Hell in the Umurbrogal - the men of L Company

By D+7 the fight for Umurbrogol Pocket had devolved into a siege situation, to be reduced only by siege tactics. But the 1st Marine Division's commander continued to cling to his belief that there would be a "break-thru" against the enemy's opposition. He insisted that continued battalion and regimental assaults would bring victory "very shortly." When the 321st's probes eastward near the northern end of the Pocket brought them within grasp of sealing off that Pocket from the north, they deployed two battalions (2d and 3d) facing eastward to complete the encirclement. This attack against Hill B, the stopper at the northern end of the Pocket absorbed the 321st Infantry's full attention through 26 September, as the 5th Marines was fighting in northern Peleliu.

The 7th Marines continued pressuring the Pocket from the south, and guarding it on the west. With the 321st victory on the 26th, that unit's mission was expanded to press into the Pocket from the north. This it did, while simultaneously clearing out the sporadically defended Kamilianlul Ridge to its north. Its attack south from Hill B and adjacent ridges made very limited progress, but permitted some consolidation of the American hold along the north side of the Pocket, now 400 yards wide in that zone. On 29 September, the 7th Marines was ordered to relieve the Army unit in that northern sector.

To relieve 2/7 and 3/7 of their now largely static guard positions along the west and southwest sectors of the Pocket, the division stripped hundreds of non-infantry from combat support units (artillery, engineer, pioneer), and formed them into two composite "infantillery" units. Under 11th Marines' Lieutenant Colonel Richard B. Evans and 5th Marines' Major Harold T. A. Richmond, they were assigned to maintain the static hold in the sectors earlier held by 2/7 and 3/7. They faced the karst plateau between the West Road and the Pocket .

The 7th Marines' flexibility restored by this relief, its 1st and 3d Battalions relieved the 321st units on 29 September, along the north edge of the Pocket. Then on the 30th, they pushed south, securing improved control of Boyd Ridge and its southern extension, variously called Hill 100, Pope's Ridge, or Walt Ridge. The latter dominated the East Road, but Japanese defenders remained in caves on the west side. The 7th Marines' partial hold on Pope Ridge gave limited control of East Road, and thereby stabilized the east side of the Pocket. But the U.S. hold over the area needed improvement,

On 3 October, reinforced by the attached 3/5 (back from Ngesebus), the 7th Regiment organized a four-battalion attack. The plan called for 1/7 and 3/7 to attack from the north, against Boyd Ridge and the smaller ridges to its west, while 2/7 would attack Pope (Walt) Ridge from the south. The attached 3/5 was ordered to make a diversionary attack from the south into the Horseshoe canyon and its guardian Five Sisters on its west.

This regimental attack against the Pocket committed four infantry "battalions," all now closer to company than battalion strength, against the heights near the southern end of the Pocket (Five Sisters), and the ridges at the eastern shoulder of the Pocket (Pope and Boyd Ridges). After heavy casualties, the attack succeeded, but the Five Sisters (four of which 3/5 scaled) were untenable, and had to be abandoned after their seizure.

The next day, 4 October, the 7th Marines with 3/5 still attached made one more general attack — in the south, again to seize, then give up, positions on the Five Sisters; in the north, to try to advance and consolidate the positions there earlier seized. In that 4 October action, the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines' push led to an unexpectedly rapid advance which it pressed to get up onto Hill 120. It was hoped that this would provide a good jump-off for the next day's operation against the next ridge to the west. However, Hill 120, as with so many others in the Umurbrogol, was then under enemy crossfire which made it completely untenable. The attacking company was with drawn with heavy casualties. Among these casualties was Captain James V. "Jamo" Shanley, commanding Company L.

His company was attacking Ridge/Hill 120 when several of his men fell, wounded. Shanley dashed forward under heavy fire, rescued two of the men and brought them to safety behind a tank. He then rushed back to help a third, when a mortar round landed immediately behind him, mortally wounding him. His executive officer, Lieutenant Harold J. Collis ran out to rescue him, only to fall by his side instantly killed by a Japanese anti tank round. For his heroism Captain Shanley was awarded a Gold Star (second) for the Navy Cross he had earned at Cape Gloucester, New Britain. There, his company was in the lead in seizing Hill 660, a key terrain feature in the Borgen Bay area.

