​By the middle of January 1945, their work done, the 11th Airborne Division was withdrawn from Leyte and brought back to Bito Beach on 15th January for rest, recuperation, reorganization, reequipping, re-manning an retraining. However, it was only to be for a short time.

On 22nd January 1945, commanding officer General Swing, received 8th Army Field Order number 17 alerting the 11thAirborne for their next mission, Mike VI, the invasion of Luzon and the capture of Manila. Everybody knew the significance of this and especially to General MacArthur. The order directed the 11th Airborne to: land one regimental combat team on X-Day at H-Hour, in the vicinity of Nasugbu; to seize and hold the beachhead; one regimental combat team will move to Mindoro to parachute on Tagaytay Ridge and join the seaborne troops moving inland from Nasugbu. The reinforced 11th regimental combat teams, after assembling on Tagaytay Ridge should then be prepared to move north and east as directed by the 8th Army.

On 26th December 1945, the landing force, that consisted of the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments, together with the airborne element, the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment boarded ships heading for Mindoro. On arrival, the elements of the 511th were set ashore where they joined 457th Field Artillery Battalion and a platoon of medics from the 221st Medical Battalion to constitute the parachute combat team and to ready for the jump at Tagaytay Ridge. Meanwhile, the convoy of LCPs, LCIs, LSTs and APDs headed for Nasugbu Beach.

1945 AIRBORNE HISTORY

  11th AIRBORNE LAND BY SEA NEAR MANILA

After the barrage, the landing craft move in​

Artillery strikes Nasugbu​

​At dawn on 31st January 1944, the convoy arrived off the coast of the southern tip of Luzon. The calm sea and clear skies were darkened when at 0630 when the navy launched an artillery attack from the armada, which was quickly followed by and aerial bombardment by eighteen A-20s and nine P-38s who strafed the area. At 0830 Lieutenant Colonel Ernie LaFlamme, led 1st Battalion 188th Glider Infantry Regiment onto the shores of Nasugbu Beach, closely followed by the rest of the 188th and the 187th Glider Infantry Regiments.  When they landed, it was against very little opposition.

​From the landing on the 31st January through 3rd February 1945, the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments, together with artillery and support troops from 457th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, fought their way inland up Highway 17 from Nasugbu towards Tagaytay, where the 511th Regimental Combat Team were scheduled to land on 02 February 1945. As they moved up Highway 17, their speed caught the Japanese at Palico Bridge by surprise and took the bridge before the Japanese could destroy it. However, because of fierce Japanese resistance, especially in the Aga Defile, the jump had to be postponed as the 187th and 188th PIRs held up and running late. Finally, on 3rd February, the jump went ahead and by 1300, the 511th and the 188th met on Tagaytay Ridge. Fighting on the Ridge was sporadic, as much of the Japanese defences had been cleared by Filipino Guerrillas and so, within a very short space of time, at 1515, General Swing was able to move his Command Post to the Manila Hotel Annex at Tagaytay.

​It was anticipated that the 11th would spend their time clearing the Japanese forces within this area on Luzon, but Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, the 8th Army Commander, decided that he wanted the united 11th Airborne Division to push northward towards Manila instead. He wanted the 8th Army to get to Manila before Lieutenant General Walter Krueger’s 6th Army could. So that evening, the Quartermaster Company brought up several two-half ton trucks from Nasugbu and with all speed, the 11th Airborne headed for Manila.