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LUZON 3D BATTALION ACTIVITIES ON HIGH GROUND OVERLOOKING SANTA FE On the 21st of May, I and K Companies moved north from Balete Ridge and relieved E and G Companies on the high ground overlooking Santa Fe. On the 22nd, I Company pushed out after an artillery preparation in a northeasterly direction to secure the high ground northeast of Santa Fe. Although movement was slow owing to the difficulty of moving across numerous deep gulches, the company dug in on high ground about six hundred yards east-northeast of Santa Fe that afternoon. L Company moved up from Balete Ridge and occupied I Company’s old position. L Company’s mission was to guard the supply trials and by extensive combat patrolling, mop up any enemy personnel or positions left in the regimental zone of responsibility east of Highway #5. In addition to local security patrols, all companies of the battalion sent out such patrols. The patrol routes were plotted so that all of the major draws and ravines in the area and most of the smaller ones, would eventually be explored. On the 23rd, a K Company patrol north down a draw toward Highway #5 ran into a group of small caves with canvas covers over their mouths. Thirty five Japs, who returned fire only with pistols, were flushed and killed. Examination of the bodies yielded no identifying papers or insignia, but the patrol must have been composed almost entirely of NCOs and officers, for the patrol turned into a souvenir hunters paradise. The arguments were not over who should get the battle flags and sabers, but who should get the extra flags and sabers. Their combined value, C.O.D. Clark Field, was estimated as somewhere between a small and medium sized fortune. At midnight on 25-26 May, an I Company outpost east of the company observed a large group of Japs attempting to evacuate a ravine to their front. The outpost placed machine gun fire on the mouth of the ravine and contained them for the night, during which time mortar fire was laid in on them. In the morning, a strong patrol moved into the ravine and killed twenty three. An additional twenty nine were found dead from mortar fragments. With these two exceptions, patrol results were almost identical. Countless abandoned caves were sealed, and five to ten Japs were killed each day. These Japs were stragglers, either alone or in groups of not more then three or four. From its position north and east of Santa Fe the 3d Battalion was in a position to exercise an effective, though long-distance command over Japanese activities in the entire area around the town. Though hilly, this area was sparsely wooded: interdictory fire could be brought upon any movement of men or material in the area. From 22 May to the 27th, when Santa Fe was taken, the 3d Battalion’s principal occupation was the placing of machine gun and/or mortar fire on almost literally anything that moved to or from Santa Fe in any direction. Results in enemy killed and material destroyed were impossible to ascertain, but it is certain no movement or operation of tactical importance got past the preliminary stage during this period. Back to History Index The 1st Battalion Drive Astride Highway #5
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