SS William S. Ladd guns No. 1 to 5 were ordered secured and the Armed Guards were ordered to abandon ship. At 1930 the last Navy personnel and ship's officers abandon the doomed vessel. No one was killed, eight Armed Guards were wounded and hospitalized on Leyte. Today, SS "William S. Ladd" lies at the bottom of Leyte Gulf at approximately . SS William S. Ladd SS "William S. Ladd" (MC hull number 2084) was an American Liberty ship built during World War II, one of the 2,710 type 'EC2-S-C1' ships that carried all kinds and types of dry cargo during the war. She
William A. S. Ouderland William A. S. Ouderland William AS Ouderland (6 December 1917 – 18 May 2001) was a Dutch Australian commando officer. He actively took part in World War II and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Later, he was awarded the fourth highest gallantry award, the Bir Protik, by the Government of Bangladesh. He is the only foreigner to receive this honorary award. Ouderland was born in Amsterdam on 6 December 1917. He left his studies when he was 17 to work as a shoe-shiner and later joined Bata Shoe Company. In 1936, Ouderland enlisted in the Dutch National Service before the Nazi