Battle Analysis: The Raid Of Cabanatuan

The 1945 Raid of Cabanatuan, Luzon Island, Philippines stands fast in history as a battle of wits between Imperial Japanese Army and the partnership of the United States Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces Far East (USAFFE) Filipino Guerilla Forces. Americans and Allied Armed Forces used distraction tactics and precise human collected intelligence to successfully free over 500 Prisoners of War (POW) held by Japanese forces. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a battle analysis of the Raid of Cabanatuan and to provide an alternate outcome based on applicable intelligence assets using intellectual standards and elements of reasoning.
The Raid of Cabanatuan was a multinational effort to rescue allied POWs held in Japanese captivity

The Raid of Cabanatuan occurred during the U.S. pursuit of Japanese held territory during the Battle of Luzon, Philippines Campaign (1944-1945). The Battle of Luzon was the “largest American campaign in the Pacific War” (Staff, 1966). The Imperial Japanese Army comprised the vast majority of the adversary. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Invaded the Philippines, and committed war crimes concerning POWs without a clearly identifiable end state in mind. Japan’s motivation behind their attacks was assumed to be linked to their economy, oil sanctions, and an overall complex of superiority of other nations. However, the U.S. Army War College suggests Japan’s end state was to seize Pacific countries to negate their dependency on U.S. trade and oil for to decrease their deficit (Record,

Their cultural bias cultural stance fueled their mentality that they were superior to non-Japanese people. This cultural rift was further divided by Japanese and American propaganda, which kept emotions high following the attack on Pearl Harbor. More specific to the Raid of Cabanatuan, Japanese officials were ordered to kill POWs upon receiving news of the successful U.S. invasion of Luzon. Information about Japan’s mission to kill off allied POWs was provided by a prisoner that escaped POW Camp Palawan. U.S. Intelligence debriefed the escaped POW on Japan’s order to kill and the methods in which they were to kill POWs. The terrain consists of a blend of open farming fields and mountainous regions dominated the terrain in Luzon, accompanied by a few rivers and sporadic lakes. Comparatively, Cabanatuan is primarily farm land and is located just south of the Pampanga River, with a mountain range off to the distant east. The weather in Cabanatuan during the month January typically ranges from 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, with 7mm of rainfall (Climate-Date.Org, n.d.). The tropical climate enabled crops and vegetation to flourish throughout the year and impacted infiltration and exfiltration routes to provide the most amount of cover