Allied victory United States Luzon Mindanao Naval operations The Raid on Los Baños (Filipino: Pagsalakay sa Los Baños) in the Philippines, early Friday morning on 23 February 1945, was executed by a combined United States 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 internment camp.

[1]: 11 General Douglas MacArthur was deeply alarmed about the plight of thousands of prisoners who had been interned in various camps on Luzon, since the early days of the Pacific War.

Earlier, some daring raids were carried out to rescue POWs, including one at Cabanatuan and at the University of Santo Tomas Internment Camp and Bilibid Prison at the height of the Battle for Manila.

[1]: 7–9 Surrounded by barbed wire fences in clusters of thatched huts were Americans, British, Australians, Dutch, Norwegians, Poles, Italians, and Canadians.

Nonetheless, the internees were made to get by on dwindling rations, limited clothing, poor housing and non-existent sanitation and endure the sadistic tendencies of the camp guards.

[1]: 22  However, with the 11th Airborne committed to a series of pitched battles south of Manila and the resolute Japanese defense at Nichols Field and Fort William McKinley, immediate deployment was out of the question.

[1]: 14  As an interim measure, Swing ordered his subordinates to develop a plan that could be implemented at the earliest possible moment, a task that was headed by his G-2 Colonel Henry Muller.

Then on 18 February, the 1st Battalion, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under Major Henry Burgess, the main unit assigned to carry out the mission, was pulled out from its battlefield position on the so-called Genko Line, a fortified system of interlocking pillboxes and anti-tank fortifications running along the southern Manila district of Las Piñas and proceeded to Parañaque district to rest and regroup.

[1]: 38, 40 The various Filipino guerrilla groups operating in the vicinity of Los Baños played a key role that led to the successful liberation of the camp.

Other formations included President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (PQOG) under Colonel Fil Avanceña, Red Lion's Unit, the Filipino-Chinese 48th Squadron and the Villegas group of the Hukbalahaps were tasked by the GGC to coordinate operations related to Los Baños.

Long before the arrival of the U.S. liberation forces, the guerrillas conducted intelligence operations that gathered precise inside information about the POWs in Los Baños and their guards.

This proved a great asset to the planners and enabled them to finalize the four-phase plan that was timed to coincide with the guards' exercise period, which was conducted by the Japanese troops without clothing, equipment, or weapons, thereby minimizing the risk of harm to the internees during the rescue.

[1]: 17–18 The Joint U.S. Army-Guerrilla Assault Plan was as follows:[1]: 35–37 Other guerrilla units such as Marking's Fil-American troops and the 48th Chinese Squadron were to set up road blocks in the towns of Calauan, Bay and Pila to delay possible Japanese reinforcements.

Under cover of darkness on 21 February 1945, Skau and his 31-man platoon left the west shore of Laguna de Bay and headed across the lake in three bancas.

They also managed to reach their destination without alerting any Japanese defenders and headed off for the remaining 2 miles (3.2 km) overland journey to the camp, aiming to arrive just after 07:00.

[1]: 46, 66–68  From an elevated position, Soule could see, in the distance, the Amtracs on the beach heading back to Mamatid, so he ordered his force to conduct a defensive withdrawal and to re-establish its bridgehead across the San Juan River.

Firsthand accounts include that of former internee, Lewis Thomas Watty, vice president of the POW committee, who said: The ensuing fight went on for very long minutes without letup, enemy defenders caught by total surprise were pinned and cut down mercilessly by liberator's fire.

It was also true of the paratroopers who were veterans of the South Pacific before they landed in Luzon.A few days after the rescue, the Japanese in full force, led by the escaped Sadaaki Konishi, returned to Los Baños.

With the help of the pro-Japanese Makapili militia, the Japanese massacred some 1,500 men, women and children, and burned their homes, as well as those in the adjacent towns suspected of collaborating with the liberators.

[1]: 74 The regional chapters of the 11th Airborne Division Association celebrate the raid and rescue with a Los Baños Commemoration Dinner on or about 23 February every year.

In 2010, twelve students from low-income families were receiving scholarships in the amount of $250 each per year, enabling them to pay required fees and stay in school until graduation if they perform well.

In this, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of over 2,000 prisoners from the camp at Los Baños – and at a time when our military is deployed in harm’s way far around the globe, let us recognize those individuals who sacrificed to bring their brothers and sisters home.

And let’s honor the heroic actions of the past by officially reaffirming our nation’s commitment to leave no fighting man or woman in enemy hands, at any time, now or in the future.

On 23 February 2005, the 60th anniversary of the raid was commemorated with the unveiling of a historical marker at the former internment camp (Baker Hall, University of the Philippines Los Baños).