Raid at Los Baños
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| Los Baños Raid | |||||||
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| Part of World War II, Pacific theater | |||||||
 Some Los Baños internees after the raid, 23 February 1945. U.S. National Archives |
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| Combatants | |||||||
  United States and Philippines |
 Japan |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Edward Lahti John Ringler Robert Soule Gustavo Ingles |
Sadaaki Konishi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 130 U.S. paratroopers 800 Filipino guerrillas |
243 Japanese guards 8,000 Japanese marines near camp |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 2 U.S. paratroopers killed 2 wounded 2 Filipino guerrillas killed 4 wounded |
80 Japanese guards killed 6 wounded |
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| Philippines campaign, 1944-45 |
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| Leyte – Leyte Gulf – Ormoc Bay – Mindoro – Lingayen Gulf – Luzon – Cabanatuan – Bataan – Manila – Corregidor – Los Baños – Palawan – Visayas – Mindanao |
The raid at Los Baños in the Philippines on 23 February 1945 by a combined U.S. Army Airborne and Filipino guerrilla task force, which resulted in the liberation of 2,147 Allied civilian and military internees from an agricultural school campus turned Japanese internment camp, was celebrated and recognized as one of the most successful rescue operations in modern military history. It was the second precisely executed raid by combined U.S.-Filipino forces within a month, following on the heels of the Raid at Cabanatuan, Luzon, on January 30, in which 513 Allied military POWs had been rescued.
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[edit] The Road to Los Baños
Since the landings of the U.S. Sixth Army at Lingayen Gulf and the U.S. Eighth Army at Nasugbu, Batangas on 9 January 1945 and 31 January 1945 respectively, to retake Luzon, the Imperial Japanese Army was being repeatedly pushed back further. Although inflicting casualties on Allied forces for every yard they lost, it was increasingly becoming desperate. Soon news was filtering down to Allied commanders which confirmed their worst fears - that the Japanese were killing innocent civilians and prisoners of war while falling back.
General Douglas MacArthur was deeply alarmed about the plight of thousands of prisoners who had been interned in various camps on Luzon, since the early days of the Pacific War. Aside from the undescribable suffering they endured at the hands of their Japanese captors, along with the concern that, with deliverance so near, they may be killed. Earlier, some daring raids were carried out to rescue POWs, including one at Cabanatuan, and at the University of Santo Tomas and Bilibid Prison at the height for the battle of Manila.
[edit] Life In Captivity
In Los Baños, Laguna at the Philippine Agricultural College and Forestry Campus, now called the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, which was located on a 60-acre site, was the POW and civilian internment camp, wedged between the foothills of mythical Mount Makiling and the northern shore of Los Baños facing Laguna Lake. The main internment building was inside Barker Hall, a gymnasium, where most internees had been incarcerated since 1942.
Surrounded by barbed wire fences, in clusters of hatched huts, were 2,146 POWs incarcerated in the most dehumanizing conditions under the iron heels of their guards. Prisoners were composed of 1,527 Americans, 329 British, 133 Australians, 89 Dutch, 30 Norwegians, 22 Poles, 16 Italians, and 1 Nicaraguan. Aside from twelve U.S. Navy nurses and a few servicemen, most of the internees were civilian businessmen, teachers, bankers, and missionaries caught by the enemy during the course of the war and incarcerated in various POW camps in the country.
On 14 May 1943, as the prisoner population at the University of Santo Tomas internment camp rose to unmanageable levels, the present internees were transferred to the new Los Baños facility, some seventy kilometers away from Manila.
While incarcerated, the POWs formed an internee committee to deal with the enemy guards for self-governing purposes and to obtain whatever marginal freedom or concessions they could get as permitted by the Japanese prison authorities. Nonetheless, the internees were made to get by on dwindling rations, limited clothing, poor housing and non-existent sanitation, aside from the sadistic tendencies of the camp guards. By early 1945, the conditions in the camp turned hellish, with enforced limited rations and mounting abuse, courtesy of the camp's sadistic second-in-command Warrant Officer Sadaaki Konishi.
[edit] A Mission For The Fighting
The U.S. 11th Airborne Division under Maj. Gen. Joseph Swing had arrived in the southwest Pacific in mid-1944. Prior to taking part in the invasion of Leyte in October, the division had undergone theater combat training in New Guinea. Together with the 503rd Airborne Regimental Combat Team, these were the only U.S. airborne forces in the Pacific theater of operations. After Leyte, the 188th Glider Regiment landed at Nasugbu with the U.S. Eighth Army on January 31st, while the 511th Airborne Regimental Combat Team parachuted into Tagaytay Ridge, south of Manila as a diversionary assault.
