In October 1944, the Allies defeated Japan at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, sinking 13 heavy warships, including aircraft carriers, of the Japanese Navy's cruisers. After this battle, Japan's sea lifeline to the South China Sea was basically cut off, and General MacArthur led the U.S. military to successfully land on Leyte Island in the Philippines, laying a solid foundation for the later liberation of the entire Philippine territory.
Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf
Faced with the possible future defeat of the Philippines, the Japanese Military Department decided in August 1944 to implement the "Killing Policy" to execute all Allied prisoners of war held in the Philippines in order to destroy evidence. In response to a statement from the U.S. Department of State regarding Japan's mistreatment of Allied prisoners of war.
The Japanese Military Department's Army Provincial Building during World War II
On December 14, 1944, as the U.S. army was preparing to attack Luzon, the Japanese executed 150 American prisoners of war held on Palawan. The prisoners of war were herded into the bomb shelters, where the Japanese sealed the exits, poured gasoline into the caves, and burned the prisoners alive. This is what a surviving U.S. soldier, Eugene Nelson, told the U.S. Army Intelligence Department on January 7, 1945.
Allied prisoners of war on Palawan
On December 16, 1944, U.S. troops landed on Luzon and rapidly advanced toward Manila. During this period, the U.S. military learned that American prisoners of war were being held in the Kabanatu prisoner-of-war camp. On January 26, 1945, with the Sixth Army approaching Kabanatu, these American prisoners of war were in danger of being killed by the Japanese at any time, and the issue of rescuing prisoners of war was imminent. On January 27 of the same year, Lieutenant General Walter Kruger, commander of the U.S. Sixth Army, ordered Lieutenant Colonel Henry Musi and his 6th Ranger Battalion to rescue prisoners of war in Cabanatu.
The Allies attacked Luzon
Lieutenant Colonel Musi did not act hastily but first sent someone to conduct a detailed investigation, and reported the results of the investigation to Captain Prince in detail, who made a detailed battle plan based on the results of the investigation. The partisans were divided into two groups, led by Captain Juan Pagata and Captain Edondo Jensen, and were responsible for controlling the roads around the camp. The Rangers, led by Captain Prince, were tasked with attacking the main part of the camp and escorting the prisoners of war out of the camp; another group of 30 soldiers, led by Lieutenant John Murphy, was responsible for clearing the Japanese guard posts and initiating operational signals. Since the camp was surrounded by a large open area, even if it was crawling at night, it was possible to be discovered by the Japanese army. Lieutenant Colonel Musi asked the U.S. Army Air Corps' P-61 Black Widow fighter jets to hover in the air to attract japanese attention. This proved to be quite effective in hindsight. At the same time, the Filipino guerrillas told the residents along the route not to go out, and at the same time asked the villagers to put chickens in chicken coops, put dogs on a leash and put on muzzles to prevent alarming the Japanese troops in the prisoner-of-war camp.
P-61 Black Widow fighter
On January 30, 1945, at 19:40 the battle began. In just a dozen seconds, all the watchtower posts in the camp were destroyed. The Rangers were responsible for suppressing and eliminating Japanese forces in both directions before and after the POW camp. The anti-tank group entered the center of the camp and used the Bazooka rocket launcher to destroy two trucks carrying dozens of Japanese troops and a tank garage reinforced with metal materials. The Japanese troops who escaped from the surrounding area were also quickly wiped out. Nearby, the Japanese who heard the sound of gunfire wanted to cross the Kabu River for reinforcements, but were stopped by Filipino guerrillas who had ambushed here in advance. After the battle began, some of the prisoners of war thought that the Japanese army was going to kill them, hid everywhere, did not dare to come out, and even some of the prisoners resisted when leading the prisoners of war to retreat. Many Rangers had to forcibly take the prisoners of war away.
Shelters at the Kabanatu Prisoner of War camp in the Philippines
The prisoner-of-war rescue operation was a great success, with a total of 512 Allied prisoners of war rescued after the war. About 500 Japanese troops were wiped out. Only three Americans died: a prisoner of war who died after being rescued from malaria; a medic, who was forced to shell the day after retreating and died the next day; and a soldier killed in battle. In addition, 21 Filipino guerrillas were wounded. The success of the rescue operation greatly boosted the morale of allied officers and soldiers, and was widely circulated among the American people, and the battle was later included in the textbook and became a model for future American troops to learn.