Verne Mudge
Major General - United States Army
Verne Donald Mudge, a native of South Dakota, was by 1945 a Major General and commanding officer of the US 1st Cavalry Division. He had been promoted to command the division after the elevation of Innis P. Swift to Major General, leading them from mid 1944 as the Admiralty Islands were secured and on through their landings on Leyte in October. By January of 1945 the division had moved across Leyte, and were ordered to redeploy to join the Luzon Campaign, landing on January 27th of 1945 and joining the drive on Manila.
As the division moved inland, an irate MacArthur, unhappy with the slow progress of the 37th Infantry toward the city, instructed Mudge to make a rapid advance into the city, forming “Flying Columns” to move directly through the Japanese defenses and penetrate the city itself, which MacArthur expected to be undefended.
“Go to Manila! Go around the Japs, bounce off the Japs, save your men, but get to Manila! Free the internees at Santo Tomas! Take the Malacanan Palace and the Legislative Building!”
Placing Brigadier General William Chase in command, Mudge sent the Flying Columns to Manila on February 1st, advancing rapidly. They bypassed what enemy forces they could, and otherwise relied upon the constant prescence of Marine fighter-bombers that flew constant screens, and eventually became the first US forces to enter Manila when they crossed into the city on the evening of February 3rd.
Note: Little information on the life of General Mudge is readily available,