On 3 February 1945, Gen. Swing was tasked to embark on a rescue mission to secure the safe release of the internees at the Los Baños camp, some twenty-five miles behind the Japanese lines. However, with the 11th Airborne committed to a series of pitched battles, south of Manila and the resolute Japanese defense at Nichols Field and Fort McKinley, immediate deployment was out of the question. As an interim measure, Gen. Swing tasked his subordinates to develop a plan that could be implemented at the earliest possible moment.
Then on 18 February 1945, the 1st Paratroop Battalion, 511th Airborne Regimental Combat Team under Major Henry Burgess, the main unit tasked to carry out the rescue mission, was pulled out from its battlefield position on the so-called Genko Line, a fortified system of interlocking pillboxes and anti-tank fortifications running along the southern Manila district of Las Piñas and proceeded to Parañaque district to rest and regroup.
By 20 February 1945, the conditions on Luzon island turned favorable, such that the various elements could be withdrawn from combat and appraised of their mission. They were ordered to their staging posts and readied to go, with the raid scheduled for 0700 on 23 February, 1945.
For the jump phase of the assault plan, the 511th regimental commander, Lt. Col. Edward Lahti appointed Company B, 1st Battalion, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division under 1Lt. John Ringler together with the Headquarters Company Light Machine Gun Platoon of 1Lt. Walter Hettinger.
The 188th Glider Regiment of Col. Robert Soule had perhaps the most daunting task; trying to stave off a counterattack from the main highway. Bivouacked across the San Juan River were some 8,000 battle-hardened Japanese marines of the 8th Tiger Division, commanded by a General Fugishige.
Success was by no means guaranteed and casualties were expected to be high, but the risks were deemed to be worth it. Accomplishment of the mission would depend on speed and surprise. The Japanese guards would have to be caught unawares and neutralised before they could take any action. Quickly in and quickly out was the requirement.
[edit] Guerrilla Connection
The various Filipino guerrilla groups operating in the vicinity of Los Baños played a key role that led to the successful liberation of the camp. Earlier, in the partisan war against the Japanese, a combined guerrilla command was formed to bring some order to the effort by the defunct USAFFE command, now in charge of unconventional forces in the Philippines, and renamed as the General Guerrilla Command (GGC) of Luzon under Maj. Jay S. Vanderpool of the U.S. Army.
Under the GGC, the Hunters-ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) Guerrillas, made up originally of former cadets of the Philippine Military Academy along with some former ROTC and college students under the command of Col. Frank Quesada were one of the most active groups. Other formations include President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (PQOG)under Col. Fil Avanceña, Red Lion's Unit, the Filipino-Chinese 48th Squadron and the Villegas group of the Marxist Hukbalahaps were tasked by the GGC to coordinate operations related to Los Baños.
[edit] The Plan
Long before arrival of the U.S. liberation forces, the guerrillas had clandestine intelligence operations that gathered precise inside information about the POWs in Los Baños and their enemy guards. Many prisoners were long-time friends of partisan families before the war. With Lt. Col. Gustavo Ingles designated as overall guerrilla coordinator with the 11th Airborne Division, precious information was shared with the Gen. Swing's Command Staff, including Col. Henry Muller (G-2), and Col. Douglas Quandt (G-3), as well as other top planners, who fine-tuned the final strategy of the assault-rescue.
On 12 February 1945, Freddy Zervoulakas, a 19-year old Greek-Filipino, slipped out of the camp and made contact with the guerrillas. He was sent back into the camp with the promise that the internees will be rescued with all possible efforts. But the internee committee decided that it would be best for the prisoners to do nothing. A week later, another escapee from the camp, a civilian engineer named Pete Miles, gave further valuable information to the 11th A/B Division planners, including the daily routine in the camp, details of troop positions and the exact location of the internees. This proved a great asset to the planners and enabled them to finalize the four-phase plan that was timed to coincide with the guards’ exercise period, which was conducted by the Japanese troops without clothing, equipment, or weapons, thereby minimizing the risk of harm to the internees during the rescue. Other internees managed to escape from the camp, days before the raid.
Meanwhile, Lt. Roger Miller, with two enlisted men, left to make a reconnaisance of the drop zone. They were instructed to return to the unit for debriefing and to jump with B Company.
