[Webmaster Note: The following division information is reproduced
from the public domain publication, The Army Almanac: A Book of
Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office,
1950. Portions of the information may be out of date. Only minor formatting changes and
typographical corrections have been made.]
World War II
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Activated: 25 February 1943.
Overseas: 8 May 1944.
Campaigns: New Guinea, Southern Philippines, Luzon.
Days of combat: 204.
Distinguished Unit Citations: 13.
Awards: MH-2; DSC-9; SS-432; LM-10; SM-56; BSM-1,515; AM-41.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing (25 February 1943-February 1946),
Brig. Gen. Frank Dorn (February 1946-June 1946),
Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing (June 1946-January 1948),
Maj. Gen. William M. Miley (24 January 1948-).
Combat Chronicle
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The 11th Airborne Division arrived in New Guinea, 25 May 1944, and continued training, leaving for the
Philippines 11 November 1944. It landed amphibiously, not by jump, on Leyte, 18 November 1944, between
Abuyog and Tarragona, 40 miles south of Tacloban, and pushing inland, cleared the Ormoc-Burauen
supply trail, an important Japanese combat lifeline. The 11th's general mission was to seize and
secure within its zone all exits from the mountains into Leyte Valley and to secure the
western exits from the mountains into the west coastal corridor to assist the attack of
the 7th Division toward
Ormoc. On 6 December 1944 the paratroopers of the 11th found themselves fighting Japanese
parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. The Japanese were wiped out
in a 5-day engagement. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance
was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944. Heavy resistance was met at Rock Hill, which
finally fell, 18 December; a sleeping enemy was caught off guard at Hacksaw Hill, 23 December, and
suffered heavy losses. During January 1945 the Division rested and staged for a landing on Luzon. While
other American troops were driving on Manila from the north, the 11th Airborne made an
amphibious landing 60 miles south of Manila, 31 January 1945, at Nasugbu, and
began to drive north. The first combat jump by an element of the division in the war, that of
the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Tagaytay Ridge, 3 February 1945, met no
resistance. The 511th crossed the Paranaque River 5 February, and reached Manila, meeting
fierce Japanese resistance. Nichols Field was taken, 12 February, and Fort McKinley was
flanked, 12-16 February, and finally taken, 17 February. A combined air and sea
assault liberated more than 2,000 American and European interned nationals at Los
Banos, 23 February 1945. With Manila declared secure, the Division reduced a strong ring of
enemy outposts between Lake Taal and Laguna de Bay, and occupied towns along Highway No. 1, cutting
off the Bicol Peninsula. In April the 11th took part in clearing out remaining enemy
resistance in Batangas Province, and by 1 May, all resistance in southern Luzon had ended. The
final operation of the Division was conducted on 23 June 1945, in conjunction with the advance of
the 37th Division in
northern Luzon. A Task Force was formed and jumped on Camalaniugan Airfield, south of Aparri. The
force attacked and made contact with
the 37th Infantry Division, 26 June 1945, between
Alcala and the Paret River. In July 1945 the Division trained; in August it was transported by
air to Honshu, Japan, via Okinawa, for occupation duty.
General
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Nickname: The Angels.
Shoulder patch: A red circle on a royal blue shield containing a white numeral "11"; the
circle is bordered in white with white wings raising obliquely from the
white periphery; in the top arc, the white letters "Airborne" are alined with
shape of arc.
Association: 11th Airborne Division Association.
Publications: Angels; by Maj. Edward M. Flanagan, Jr., Unit Historian; The Infantry
Journal, Washington, D.C.; 1948. Pictorial Review; by unit members; Albert
Love Enterprises, Atlanta, Ga.; 1944.
See Also:
6th Infantry Division,
7th Infantry Division,
24th Infantry Division,
25th Infantry Division,
27th Infantry Division,
31st Infantry Division,
32nd Infantry Division,
33rd Infantry Division,
37th Infantry Division,
38th Infantry Division,
40th Infantry Division,
41st Infantry Division,
43rd Infantry Division,
77th Infantry Division,
81st Infantry Division,
93rd Infantry Division,
96th Infantry Division,
98th Infantry Division,
1st Cavalry Division,
Americal Division,
Philippine Division
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