The Raid at Cabanatuan was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan City in the Philippines. On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas (pictured) liberated more than 500 from the POW camp. Having survived the Battle of Bataan and the Bataan Death March, followed by years of torture, malnourishment, and disease, the prisoners feared they would all be executed when General Douglas MacArthur and his American forces returned to Luzon. A group of over a hundred Rangers and Scouts from the Sixth Army and several hundred Filipino guerrillas were sent to rescue the prisoners. They traveled 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. Under the cover of darkness and a distraction by a P-61 Black Widow, the group surprised the Japanese forces in and around the camp. Hundreds of Japanese troops were killed in the 30-minute coordinated attack; the Americans suffered minimal casualties. The raid was depicted in the book Ghost Soldiers and the films Back to Bataan and The Great Raid.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Cabanatuan
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1578:
Eighty Years' War: Spain won a crushing victory in the Battle of Gembloux, hastening the disintegration of the unity of the rebel provinces and bringing an end to the Union of Brussels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gembloux_(1578)
1801:
John Marshall became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States; his court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a coequal branch of government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall
1900:
Datu Muhammad Salleh, leader of a series of major disturbances in North Borneo, was shot dead in Tambunan, but his followers did not give up for five more years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_Salleh_Rebellion
1942:
Second World War: Allied forces retreated from British Malaya to Singapore, ceding control of the country to Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_Campaign
1996:
Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake discovered Comet Hyakutake, which was one of the closest cometary approaches of the previous 200 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hyakutake
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
adder stone: A stone of varying forms and usually glassy with a naturally formed hole, which is often used as amulet or bead. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adder_stone
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The cynic says "blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed." I say "blessed is he who expecteth everything, for he can't always be disappointed. --Tallulah Bankhead https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tallulah_Bankhead
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