The Joint U.S. Army-Guerrilla Assault Plan included:
- Phase 1 would begin when the 11th Airborne’s Provisional Reconnaissance Platoon, under the command of 1Lt. George Skua, together with some twenty Filipino guerrilla guides, would travel behind enemy lines by bancas across Laguna Lake two nights before the raid, where they would wait. Four assault teams under Sgts. Martin Squires, Terry Santos, Cliff Town and Robert Angus would assault the camp gate from different angles. At 0700 on 23 February 1945 they were charged with marking the Drop Zones, Landing Zones and for the neutralizing of the camp gate guards, simultaneous with an attack from the remaining directions by the guerrillas' 45th Hunter Regiment under Lt. Col. Ingles, who will also surround the entire camp perimeter prior to the signalled hour.
- Phase 2 would simultaneously see B Company, 1st Battalion 511th ARCT led by Lieutenant John Ringler, with the added support of Lieutenant Walter Hettinger’s Machine Gun Platoon, parachute into a small drop zone next to the camp, rendezvous with a Hukbalahap guerrilla unit, neutralize the remaining camp guards and secure the internees.
- Phase 3 would see the remainder of 1st Battalion board tracked amphibious utility vehicles of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion under Lt. Col. Joseph W. Gibbs at 0400 and slip into Laguna de Bay and head for Mayondon Point, near San Antonio, some two miles from the camp. A Recon Platoon squad under Sgt. Leonard Hahn would mark and guide them to their landing point. Here they would travel overland and make their way to the camp, scheduling to arrive shortly after 0700. They would then carry the internees back to Mayondon Point and make good their escape to safety at Mamatid village.
- Phase 4 involved the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment (minus its 2nd Battalion) and Company C of the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion together with elements of the 472nd and 675th Field Artillery Battalions, under Colonel Robert H. Soule, move forward down Highway 1 to act as a diversionary force and to engage the Japanese 8th Division, if necessary, so as to facilitate the escape and protecting the internees flank.
Other guerrilla units such as Marking's Fil-American troops and the 48th Chinese Squadron will act as road blocks in the towns of Calauan, Bay and Pila to deter possible enemy troops that might try to interfere with the rescue. The Hunters-ROTC 47th Regiment under Col. E. de Ocampo will act as a roadblock in the Calamba-Pansol area to deter possible enemy incursion that may also interfere with the rescue.
The backup 11th A/B pack Howitzers in Calamba, Laguna area will bombard the road as possible access of the enemy towards Los Baños. In a nutshell, all the surrounding approaches and to the main camp itself has been secured. The townspeople were briefed and asked to vacate Los Baños by the local PQOG home-guard units.
[edit] The Raid: Deliverance At Dawn
Under cover of darkness, on 21 February 1945, Lt. Skua and his 31-man platoon left the north shore of Laguna de Bay and headed across the lake in three bancas (local fishing boats). Lt. Skua and six men led the way while the separate assault teams followed soon after. Surreptitiously avoiding Japanese patrol craft in the lake, they landed near Nanhaya and met with Lt. Miller's party, other local guerrillas and some camp escapees at the local schoolhouse, where they finalised their plans and assigned individual tasks. On the night of 22 February, they began their overland journey through the jungle, rice paddies and by circuitous routes to avoid and locate their various starting points. This they did without alerting the Japanese and were ready and waiting at 0700 the next day.
Hours before 0700, guerrillas of the 45th Hunters-ROTC Regiment had stealthily assumed their designated positions around the camp, as they waited for Lt. Skua's Recon Platoon to signal the start of the assault.
At 0400 on February 23, 1945 the 1st Battalion 511th ARCT (less B Company) boarded fifty-four amphibious tractors or Amtracs, slipped into Laguna de Bay and headed for Mayondon Point. Again, they too managed to reach their destination without disturbing any Japanese defenders and headed off for the remaining two miles overland journey to the camp aiming to arrive just after 0700.
Meanwhile, Lt. Ringler's B Company, 511th PIR together with the Light Machine Gun Platoon, had spent the moonless night of February 22, 1945 waiting at Nichols Field where, in the early dawn, they donned their parachutes, put on their equipment and loaded onto nine C47s of the 75th Troop Carrier Squadron, under the command of Major Don Anderson, for the short flight. Flying unopposed by any Japanese aircraft or antiaircraft fire they soon arrived at their destination, which was clearly marked with white smoke by the Reconnaissance Platoon.
Some three minutes before 0700, a lone Japanese sentry hunting possum among the bushes that shielded the waiting guerrillas shot at an animal, but was taken as a signal that the raiders were spotted, whereupon, a Filipino guerrilla broke cover and hacked dead the sentry. Instantly as one, a wave of men and weapons charged the camp. Instant pandemonium erupted as enemy guards and raiders alike, started trading rifle and machinegun fire.
