Resistance Movements

[Kyt]

I had no idea there were so many resistence movements across Europe and Asia. I'd heard of some of the ones in Europe but know nothing about the ones listed for Asia.

Resistance during World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Antipodean Andy]

The Ranger raid on the Cabanatuan (I'm going to have to check that!) POW camp in the Philippines (Hampton Sides' Ghost Soldiers is a brilliant read) that released many of the survivors of the Bataan Death March would not have been as successful had it not been for the Filipino resistance movement. They were pretty well organised and, most likely, under recognised for their role.

[spidge]

Originally Posted by Andy in West Oz

The Ranger raid on the Cabanatuan (I'm going to have to check that!) POW camp in the Philippines (Hampton Sides' Ghost Soldiers is a brilliant read) that released many of the survivors of the Bataan Death March would not have been as successful had it not been for the Filipino resistance movement. They were pretty well organised and, most likely, under recognised for their role.

I have a good piece on this raid and also have the DVD of the movie. Will post when I find it!

[spidge]

Unable to find my original however this is an extract from this link on Special Forces in the Pacific/Philippines.

CHAPTER 4

Following Sixth Army's unopposed landing on Luzon on 9 January 1945, American forces raided the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan (Map 8). The attack marked the high point of cooperation between Rangers, guerrillas, Alamo Scouts, and conventional American combat units. Ever since Lapham had notified Sixth Army of the camp's existence soon after the landing on Luzon, Krueger and his staff had been concerned about the situation of the prisoners there. When Sixth Army's spearheads were within twenty-four miles of the camp, Krueger's intelligence chief, Col. Horton White, called in Mucci and three scout team leaders and assigned to them the mission of freeing the prisoners. After the scouts went ahead to reconnoiter the position, a reinforced company of 107 Rangers infiltrated Japanese lines near Guimba in the early afternoon of 28 January. Guided by the guerrillas, the Rangers hiked through forests and open grasslands, narrowly avoiding a Japanese tank on the national highway by following a ravine that ran under the road. At Balincarin on the twentyninth, 1st Lt. Thomas Rounsaville and 1st Lt. William Nellist of the scouts notified Mucci of heavy traffic around the compound, causing the Ranger chief to postpone the raid until the evening of the thirtieth. While the Rangers rested at the village
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MAP 8: Cabanatuan Operation
of Platero, the scouts conducted further reconnaissance from a nipa hut across the road from the camp.
The skillful reconnaissance and careful planning paid off in a swift, well-executed attack. In the early evening of the thirtieth the Rangers began their approach march, crawling across the last mile of open rice fields to take up a position on two sides of the camp. While one platoon, on signal, eliminated the guards in the rear and on one side of the stockade, another broke through the main gate to rake the garrison's quarters with automatic fire, and a third broke into the prisoners' section and liberated the astonished captives, most of whom had to be carried to freedom. Within half an hour the Rangers had destroyed the installation, killing about 200 Japanese guards and rescuing over 500 prisoners at the cost of two dead and seven seriously wounded. Covered by the guerrillas, who stopped an enemy relief effort northeast of the camp, the column of Rangers and liberated prisoners finally reached
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friendly lines by the following morning. The feat was celebrated equally by MacArthur's soldiers, Allied correspondents, and the American public, for the raid had touched an emotional nerve among Americans concerned about the fate of the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.