The Raid at Cabanatuan was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan City in the Philippines. On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipinoguerrillas(pictured) liberated more than 500 from the POW camp. Having survived the Battle of Bataan and the Bataan Death March, followed by years of torture, malnourishment, and disease, the prisoners feared they would all be executed when General Douglas MacArthur and his American forces returned to Luzon. A group of over a hundred Rangers and Scouts from the Sixth Army and several hundred Filipino guerrillas were sent to rescue the prisoners. They traveled 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. Under the cover of darkness and a distraction by a P-61 Black Widow, the group surprised the Japanese forces in and around the camp. Hundreds of Japanese troops were killed in the 30-minute coordinated attack; the Americans suffered minimal casualties. The raid was depicted in the book Ghost Soldiers and the films Back to Bataan and The Great Raid. (Full article...)