The Recon Platoon teams immediately swung into action. The assault team led by Sgt. Santos managed to destroy three enemy pillboxes outside the main gate with automatic weapons fire. Sgt. Town's squad raked several guardhouses along the perimeter and decimated an enemy patrol that was charging their position. Lt. Col. Ingles's guerrillas had overrun the camp perimeter and were battling Japanese guards at the rear of the camp, and while Lt. Skua's platoon was heavily engaging the enemy at the main gate, some men popped colored smoke to mark the drop zone, as the C47s droned overhead.
At 0700, coming in at the planned 500 feet jump altitude and in three Vs-in-trail formation because of the small drop zone, Lt. Ringler's paratroopers cleared their aircraft and into Los Baños. They drifted to the sound of gunfire below as the guerrillas and Recon Platoon battled the Japanese guards who were taken completely by surprise. And whilst the ground forces were overcoming the perimeter defenses, B Company managed to regroup in time, killed some enemy stragglers fleeing from the camp and help subdue the remaining guards before they had a chance to respond in force. The firefight was short and intense and the Japanese were defeated, the internees freed.
[edit] The Evacuation
Assessing the situation and mindful of the need for speed, Lt. Ringler's men rounded up the internees as rapidly as they could. Some prisoners refused to leave, so Lt. Hettinger's men had the camp’s remaining huts burned, which helped usher the internees to the Amtracs. At first, the disabled, along with the women and children were loaded onto the waiting vehicles, while the more able internees formed a walking column and headed for the beach and freedom. As they made their way to the beachhead at San Antonio, in the distance they could heard heavy machinery. Thinking that enemy tanks were approaching, a mass panic among the internees started but were relieved when the tanks turned out to be amphibious vehicles.
On schedule, the fifty four Amtracs of the 672nd Amphibious Battalion arrived, guided by the signal flares and white smoke of Sgt. Hahn's squad. In the distance, across the lake, intense fire was heard. That sound was of the Soule Task Force.
Early that morning, the diversionary force of the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment and Company C of the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion, together with elements of the 472nd and 675th Field Artillery Battalions under Col. Soule rolled out into Highway 1 and attacked across the San Juan River. They ran into Japanese opposition near the Lechería Hills where casualties were taken, but by mid-morning they had cleared the area and were marching towards Los Baños and cutting off the road between the Japanese 8th Tiger Division and Los Baños.
As the amtracs revved up and rolled out for the return trip, a hidden enemy machinegun opened up and several shots clanged into the nearest Amtrac's sides. Corporal Dwight Clark of the 672nd ATB who was onboard, manned one of the Amtrac's .50-caliber machineguns and returned fire at a nearby flimsy hut and silenced the enemy gunner before it could harm any of the civilians and rescuers.
From an elevated position Col. Soule's task force could see, in the distance, the Amtracs on the beach heading back to Mamatid and so he ordered his force to conduct a defensive withdrawal and to re-establish its bridgehead across the San Juan River.
Finally, upon arrival at Mamatid, 2,147 former Allied POWs and internees, including three-day old baby girl, Lois Kathleen McCoy were saved.
[edit] Aftermath of The Raid
Two of Sgt. Santos's Recon Platoon members and four Filipino guerrillas were wounded. Two 188th Glider Regiment paratroopers, J. C. Doiron and Virgil McMurtry were killed at the Lecheria Hills engagement. The hand-to-hand skirmish was without let up and was not without casualties. A handful of guards were able to muster a makeshift defense and retaliated instantly killing two young Hunter guerrillas, Pfc. Atanacio Castillo and Pfc. Anselmo Soler. Their bodies were quickly recovered and immediately buried beside the College chapel.
First hand accounts include that of former internee, Lewis Thomas Watty, vice president of the POW committee who had this to say, and was quoted: "The ensuing fight went on for very long minutes without letup, enemy defenders caught by total surprise were pinned and cut down mercilessly by liberator's fire. The Hunter experience through the years in irregular warfare paid off handsomely. It was also true of the paratroopers who were veterans of the South Pacific before they landed in Luzon."
A few days after the astounding rescue, the enemy in full force, led by the escaped Sadaaki Konishi, vengefully returned to Los Baños to reclaim their ignominious loss of face, a distinct disgrace to any Bushido warrior of the Rising Sun. Upon seeing that there were no POWs in sight that escaped the unreserved order of massacre, the Japanese turned their ire and wrath towards the remaining innocent civilians in town who failed to heed the counsel and warning from the guerrillas that there may be a retaliation by the Japanese who might return to Los Baños.