Lt. Harold Collis

Captain James V. Shanley commander of Company L nickname "Jamo" as reported by eyewitness report of TSgt Jeremiah A. O'Leary, Jr., as quoted in McMillan, The Old Breed, pp. 329-331.

The wounded crawled behind rocks or just lay motionless, bullets hitting them again and again. Others cried pitifully for help and begged their comrades not to leave them there. Medical corpsmen worked bravely and efficiently, each of them dragging men to the ledge. One of them stood up to cry: "Take it easy! Bandage each other. Get out a few at a time . . . ." He was shot and killed.

Those men who could move threw away their weapons because they couldn't climb down the cliff speedily without using both hands. And as they climbed down, some were hit and fell to the ravine floor. Others slipped and fell, suffering severe cuts from the jagged and sharp coral . . . . One of the wounded who lay on the floor of the ravine tried to help another across the open draw to the safety of the tank.

The lesser wounded put his arms around the other and the two hobbled across the open draw. They could not make it. They dropped helpless there in the open draw, and the Japanese opened fire on them. This was more than Shanley could stand. Although a lieutenant tried to hold him, Jamo ran out from under cover into the draw, swept one of the men into his arms, carried him back to the tank, laid him down tenderly and ran out into the fire-swept open ground again for the other. He did not reach him. A mortar shell fell before Captain Shanley got there.

Shrapnel tore through Shanley, wounding him mortally. When he saw Shanley fall, a second lieutenant, Shanley's exec,(Lieutenant Harold J. Collis)rushed out. He had just reached Jamo when the chug-chug of an antitank gun was heard. He fell at Jamo's side, dead.'

Only a few of the men made it across the draw. By 1820 it was all over. There were 11 men left out of the 48 that had ascended the ridge, and of these, only five from the leading platoon of Company L emerged from the draw unscathed.

Captain James “Jamo” Shanley was only 25 years old when he was killed leading his men on Peleliu. His Navy Cross citation is as follows:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Captain James V. Shanley (MCSN: 0-8512), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company L, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces at Peleliu, Palau Islands, on 4 October 1944. Steadily pressing forward over the extremely difficult terrain, Captain Shanley's company assaulted and captured three successive coral ridges against fanatic Japanese resistance. With the leading assault platoon pinned down at the base of the ravine by Japanese fire emanating from two higher peaks during an advance against the fourth ridge and the route of supply and reinforcement entirely severed, he valiantly exposed himself to the withering barrage to direct the withdrawal. Seeing the forward platoon leader killed and many of the men wounded immediately thereafter, Captain Shanley left his post and, risking his life in the face of the unceasing barrage, proceeded to the aid of the fallen Marines and personally carried two men to safety. Struck twice by bursting shellfire while rescuing a third, he refused evacuation and continued directing the withdrawal of the helpless platoon until succumbing to his wounds. By his brilliant leadership, great personal valor and self-sacrificing devotion to his men, Captain Shanley contributed to the saving of many lives and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

James left behind his parents and a brother, Robert, who passed away in 2014.

Lieutenant Harold J. Collis was 27 years old when he was killed coming to Captain Shanley’s aid. For his actions he was posthumously awarded The Silver Star. His citation is as follows:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant Harold Jay Collis (MCSN: 0-20656), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as a Company Executive Officer attached to the Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands on 4 October 1944. When one of the platoons of his company was attempting to withdraw from an untenable position and suffering severe casualties from enemy weapons which controlled the route of withdrawal, First Lieutenant Collis unhesitatingly exposed himself to the intense hostile fire to throw smoke grenades and provide an effective screen for the evacuation of the wounded. Completely disregarding his own personal safety he rushed into a fire-swept ravine and while working to remove casualties was himself mortally wounded. First Lieutenant Collins' splendid initiative and unselfish devotion to duty in the face of grave peril were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

He left behind a wife of 3 years, Marcella Mae, a sister, and his parents.

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Thank you to Eric Mailander and Seth Erazmus for their help in putting this story together