_Engaged in the bitter struggle to establish the Peleliu beachhead,
Marine riflemen get only momentary shelter behind an LVT, while other
Marines atop the amphibian tractor fire at enemy targets. The name of
the LVT was more than prophetic._]
[Illustration: _Embrasures in this well-sited, heavily reinforced
position, possibly in the Pocket, indicate the location of Japanese
weapons which devastated attacking Marines._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 107934
]
_The Assault in the Center_
As the 1st Marines battled to secure the left flank, and as the 7th
Marines fought to isolate and then reduce the Japanese defenses in the
southern end of Peleliu, the 5th Marines, Colonel Harold D. Harris
commanding, was charged to drive across the airfield, cut the island
in two, and then re-orient north and drive to secure the eastern half
of the island. Shortly after the scheduled H plus one schedule, the 2d
Battalion, 5th Marines, Major Gordon D. Gayle commanding, landed over
Beach Orange 2, in trace behind 3/5. It moved directly east, through
the dunes and scrub jungle, into and out of the antitank barrier, and
to the west edge of the clearing surrounding the airfield. Passing
through the lines of 3/5, Gayle’s battalion attacked west against
scattered resistance from dug-outs and bomb shelters near the southern
end of the airfield, and through the scrub area slightly farther south.
The 3d Battalion’s mission was to clear that scrub, maintaining contact
with 3/7 on its right, while 2/5 was to drive across the open area to
reach the far side of the island. Advancing in its center and right,
2/5 battled completely across the island by mid-afternoon, echeloned
its left rearward to keep contact with 1/5, and moved to re-orient its
attack northward. The 2d Battalion’s right flank tied for a while into
3/5 in the woods to the south of the airfield, but then lost contact.
[Illustration: JAPANESE DEFENSIVE PLAN]
By this time, the antitank ditch along the center and right of Orange
Beaches 1 and 2 was notable for the number of command posts located
along its length. Shofner’s 3/5 was there, as was Harris’ 5th Marines
command post. Then an advance element of the division command post
under Brigadier General Oliver P. Smith, the assistant division
commander, landed and moved into the antitank ditch within sight of the
airfield clearing area. Simultaneously, important support weapons were
moving ashore.
The 1st Tank Battalion’s M-48A1 Sherman medium tanks, one-third of
which had been left behind at the last moment because of inadequate
shipping, were landed as early as possible, using a novel technique to
cross the reef. This tank landing scheme was developed in anticipation
of early Japanese use of their armor capability.
Movement of this fire and logistical support material onto a beach
still close to, and under direct observation from, the commanding
Umurbrogol heights was an inescapable risk mandated by the Peleliu
terrain. So long as the enemy held observation from Umurbrogol over
the airfield and over the beach activity, there was no alternative to
driving ahead rapidly, using such fire support as could be mustered and
coordinated. Continuing casualties at the beaches had to be accepted to
support the rapid advance. The commanding general’s concern for early
momentum appeared to be eminently correct. Units on the left had to
assault toward the foot of Umurbrogol ridges, and quickly get to the
commanding crests. In the center, the 5th Marines had to make a fast
advance to secure other possible routes to outflank Umurbrogol. In the
south, the 7th Marines had to destroy immediately those now cut-off
forces before becoming freed to join the struggle against central
Peleliu.
The movement of the 5th Marines across the airfield and to the
western edge of the lagoon separating the airfield area from the
eastern peninsula (Beach Purple), created a line of attacking Marines
completely across that part of the island oriented both east and north,
toward what was believed to be the major center of Japanese strength.
The 7th Marines, pushing east and south, completed splitting the enemy
forces. Colonel Hanneken’s troops, fully engaged, were generally
concealed against observation from the enemy still north of the
airfield and from the heights of Umurbrogol. There was a gap between
the 5th’s right and the 7th’s left, but it did not appear to be in a
critical sector.
[Illustration: