The Los Banos Prison Camp Raid The Philippines 1945

by Rottman, Gordon L.; Shumate, Johnny; Gilliland, Alan

• ISBN13: 9781849080750
• ISBN10: 1849080755
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-21
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

On the southwest shore of Laguna de Bay in the Philippines stood the Los Banos Internment Camp. Held within were 2,147 starving POWs, surrounded by thousands of Japanese troops. As the desperate battle for Manila raged, only 130 Paratroopers could be spared For The rescue operation. Supported by Alamo Scouts, local guerrillas, and amphibious tractors, they seized the element of surprise, and rescued the POWs. it was a stunning triumph of courage and perfect timing in the face of overwhelming odds.

Author Biography

Gordon L. Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He served in the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969-70 and subsequently in airborne infantry, long-range patrol and intelligence assignments until retiring after 26 years. He was a Special Operations Forces scenario writer at the Joint Readiness Training Center for 12 years and is now a freelance writer, living in Texas. The author lives in Cypress, Texas.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 4
The Philippines go to war	p. 5
Los Baños internment camp	p. 7
Origins	p. 10
Initial Strategy	p. 13
The situation in Los Baños	p. 14
The 11th Airborne Division	p. 18
The Plan	p. 22
The final plan	p. 35
The objective	p. 38
The enemy	p. 39
The Raid	p. 41
Initial deployments	p. 41
The attack	p. 48
Success and evacuation	p. 57
Soule Task Force actions	p. 66
Withdrawal	p. 68
The return	p. 71
Analysis	p. 73
Conclusion	p. 76
Postscript	p. 77
Bibliography	p. 79
Index	p. 80
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