Rescue at Los Banos: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II

Rescue at Los Banos tells the mesmerizing survival story of more than 2,000 civilian prisoners held in the Philippines by the Japanese during World War II-and the elite 11th Airborne Division’s remarkable, heart-pounding mission to rescue them from deep inside enemy territory.

As the U.S. victory in the Pacific drew near, desperate Japanese soldiers guarding these prisoners-Americans, British, Australians and other Allies-at Los Banos Internment Camp became increasingly sadistic and began starving, beating and killing their captives. Fearing the loss of countless more lives if they were not rescued soon, General Douglas MacArthur gave the 11th Airborne Division the dangerous mission of freeing these beleaguered men, women and children in a deadly race against the clock.

In Rescue at Los Banos, #1 New York Times bestselling author Bruce Henderson weaves together dramatic accounts of life at the prison camp with the planning and execution of the military rescue operation. Combining interviews, diaries, correspondence, memoirs and archival research, Henderson documents the incredible story of the prisoners and of the soldiers who risked their lives to save them.