WW2 Chapter 38 - On to Dagami (and More Newspaper Reports)

After securing the village of Burauen on October 24, the men of the 17th Regiment (with Franklin’s 2nd Battalion temporarily attached) were able to rest for one hour. They then headed north along a roadway towards their next objectives, the villages of Buri and Dagami.

For the next seven days, the infantrymen slowly fought their way northward, encountering fierce resistance from Japanese in spider holes and pillboxes hidden in the thick vegetation and along the overlying ridges.


Japanese Pillboxes (after being destroyed)

Pillboxes were small, concealed fortifications constructed out of logs and other materials from which the enemy fired machine guns and mortars at the advancing troops. At night, the men had to fight off repeated attacks from the enemy trying to break through their defenses.

On October 25, one of the other units (the 3rd Battalion) encountered enemy fire while passing through an overgrown cemetery. They discovered that the Japanese had removed the bodies from some of the crypts and were using them as spider holes. Eventually the men had to burn them out using flame throwers.

During this time, the Associated Press continued to provide brief reports on the actions of the 7th Division for those back home:

AP Report, Oct. 26: “Armored units and forward patrols of the 7th Division are fanning out from the San Pablo-Burauen area toward Dagami, another important road junction near the highway’s center.”

Buri Airfield (1946 photo)

AP Report, Oct. 27: “Buri, previously bypassed because of its strong defenses was captured after severe fighting by 7th Division forces punching up the valley’s north-south highway. They previously took the Buri airfield and advanced several miles along the highway from the captured road junction of Burauen. Their main immediate goal evidently is Dagami, a communications town near the center of the roadway."