Palawan Massacre
Encyclopedia
During World War II
, in order to prevent the rescue of prisoners of war by the advancing allies, on 14 December 1944, units of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army (under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita
) brought the POWs back to their camp and when an air raid warning was called the remaining 150 prisoners of war at Puerto Princesa dove into three covered trenches for refuge which were then set on fire using barrels of gasoline.
Prisoners who tried to escape the flames were shot down by machine gun fire. Others attempted to escape by climbing over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches, but were later hunted down and killed. Only 11 men escaped the slaughter and between 133 and 141 were killed.
The massacre is the basis for the recently published book Last Man Out: Glenn McDole, USMC, Survivor of the Palawan Massacre in World War II by Bob Wilbanks, and the opening scenes of the 2005 Miramax film, The Great Raid
. A memorial has been erected on the site and McDole, in his eighties, was able to attend the dedication.
Evidence of the episode has been recorded by two of the eleven survivors: Glenn McDole and Rufus Willie Smith from the 4th US Marines Bones from the victims were discovered in early 1945. 16 Japanese soldiers were put on trial for the massacre in Yokohama in August 1948.
A trial of Japanese personnel involved in the massacre initially sentenced the men to death, but later, They were released in the general amnesty.
The incident sparked a series POW rescue campaigns by the US, such as the raid at Cabanatuan
on January 30th, 1945, the raid at Santo Tomas Internment Camp
on February 3, 1945, the raid of Bilibid Prison on February 4, 1945, and raid at Los Baños
on February 23, 1945.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in order to prevent the rescue of prisoners of war by the advancing allies, on 14 December 1944, units of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army (under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita
Tomoyuki Yamashita
General was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname "The Tiger of Malaya".- Biography :...
) brought the POWs back to their camp and when an air raid warning was called the remaining 150 prisoners of war at Puerto Princesa dove into three covered trenches for refuge which were then set on fire using barrels of gasoline.
Prisoners who tried to escape the flames were shot down by machine gun fire. Others attempted to escape by climbing over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches, but were later hunted down and killed. Only 11 men escaped the slaughter and between 133 and 141 were killed.
The massacre is the basis for the recently published book Last Man Out: Glenn McDole, USMC, Survivor of the Palawan Massacre in World War II by Bob Wilbanks, and the opening scenes of the 2005 Miramax film, The Great Raid
The Great Raid
The Great Raid is a 2005 war film about the Raid at Cabanatuan, adapted from William Breuer's book of the same name. It tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp on the Philippine island of Luzon during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin...
. A memorial has been erected on the site and McDole, in his eighties, was able to attend the dedication.
Evidence of the episode has been recorded by two of the eleven survivors: Glenn McDole and Rufus Willie Smith from the 4th US Marines Bones from the victims were discovered in early 1945. 16 Japanese soldiers were put on trial for the massacre in Yokohama in August 1948.
A trial of Japanese personnel involved in the massacre initially sentenced the men to death, but later, They were released in the general amnesty.
The incident sparked a series POW rescue campaigns by the US, such as the raid at Cabanatuan
Raid at Cabanatuan
The Raid at Cabanatuan was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan City, in the Philippines...
on January 30th, 1945, the raid at Santo Tomas Internment Camp
Santo Tomas Internment Camp
Santo Tomas Internment Camp was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II The campus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila was utilized for the camp which housed more than 4,000 internees from January 1942...
on February 3, 1945, the raid of Bilibid Prison on February 4, 1945, and raid at Los Baños
Raid at Los Baños
The raid at Los Baños in the Philippines, early Friday morning on 23 February 1945, was executed by a combined U.S. Army Airborne and Filipino guerrilla task force, resulting in the liberation of 2,147 Allied civilian and military internees from an agricultural school campus turned Japanese...
on February 23, 1945.