Note 42 — Chapter V · A Day: 20 October 1944

The 383d Infantry landed with two battalions abreast—the 2d Battalion on the left and the 1st Battalion on the right. By 1045 both battalions had landed all of their assault troops and had advanced 1,200 yards inland, encountering no resistance except intermittent mortar fire from the 9th Infantry Regiment in the vicinity of Catmon Hill.42 Immediately beyond the highway the two battalions reached an unsuspected swamp. The amphibian tanks bogged down at 1045 and were unable to catch up with the assault troops during the rest of the day. Intermittent Japanese fire continued to fall on the beach area. The 2d Battalion crossed the swamp without encountering the enemy and established its night perimeter 2,600 yards inland from the landing beaches.