And the enemy did, with the help of pro-Japanese Filipinos MAKAPILIs or traitors, as they mercilessly massacred some 1,500 of the senior menfolk, women and children, and burned their houses as well as those in the adjacent towns suspected by the enemy for having collaborated with the liberators. Konishi was later caught after the war, tried for his war crimes and hanged.
[edit] Historical Significance
The outstanding success of the Los Baños raid incorporated many facets that revolutionized generations of future special military operations. Thorough planning, reliable intelligence, stealth, speed and surprise, superior firepower, cooperation by friendly forces, and support of the populace gave the planners and forces implemnting the raid, an advantage that resulted in few casualties. Chief of Staff General Colin Powell (now former Secretary of State) proclaimed- "I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Baños prison raid. It is the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies."
The daring, skill and bravery in battle, as witnessed by campaigns in New Guinea, Leyte, Manila, then Los Baños, and onward, attested to the character of America's fightingest soldier, the paratrooper.
The vengeful massacre in the aftermath of the raid undermined the desperation of the Japanese army in their hopeless attempt to turn the fortunes of war. This campaign of ruthlessness was also reflected later in the concluded liberation of Manila and beyond, in the Pacific War.
[edit] Historical Commemoration
[edit] 11th Airborne Division Association Commemoration
The 11th Airborne Division rightfully takes tremendous pride in the liberation of the Los Baños Internment Camp. The regional chapters of the Division Association celebrate that brilliant raid and rescue with a Los Baños Commemoration Dinner on or about February 23, every year. That superb exploit is not forgotten in the town of Los Baños itself. The Hunters-ROTC Filipino guerrillas and other partisan units, who supported the 11th Airborne Division also commemorate the freeing of the prison camp.
[edit] Los Baños Liberation Memorial Scholarship Foundation
To help keep the memory and meaning of the Los Baños rescue alive, a small group of civilian ex-prisoners of war established The Los Baños Liberation Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt California corporation, organized and operated exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Through tax-deductible contributions, the Foundation is creating a permanent endowment fund. The purpose of the Foundation is to grant scholarship awards to students of Filipino citizenship enrolled at The Rural High School of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, to encourage and enable them to complete the Rural High School program.
[edit] U.S. Congress Joint Resolution 18
On 16 February 2005, House Joint Resolution 18, sponsored by U.S. Representative Trent Franks was passed by the House. This resolution commemorated the heroic raid that liberated prisoners held in the Los Baños prison camp in World War II. The resolution also reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to a full accounting of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
"The truly heroic acts at Los Baños serve not only as examples of the humanitarian compassion of American servicemen and women, but also as an example of our nation’s long-standing commitment to leave no soldier, living or dead, in enemy hands. As we have military personnel spread throughout the world today, many of whom are daily risking capture and torture at the hands of brutal terrorists, it is more important than ever to recognize and honor the heroism and willing sacrifice of those soldiers who risk their own safety not to take a strategic objective, but simply to bring a comrade home."
"Throughout history, American servicemen have made a habit of putting themselves squarely in evil’s way. They have done so secure in the knowledge that if they fall into the hands of the enemy, they will not be forgotten. Indeed, every effort possible will be undertaken to bring them home. In this, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of over 2,000 prisoners from the camp at Los Baños - and at a time when our military is deployed in harm’s way far around the globe, let us recognize those individuals who sacrificed to bring their brothers and sisters home. And let’s honor the heroic actions of the past by officially reaffirming our nation’s commitment to leave no fighting man or woman in enemy hands, at any time, now or in the future." Representative Franks said in remarks on the floor of the House.
[edit] 60th Anniversary Commemoration at Los Baños
On 23 February 2005, the 60th anniversary of the success of the raid at Los Baños was commemorated with the unveiling of a historical marker at the former internment camp (Baker Hall, UP Los Baños). The ceremony was attended by several governement officials from national, provincial and municipal levels, university officials as well as the US Ambassador to the Philippines.
[edit] See also
- Military History of the Philippines during World War II
- Military History of the United States
- Military History of Japan
- History of the Philippines
[edit] References
- The Los Baños Raid: The 11th Airborne Jumps at Dawn by Edward M. Flanagan (1986) Presidio Books ISBN 0891412506
- Deliverance at Los Baños (1985) Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press by Anthony Arthur ISBN 0312191855
- World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia (Military History of the United States) by S. Sandler (2000) Routledge ISBN 0815318839
