Note 24 — Chapter XI · Logistics and Civil Affairs

Because some of the LST’s offshore in the vicinity of Hill 522 and Palo were heavily shelled by the Japanese on A Day, the remaining LST’s were directed to the Cataisan Peninsula, where many of them discharged their loads on the Tacloban airfield, over which the supplies were scattered. The proposed runway and dispersal areas were strewn with hundreds of vehicles, together with thousands of tons of ammunition, rations, and petroleum products. Since there was only one egress road, the airstrip became tremendously congested.24