Jump Summary

 Date:                           05 September 1943

Operation:                   Alamo

Unit:                            503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment

Troopers:                     1700

Country:                      New GuineaDrop Zone:                  Nadzab, Markham Valley          

                                                          Mission accomplished

​503rd PIR AT NADZAB, MARKHAM VALLEY II 

The Drop

On 4th September 1943, the Australian 9th Division under Major General G.P.Wooten landed amphibiously 25 miles east of Lae, in the Bula River area and headed west towards Lae. At Dawn on 5th September 1943, bad weather at Port Moresby airport threatened to abort the 503rd PIR’s mission. By the time the troopers had arrived at the airstrip it was raining heavily and foggy. At the appointed departure time of 0530 the airfield was completely closed in. However, by 0730 the fog had lifted and the mission was declared back on, so at 0825, the first 79 C47s of the 54th Troop Carrier Wing under Colonel Paul Prentiss began their take off. 

Because of the proximity of the Japanese air defences, it was quite an armada that left Port Moresby that morning. Lieutenant General George Kenney’s 5th Air Force provided a fighter protection numbering 100 aircraft. In addition, ahead of the column of C47s flew six squadrons of B25s each armed with ·50 Calibre machine guns and 120 fragmentation bombs.  Their mission to strafe the drop zone just minutes before the jump. Six A20 aircraft followed the B25s to lay smoke on the drop zone and screen the descending troopers from snipers.  And finally, flying high above the armada were three heavily armed B17s and six P47s. The B17s carrying General MacArthur and Lt.Gen. Kenny, with the third flying shotgun and the P47s ready to pounce on any Japanese plane.

The C47 armada flew across the saddle of the Owen Stanley Ridge at 9000ft before dropping to 3000ft as they approached Marilinan. Here they adopted their changed formation and split into three columns each six aircraft wide. 26 planes in each column carried a full Battalion of the 503rd PIR into battle. They approached their drop zones at tree level and as they crossed the Markham River rose to their jump height of 400ft.  By this time the fully ladened troopers who had suffered the heat, humidity and the bouncing aircraft were desperate to leave the aircraft, so when the green light came on at 1022 on 5th September 1943, each 20-21 man stick was delighted to jump. It took just 4½ minutes to complete the drop.

​PART II 

​1943

                                                             C47 drops its troopers

Once on the ground, the troopers met little opposition and the heat, humidity and the razor sharp Kunai grass provided more stubborn obstacles than the Japanese. The 503rd PIR quickly reached and secured their objectives and were immediately followed by the Australian engineers who set to work upgrading the runway.  So, by the very next day the strip was able to land the lead elements of the Australian 7th Division. By 10th September the Australian troops were able to relieve the 503rd PIR of its mission to defend the airstrip and by the 14th September 1943 the engineers had completed 2 parallel 6000ft long runways.  However, bad weather had prevented the full arrival of the 7th Division and because the Australian’s rear flank was exposed, General Bayley used the 3rd Battalion, 503rd PIR to protect its tail.

                                                       503rd on patrol

On 14th September 1943 lt. Col Tolson led the 3rd Battalion down Markham Valley towards the Jalu village area about midway between Lae and Nadzab where he set up his new base of operations. Here, the 3rd Battalion ran into small groups of Japanese escaping north from Lae. The following day, I Company, 3rd Battalion ran into a large group of Japanese moving north of Log Crossing village. The lead elements were involved in heavy fighting and Lt. Col. Tolson was forced to send in additional companies for support.

                                                        503rd with local villagers

By 16th September 1943, Lae had fallen to the Australian troops and on the 17th the final elements of Tolson’s 3rdBattalion were relieved of their protection duties. On the 19th they flew back to Port Moresby from the newly completed Nadzab airfield, the 1st Battalion having departed on the 14th and the 2nd Battalion on the 17th.

The jump was deemed to have been a great success, very accurate and executed in text book fashion. Even so, the 503rdsuffered 3 jump deaths and 33 injuries.  In subsequent skirmishes a further 8 were killed and 12 wounded. In an after action telegram to Lt. Col. Kinsler, General MacArthur wrote:

Now that the fall of Lae is an accomplished fact, I wish to make of record, the splendid and important part played by the 503rd PIR under your able leadership. Your officers and men exhibited the highest order of combat efficiency. Please express to all ranks my gratification and deep pride.

​TA20s cover the drop zones with smoke