and 2 together. Thanks for the info and new perspective.
This is taken from Wiki, I will attempt to find more references regarding this. Battle of Timor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Japanese marine paratroopers, from the 3rd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, near Usua, 22 kilometres (14 mi) east of Kupang.[3][8] Sparrow Force HQ moved further eastward, and Leggatt's men launched a sustained and devastating assault on the paratroopers, culminating in a bayonet charge. By the morning of 23 February, the 2/40th Battalion had killed all but 78 of the paratroopers, but had been engaged from the rear by the main Japanese force once again. With his soldiers running low on ammunition, exhausted, and carrying many men with serious wounds, Leggatt accepted a Japanese invitation to surrender at Usua. The 2/40th Battalion had suffered 84 killed and 132 wounded in the fighting, while more than twice that number would die as prisoners of war during the next two and a half years.[8]