The 6th Ranger Battalion’s Great Raid

Introduction

In December 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States (US) in Pearl Harbor and invaded the Philippines. Foreseeing this invasion, the US pulled Gen. MacArthur out of retirement and sent him to the Philippines. His mission was to prepare this strategically located archipelago against Japanese invasion.

This case study will introduce the events leading up to the largest surrender of US forces in history and examine the most daring rescue attempt of WWII. The paper follows the planning and execution of the 6th Ranger Battalion’s Great Raid on the Japanese prison camp of Cabanatuan. Lastly, the events of that raid will be examined in order to discover and evaluate the repercussions and lessons learned.

History

On December 22, 1941, the Japanese main attack on the Philippines began.1 The Japanese initial goal was to capture the island of Luzon, which was home to both the capital city of Manila and the majority of the US forces. The initial Japanese attack on the Allied forces consisted of air raids followed by a 50,000 man ground assault lead by Gen. Masaharu Homma.2 The Allied forces consisted of a combined US and Filipino army, numbering around 100,000 men, lead by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.3 US forces had the advantage in numbers; however, the Japanese had the advantage in technology. US and Filipino forces were supplied primarily with World War I (WWI) and pre-WWI weapons.4 This meant that while the Allied forces had superior numbers, the Allied forces were ultimately outgunned.

The heavily fortified island of Corregidor, located in the mouth of Manila Bay, was headquarters of the US forces. From here, Gen. MacArthur ord...

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Sides, Hampton. Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's

Greatest Rescue Mission. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.