Note 27 — Chapter XVII · Battle of the Airstrips

Small patrols of combat troops held the enemy forces in check. At 1030 one patrol killed seventeen Japanese north of the Buri airfield, and another killed three of the enemy west of the airstrip. The 1st Battalion of the 187th Glider Infantry was moved from the San Pablo airfield to the Buri area and went into position near the airfield.27 By 1800 on 6 December, the enemy had been driven off the Buri airfield, though pockets of resistance still remained on the edges of the airstrip. The battalion encountered a portion of the 16th Division east of the strip and destroyed it.28 Forty of the enemy were known to be dead, and it was believed that as many more had also been killed.